Half Breitling, half Tudor, and better for it
By Tom Hargreaves, Falmouth, Cornwall ยท
The interesting thing about the Superocean Heritage B20 is the engine. The B20 is built on Tudor's MT5612, which is why you get 70 hours of reserve instead of the 38 that Breitling's own cheaper calibres give you. Shared parts bin, better watch. I'm all for it.
The design comes from the 1957 Superocean and it shows in a good way: clean dial, arrow hand, a bezel that doesn't shout. It's 42 mm and 12.9 mm thick with 22 mm lugs. Blue dial on the mesh bracelet looks smart and the mesh is comfier than you'd think in the heat, though it pulls arm hairs like a set of pliers until it settles.
It's 200 m, not 300, which makes no real difference to anyone diving recreationally. The open caseback I'm less keen on for a diver but I'll let it go.
The thing that bugs me is the mesh clasp. No proper wetsuit extension on the ones I've handled. On a boat you'd be better off swapping to rubber.
At $5,150 to $5,800 it's decent value against an Omega Seamaster 300 Heritage, which costs a couple of thousand more and wears thicker. If you want something you can wear to a wedding on Saturday and a boat on Sunday, this is a good shout.