Breitling Superocean Héritage Chronoworks is limites to 100-piece which interpreted in a bold all-black version with a 46 mm matt ceramic case, water resistant to 100 metres / 330 feet, which displays the Chronoworks movement and its black oscillating weight through the transparent caseback.

The pointed hour-markers and the distinctive hands of the matt black dial recall the 1957 Superocean, one of the first deep-water-resistant wristwatches of the brand. Starting from the Manufacture Calibre 01, a selfwinding chronograph movement featuring a column-wheel construction, a vertical coupling-clutch and an over 70-hour power reserve, the Chronoworks tem developed five technical advancements  serving to reduce friction as well as dynamic efforts at all stages with the goal to enhance the energy efficiency of the mechanisms.

The first optimization involved the movement chassis. To reduce friction due to the pivoting of the arbors, these components were made from a high-tech ceramic. Thanks to an extremely low friction coefficient, the arbors can pivot directly in the baseplate and bridge holes without any wear or energy loss and also without any lubricant. As a result, it was possible to eliminate 11 out of 47 jewels.

The calibre has been fitted with three wheels in silicon, a material twice as light as normal and that thus makes it easier to set the movement in motion again, a phase which absorbs lot of energy.The escapement – the part of the movement where most of the energy losses take place – has been enhanced by crafting wheel and lever in silicon. This serves to reduce weight and thus inertia, as well as eliminating the need for pallet jewels. To ensure more efficient transmission of the energy from the barrel, the geometry of the two components was revisited delivering an overall 42% gain in efficiency.

The variable-inertia balance, adjustable via four tiny gold weights situated around the rim, is insensitive to temperature variations hence maintaining the same rating precision in every circumstances. In fact, by combining a nickel felly (ring) with a cross (spoke) made of brass, the balance can take advantage of the metal’s expansion/contraction to modify the inertia. When the temperature rises, the cross expands and pushes the felly towards the exterior, thus increasing inertia. When the temperature drops, the cross contracts and pulls the felly towards the centre, thereby reducing inertia.Another energy-loss area in a vertical coupling-clutch chronograph mechanism is the set of one arbor and two wheels (2 mm in diameter) responsible for connecting the base movement and the wheel bearing the sweep-seconds hand (chronograph wheel and pinion). This set displays a certain play that can lead to jerking that is generally eliminated by using a “friction spring” at the cost of a 15% energy loss. To avoid this, Breitling watch equipped the two wheels with elastic toothing molding the shape of the opposite teeth, by means of a nickel-phosphorous structure.

The increase of the power reserve from 70 to 100 hours (a 45% gain) is not only practical for the owner of the watch which does not need to wind it for four days even if not worn, but it is also improves precision. In fact, the higher the power reserve, the less the force of the spring dwindles during the first 24 hours, so enhancing regularity of the movement rate.

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