Breitling announced their first connected watch, the Exospace B55, in 2015. That watch was designed with aviators in mind and has advanced functions such as an electronic tachymeter, a feature that memorizes flight times (departure and arrivals).
Eventually, Breitling launched a similar B55 model designed for driving enthusiasts, also powered by a thermocompensated quartz electronic (Superquartz) movement with low energy Bluetooth smartphone connectivity. The display on all B55 models is analog as well as featuring 12 and 24 hour LCD displays, with a backlight (white light), and battery state-of-charge indicator. The movement is COSC-certified, which is something rarely seen with quartz watches, and a testament to the accuracy of this movement.
With the launch of the Exospace B55 Yachting, caliber B55 has now been reappropriated for yachting. Housed in a 46 mm x 15.25 mm titanium case, with 100 meters of water-resistance, the B55 Yachting is made for demanding conditions such as a regatta.
“The chronograph has an ingenious countdown system, featuring audio, visual, and vibrating alarms and indications. If a judge stops a countdown, it is easy to resync the watch to the new countdown when it resumes. The watch stores split times, which can be read instantaneously on the watch’s digital screen or, when the Exospace is synchronized to a smartphone, on the phone’s display.
The notched bidirectional rotating bezel can be adjusted to make it easier to perform critical calculations regarding wind direction, sailing angle, and the optimal position on the starting line of a regatta,” according to Breitling.
The B55 caliber is accurate to 10 milliseconds, with a maximum of 99 hours, 59 minutes, and 59 seconds, as well as functions such as a flyback chronograph, electronic tachymeter, lap timer, split times, and a regatta chronograph with independent alarm (countdown timer).
This makes the regatta chronograph ideal not only for countdowns, but thanks to the smartphone connectivity, it is also great for recording, replaying, deleting, and recovering all time-related information collected during a regatta.
Additional functions include 7 daily alarms, UTC, digital perpetual calendar with week indication. The Exospace B55 Yachting also receives notifications from the smartphone regarding incoming e-mails, messages, phone calls, and reminders of upcoming appointments.
Comes with a blue TwinPro rubber strap with folding clasp. (Ref. EB5512221B1S1)
While the price is high, especially for a quartz powered watch, there are likely no other timepieces that do what this can do. Although with the advent of smartwatches, it is likely that will change in the future.
Retail is $7,170.
Learn more at Breitling.
