The production of the tiny gears that make this Breitling watch feature work were the most technically challenging to produce

After the passing of each hour the entire dial becomes animated while the hour indicators all spin one one after another until the new hour is reached. It is a cool and totally impractical complication that you’ll love to watch. According to Breitling, the production of the tiny gears that make this feature work were the most technically challenging to produce. In the center of the dial you have http://ift.tt/1ukSnVG three more features.

First is a subsidiary seconds dial. Then there is a retrograde five minute indicator. It is cool to see them both visually move together. The retrograde minutes indicator is used to tell the time more precisely because the main minute hands only goes in five minute increments. There is also a power reserve indicator for the manually would movements that has 45 hours of power reserve.

Playing with the watch is endlessly fun, and reading it with precision is quite possible. The dial of course is an interesting mesh work of mechanics. Breitling chose to go with an interesting and almost industrial style of finishing for the movement http://ift.tt/1yp5nXN on the front of the watch. It almost looks like something in an Hublot watch, and offers a youthful and fresh look to the Breitling watch that is not stuffy in demeanor.

On the rear of the watch is more classic finishing and another view of the manually-wound movement. The caseback is not super exciting, but nonetheless nice. What you can’t see is just how complex the movement it. In it are over 600 parts and it has two mainspring barrels. One of them is purely dedicated to the “animation” of the hands as they move around when the time changes. Power reserve is about 45 hours.

The Breitling case is 46mm wide with a smooth technical look that some will love http://ift.tt/1ukSnVJ and others might find a bit staid given how wild Breitling watches have been in the past. All the details are satisfying, but you just don’t see too many round Breitling pieces these days. I would suggest that it likely grows on you at the least.

Breitling will offer the watch in 18k white gold. The middle section of the case is said to be made from Breitling’s proprietary Zalium metal – a zirconium alloy. Some other versions of the Breitling will have diamonds. What? It is Breitling we are talking about here… With 27 hands on the dial and a lot going on, this watch is sure to be someone’s prized possession. I have to admit that it is very cool to use and I like that each new Opus watch from Breitling is not only interesting, but also unpredictable.

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