BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Of all the great sports the United Kingdom has brought to the world table none, in my view, are more exciting than rugby. Sure, there can be exciting cricket matches and tennis matches, but those sports don’t herald nearly as many exciting moments as rugby does. As for football (or soccer, if you prefer)? No, thank you.
Over in this little corner of the world, we play out an annual rugby tournament called the Six Nations or, more accurately, the Guinness Six Nations. Over several weeks, the national teams of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy will battle it out to determine who gets the grand prize and who ends up with the wooden spoon. With the Rugby World Cup happening only every four years, the Six Nations are one of the main ways rugby gets mainstream media coverage unless you follow a local team. That’s probably why Breitling has teamed up with the Six Nations to release no fewer than twelve new watches devoted to the six teams. It’s also their timing partner for the year; I believe it was Tissot beforehand, but if someone wants to correct me in the comments, then please do.
ENGLAND
The watches in question come in the forms of the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 and the Chronomat 32. Watches based on the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 come with a 40mm x 11.77mm stainless steel case, which is water resistant to 200m. Each watch comes equipped with the Breitling Calibre 32, which is based on the ETA 2893-2 calibre and has a 4Hz beat rate and 42-hour power reserve.
FRANCE
Owners of the Chronomat 32 have a 32mm x 8.54mm stainless steel watch with 100m of water resistance. Like the 40mm watches, these come on the stainless steel ‘rouleaux’ bracelet. Inside each watch is the Breitling Calibre 77, a thermo-compensating SuperQuartz movement based on the ETA Thermoline 956.652 movement. It has a 3-year battery lifespan and has an end-of-reserve indicator telling you when it’s time to change the battery.
IRELAND
Of course, the main draw with each watch is the uniqueness of it. Both the larger and smaller variants of each model come in one of six colours representing the teams. England has white-dialled versions, Scotland the Scottish blue colours, Ireland their signature green, France has France’s blue team colour, Italy their version of blue (there’s lots of blue) and Wales red, although the red looks more like black in the renders.
ITALY
The larger watches also feature the country name printed on the dial. A closed caseback featuring the team’s logo is fitted to all watches, along with an engraving denoting that each watch is a special release. There will be 250 made of each 40mm watch and 75 made of each 32mm watch.
SCOTLAND
The pricing for these models is $6,150/£4,950/€5,950 for the 40mm watches and $5,000/£3,950/€4,900 for the 32mm version. Breitling’s website indicates that you could order one of these to a USA boutique if you wanted, but I suspect you guys will be more interested in the NFL special edition watches they also released.
WALES
If you buy one of the Six Nations watches, you’ll also receive a special Gilbert rugby ball in the colours of the team you have chosen and with Breitling’s name on it.
