By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
Transocean Unitime Pilot
The Breitling Transocean Unitime Pilot is powered by the Breitling in-house calibre B05, and is chronometer-certified by COSC. It has a crown-adjustable world time system, allowing all indications to be manipulated by that one crown. The Transocean Unitime Pilot is available with a satin-brushed steel case, a 1,000-piece limited edition with a black steel case, and a polished red gold case.
This is a large watch with a case width of 46 mm. With the ‘Milanese’ style bracelet for both the satin-brushed stainless steel and black steel case examples, the watch has wrist presence. Above is the satin-brushed stainless steel with the black dial.
Below is the satin-brushed stainless steel with the white dial. For this example an image of the globe is added in the centre of the dial.
The indexes as well as hands are lumed and should enable users to refer to it at night without too much difficulty. Locations of the two pushers are placed at the 2 and 4 o’clock positions, similar to many chronographs. The date window is between 4 and 5 o’clock and does not impede the formation of the indexes. I definitely approve of this design. Often, watch designers use the opportunity of the date (and day) window(s) to eliminate the need of at least one (or two) indexes. At night, when using the power of the lume, such a dial would therefore look “handicapped”.
The choice of the ‘Milanese’ instead of the solid linked bracelet is a good one. Some would argue that it is painful to people with hairy hands but design wise, it matches the casing perfectly.
The limited edition black steel case example looks more mysterious. The red second-hand pops out nicely and give a point of focus to users.
For a more sophisticated looking example, the red gold case makes an excellent dress watch. The image of the globe in the centre of the white dial creates an interesting colour combination.
If you are not keen on the white dial, a black dial is available also with the image of the globe in the centre of the dial.
Generally, the design of this watch series mimics many chronographs right down to the position of the sub dials and date window. The addition of the globe in the center of the dial provides the necessary differentiation that puts it slightly away from other similar chronographs. Although the dial does look busy with the time zones references and such, it is more subtle unlike what one would aspect from a Breitling pilot watch. I believe, Breitling has finally answered the call of many consumers that would prefer a more ‘softer’ dial. The fact that time zone is not on an external bezel strengthens this assumption.
Personally, if given the choice, I choose the red gold case with white dial.
