“Hey Darling look! I received my new watch today!” – (wife looks blankly at my wrist) – “And guess what? It’s a quartz watch! Who would have thought I would ever buy a quartz watch?” -(wife raises her gaze to stare into my eyes in total disbelief, nearly dropping the book she is holding in her hand) “Quartz? Are you feeling OK? What’s going on?” – “Errrr… Well you know some really good quartz watches do exist. This Breitling Aerospace is really cool! You actually operate all the functions uniquely via the crown. There are no buttons or pushers like on most multifunction quartz watches.” – (Utter blank stare for a few seconds at me. Then at the watch. Then at me again.) “Well, the most important thing is that you like it and are happy with your purchase”. And she walked out to continue what she had been doing.

Looking at the Breitling Aerospace strapped to my wrist, I do realise the aesthetics are quite peculiar. I never liked those rider tabs bezels from the brand. I find them horrible, especially on two tone models. Thankfully on this one they are quite discreet. Being in brushed titanium, like the rest of the watch and bracelet, they don’t catch your eye like on many other Breitling watches. The other good thing about titanium is its lightness. This watch is so light! It is a real pleasure on the wrist once the bracelet is correctly sized. The watch is also very thin, and the 42mm large case doesn’t seem so wide, even on my small wrist.

This Breitling Aerospace isn’t a new one. I got a nice deal on a no box no papers second hand model from around 2007 or 2008. It’s got plenty of scratches and dings, but that doesn’t matter as I will probably add a few more whilst wearing it during my daily activities. There have been a lot of evolutions of the Aerospace model since it first came out in 1985. Asides from dial variations and ETA super quartz movement updates, the minute repeater function was added some time during the mid 90s, and a backlight function from 2005 onwards. On my version, the dial is astonishingly crisp and well finished. The polished hands and indices really stand out on the mint black surface. The antireflective coating of the glass is one of the most efficient I have ever witnessed. It has a blue tone which turns the whole black dial to blue depending on the angle and light. So you really get two watches for the money: one black dial and another in blue.

(10 year old son walks into the room, sees me looking at my watch) “Wow dad is that a new watch? It looks awesome!!!” – “Oh really? Do you like it?” – “You bet! It’s really cool!” – “Haha well look, it is special, it’s a Breitling Aerospace. If I press on the crown, I can know what time it is just by listening…” – (Chiming minute repeater beeps emanate from the watch) “WOOOOOOOOW! how did you do that?” – “And that’s not all. Look again: When I rotate the crown slightly it all lights up. I can read day and date on the bottom digital screen, or running seconds, or a digital clock. And if I turn it more I can navigate through the functions. Check out the top screen: alarm, chronograph, second time zone, and timer” -(sparks fly out of his eyes from excitment) “Does the border turn too?” – “Yes look, the bezel turns and clicks.” -(plays around with the bezel, clicking away in awe) “You know dad, I usually don’t like your watches, but this one is much better than the others.” -(Depressed look on my face as I think about all the cool mechanical watches I own, and how a quartz watch has just stolen my son’s soul…) “There is one last secret about this watch that I will show you. Look at the caseback when I turn the watch around. You see this diagram engraved? Its a scale so you can convert measurements: litres, pounds, gallons, kilograms… Won’t this be perfect for your homework? You still have some to do tonight” – (All joy evaporates from his eyes.) I smile.