First impressions: The Breitling ENDURANCE PRO is a functional luxury sports watch

Posted on by

With retro styling quite popular in the wholesale luxury watch industry these days, it’s refreshing to see a brand like Breitling take risks with a new collection. The inspiration for the Breitling Endurance Pro came from a conversation with a member of a triathlon team, which resulted in a sporty, technology-driven watch with all the sophistication you’d expect from a luxury brand. I managed to get my hands on the watch a few weeks before the launch, and here are my first impressions of the new Breitling Endurance Pro.

To be fair, this new collection does take inspiration from Breitling’s past. The watch emulates the style of the Breitling Sprint, a 1970s chronograph with a pulsometer on the bezel and a relatively lightweight case made of resin. The new Endurance Pro builds on these principles, but with all the benefits of modern technology.

Let’s start with the case. The moment you pick up this review luxury watch, you’ll notice it’s made from unconventional materials. It’s warmer than steel, with a unique marble pattern on the matte surface. That’s Breitlight. The material is patented by Breitling, but it’s not new. I remember seeing it at Baselworld a few years ago, but nothing substantial has come of it until now.

Officially patented in 2017, Breitlight is made of materials like carbon, fiber, resin, and more. Anyway, the more important thing is that it’s “3.3 times lighter than titanium and 5.8 times lighter than stainless steel, this material is non-magnetic, thermally stable, and hypoallergenic. It’s also highly resistant to scratches, traction, and corrosion.”

The case is slightly larger at 44mm, which makes it look a bit fussy at first glance, even with the larger dial. The pulsometer is printed on the scale ring around the dial, while the bidirectional bezel has “N, S, E, and W” printed on it. If you didn’t know already, by using the hour hand, 12 o’clock indicator, and the position of the sun, you can find the cardinal directions, and the bezel could be better used to mark these directions.

Breitling decided to equip the luxury Endurance Pro with a SuperQuartz Breitling Caliber 82 movement instead of a mechanical one. Purists may scoff at this, but I think it makes sense; quartz movements do have fewer moving parts, and are therefore more durable when subjected to repeated shocks. It’s worth mentioning that the Caliber 82’s chronograph is accurate to 1/10 of a second, and the chronograph hand feels great when it’s running.

Another interesting thing about this movement is that Breitling lists it as a thermo-compensated Superquartz movement. While quartz movements are known for being very accurate, they are also very sensitive to temperature and humidity. Therefore, to be COSC-certified, a Superquartz movement must be able to withstand temperature fluctuations. As a chronometer, the Endurance Pro is accurate to ± 0.07 seconds per day, with a deviation rate of only ± 0.20 seconds per day at a temperature of 8°C or 38°C. For comparison, a mechanical chronometer movement has a deviation of -4/+6 seconds per day.

The Endurance Pro series is available in several colors, including white, blue, yellow, orange or red, which is reflected on the scale ring. And will be paired with a luxury Breitling Diver Pro rubber strap of the same color. For those who prefer fabric straps, they are also very suitable for use with ECONYL® yarn NATO straps.