Hands-on with the Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater Limited Edition
Tuesday - 19 July 2022
Limited to 1000 pieces worldwide, the new Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater watch takes inspiration from the much earlier Superocean Slow Motion watches of the 1960s and 1970s and features an orange colourway that reminds Slater of his late father’s trusty dive watch
Anyone who has closely followed Breitling in recent years will be aware that American professional surfer, Kelly Slater has been working with the luxury Swiss watch brand to produce several innovative all-purpose dive watches. Slater, best known for being crowned World Surf League champion a record 11 times, elaborates on the importance of this most recent collaboration: “I’ve been co-creating watches with Breitling for the past few years but this one, in particular, is very personal. It’s inspired by my late father, who had a watch with an orange face that he used to wear surfing for as long as I can remember. The green and orange together is a color scheme I used to like for the airbrushes on my boards growing up. That combination has always stuck with me.”
The origins
Orange has been the preferred choice in dial colour on a dive watch since the 1960s since it contrasts against the deep blue hues of the ocean, promising the wearer optimised legibility whilst diving. Clearly, in the design of this new Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater watch, however, the choice in colour runs a little deeper for Slater than legibility alone. The new release is part of a batch of reimagined dive watches based on the design of Breitling’s original Superocean Slow Motion watch released during the 1960s and 1970s. The watch offered a pared-down design back then, which eradicated the need for any unnecessary functions, or any features that didn’t serve as a life-saving tool when worn underwater. Released when scuba diving was all the rage, the Breitling Superocean Slow Motion watch was certainly purpose-built, yet the new Kelly Slater Limited Edition Superocean watch broadens its uses for all kinds of water-based situations thanks to several modifications.
The new Breitling Superocean Automatic watches for 2022
Following along the same lines aesthetically as the Breitling Superocean Slow Motion watch, this new limited edition Kelly Slater watch, released alongside 27 other variants, keeps the same squared-off hands and chunky hour markers, retracing the Slow Motion’s celebrated style. We covered the rest of the batch here at Jura watches. But if you haven’t got time to read up on this article now, here are the basics…
The new Breitling Superocean Automatic watches come in a variety of dial colours, case materials and sizes. Some of the dial colours include blue, black, green, brown, white, aqua blue and orange. The different sizes include 36mm, 42mm, 44mm and 46mm – the largest of all. These 46mm models offered in blue or black with both stainless steel bracelet and rubber band options come with a patented locking mechanism on their bidirectional rotating bezel. The other variants have a standard unidirectional bezel, yet all models offer a scratch-resistant and fade-resistant ceramic insert in multiple colour options. The outside chapter on all of these dials is executed in a contrasting colour to enable you to read the minutes clearly and quickly. The square and rectangular hour markers around the hour track, together with the circular pip on the top of the seconds hand and the square motif on the minutes hand are all coated in Super-LumiNova. Some exceptions to the line-up include the bronze case versions, which are only available on a rubber band and come in a size of 42mm or 44mm. The stainless steel and 18ct rose gold iteration belonging to the new batch of Breitling Superocean Automatic watches for 2022 is only available in a 42mm version and features a black bezel and dial. Lastly, the orange dial, aside from this Kelly Slater Limited Edition variant, is only available in the smaller 36mm size.
The new Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater Limited Edition
The new Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater Limited Edition watch is characterised by its clean lines and chunky luminescent indexes. Built for plenty of underwater exploration, it comes with a domed anti-reflective and scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass front, a screw-down winding crown and a screw-down caseback. All three of these features help to uphold the model’s 300-meter water resistant capability and protect the internally fitted Calibre 17 from harm. This automatic movement, based on the original ETA 2824-2, can produce a power reserve of 38 hours and performs at a rate of 28,800 vibrations per hour.
The model boasts a vivid orange dial centre, surrounded by a minute track in white. The luminous circular dot on the second hand is a nod to the circular dot that appeared on the dial of the original Superocean Slow Motion watch, which presented itself in a different colour depending on whether the chronograph function was in use or not. The square tip on the minute hand marries well with the square marker around the hour track, mixed with rectangular-shaped indexes. Surrounding the entire dial is a black ceramic insert displaying a 60-minute scale on a bidirectional rotating bezel made from stainless steel. The case too is crafted from stainless steel and the watch comes fitted on a robust dark green rubber strap (a choice selected by Kelly Slater as a nod to the colourways on his previous surfboards) with a three-fold clasp and an additional 15mm extension mechanism for wearing over the top of a wetsuit or chunky diving gear.
If you’d like more information on the new Breitling Superocean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater watch, you can view the watch in more detail here, or call and speak to a member of our Jura Watches sales team on 01335 453453
