Just in time for Australian Summer, Breitling has released a new set of watches that is, as they state, the “ultimate athleisure watch”. The Breitling Endurance Pro comes as part of the brand’s Professional range and is a timepiece that is not only made for athletes, but for people that love the outdoors and active lifestyles.
The Breitling Endurance Pro is essentially a luxury sports watch. Combining innovative materials with a sense of artistic style, this latest creation by the Swiss brand has high precision, vibrant colour design and the robustness to make it a hit among sporting enthusiasts.
The Endurance Pro fits perfectly into the world of sports, in which Breitling already has quite a history. In motorsport, Breitling has sponsored Bentley at Le Mans, while also having a longstanding partnership with the car brand in general. In the world of cycling, Breitling has already partnered with major competitions, such as Giro d’Italia and Tour de France along with cycling legends Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. Breitling has been offering timepieces with sports functions for a long time now, and the Endurance Pro is the latest to continue this tradition.
Breitling, a brand that used to be synonymous with aviation, today, stands for accessible sports. Sports such as running, cycling and swimming. High-performance activities that are not just limited to professionals but sports everyone can enjoy. In fact, there can be no better endorsement for the Breitling Endurance Pro than Tadej Pogačar.
A Slovenian cyclist, Tadej Pogačar wore a yellow Breitling Endurance Pro model during the final race of the Tour De France, in which he won. From a brand perspective, it shows Breitling’s rich history and heritage in cycling, and how Tadej Pogačar’s podium finish shows the brands return to the top in cycling.
The Breitling Endurance Pro was created using inspiration from Breitling’s vintage model; the Breitling Sprint. An iconic timepiece created in the 1970’s, the Breitling Sprint made use of a pulsometer, while also being incredibly lightweight. The integration of the pulsometer was ideal for athletes back then as they could monitor their heartbeats on the go.
The Breitling Sprint was also made from resin, which made it comfortable to wear, which is especially crucial during high-intensity activities. The Sprint models, like the Endurance Pro, were also offered in a variety of colours.
This latest sports timepiece then is an evident evolution from the Sprint model, carrying much of the same characteristics while being modernised. The Breitling Endurance Pro is available in five different colours, ranging from the navy, orange, red, yellow and white. What we have on our hands today is the yellow Endurance pro model, the same one worn by Tadej Pogačar in his Tour De France win.
Case Design
The Breitling Endurance Pro comes with an ultra-lightweight 44mm Breitlight® case. The case along with the bezel is black, with almost a matte look and feel to it. Breitlight® is Breitling’s signature material, released back in 2016. Breitlight® carries some impressive statistics, such as being 3.3 times lighter than titanium and 5.8 times lighter than stainless steel. While also being nonmagnetic, thermally stable and hypoallergenic. It doesn’t stop there, however. Breitlight® also has a high resistance to scratches, traction and corrosion.
Being extremely lightweight helps the wearability of this watch. In fact, the rubber straps would almost weigh more than the case itself. The only drawback from the casing on the Endurance Pro is that it only comes with a water resistance of 100m (10bar). Breitling should have designed it to be at least 200-300m, so athletes can wear it during water sports, knowing that it won’t affect the watch.
The bezel features a tachymeter scale integrated alongside a compass with the four cardinal points (N, E, S, W) shown. The Breitling Endurance Pro can be used as a sun compass. To do this varies on which hemisphere you are on. In the Northern Hemisphere, point the hour hand precisely towards the sun. Now on the watch dial, the point located midway between current hour and 12 o’clock indicates South, with North being exact opposite direction. The same procedure is used for Southern Hemisphere, however North will be indicated first with South being directly opposite. Since the Endurance Pro is targeted as an outdoor’s watch, the compass is a useful feature, something that can be quite helpful when hiking in the mountains.
Dial Design:
While the dial on the Endurance Pro does stand out, it is more on the busy side. The large Arabic hour indices at 3, 6 and 9 have been partially cut away to make room for the sub-counters.
The sub-counters themselves include a 1/10th of a second counter at 2 o’clock, a constant second counter at 6 o’clock and a 30-minute counter at 10 o’clock position. A date window has also been subtly added in between the 4 o’clock and 5 o’clock position. Breitling has also integrated a pulsometer scale into the inner bezel. The pulsometer scale is what’s used to measure the heartbeat, which can certainly come in handy during high-intensity exercises.
While the dial is packed with detail and features, what brings it to life is the use of colour and its use on the different elements of the dial. Depending on the colour watch chosen for the Endurance Pro (navy, orange, red, yellow and white), the dial will feature the chosen colour. For our yellow model, the inner bezel pulsometer scale is done in yellow, which certainly makes this piece stand out.
The outer lining on the 3,6,9 hour indices along with the minute track is also done in yellow. These yellow features match nicely with the bezel and start button for the chronograph, which is in yellow too.
The other features of the dial are mostly in white (hour indices, hands, brand logo and inscriptions), with the chronograph seconds hand and the tips of the 2 o’clock and 10’clock counter hands being done in red. The colours all come together very nicely to contrast and stand out really well against the black background. Even if you are not a fan of busy dials, the choice of colours and it’s use to bring the dial to life might be enough to change your thinking.
Movement:
Breitling’s SuperQuartz™ movement has been powering every timepiece in the brand’s Professional range, and the Endurance Pro is no exception. To be exact, the COSC-certified Breitling Calibre 82 is what powers the Endurance Pro. Although this is a quartz movement, Breitling’s refinement to make it SuperQuartz™ means that this is a highly precise movement.
The accuracy of the movement is stated by the brand as being +/- 10 seconds a year, which is lot more precise than the baseline given by COSC for quartz watches (+/- 25sec/year). Breitling states that the battery life of the Calibre 82 SuperQuartz™ is roughly 3-4 years.
How does it wear:
When you first hold the Breitling Endurance Pro, you’ll notice almost immediately how light the watch is. At approximately 65 grams, this timepiece is incredibly lightweight. As we mentioned already, when playing sports or doing physical activities, this is an absolute bonus. I wore the Endurance Pro out to the driving range, and the lightness of the watch made it so comfortable to wear during the gruelling swings I put it through.
At 44mm case sizing, it can be on the large side, but Breitling can’t make the watch any smaller without making the dial extremely cluttered. I’m not an overall fan of busy dials, and the Breitling Endurance Pro is up there, however, once you get used to it, legibility becomes easier of course. The diver pro strap being most likely the heaviest part of the watch is also very comfortable to wear.
While this is marketed as an outdoor sports watch, I wore it out to dinner and out with friends to gauge the reactions and was pleasantly surprised to see how much people like this timepiece.
The yellow colour accents on the dial and case along with the yellow diver pro rubber strap certainly help this cause, with the watch being able to stand out from some distance. If the diver pro strap is not to your liking, Outerknown ECONYL® yarn NATO straps can be purchased separately, with strap colours that match the dial.
If you are a fitness fanatic or sports enthusiast, Breitling has released a Strava Challenge alongside with Endurance Pro. Strava is the world’s leading app for runners and cyclists. As Breitling states “the Breitling Endurance Pro Strava Challenge was created to engage and motivate participants from all over the world”. The challenge comes with some nice rewards as well including a Breitling Colnago C64 bike, Breitling Endurance Pro watches, and Breitling jersey kits.
So how is one eligible to win these fantastic prizes? Competitors will have to complete 500 minutes in the activities of their choice, which can be swimming, running cycling, hiking or another sport. Participants in the Breitling Endurance Pro Strava Challenge will have roughly two weeks to complete the 500 minutes. The winners will be selected at random from the pool of competitors that complete the challenge.
The Breitling Endurance Pro can be a watch that you either like or don’t at first sight. The busy dial can certainly deter people that prefer a cleaner and simpler look, but then again this watch was made for athletes and fitness enthusiasts, so the amount of information on the dial is not gone to waste.
The fact that this is also a quartz timepiece can be a deterrent for some watch buyers. However, the Endurance Pro is no ordinary quartz, with Breitling’s SuperQuartz™ making this a highly precise timepiece. With the Endurance Pro also being extremely lightweight and available in some exciting and vibrant colours, this is a timepiece that is coming from a luxury brand with a rich history, making the Breitling Endurance Pro occupy a unique position among sports watches.
Breitling Endurance Pro Specification:
Model Reference: X82310A41B1S1
Case Diameter: 44mm
Dial: Black
Case: Breitlight®
Functions: Hours, Minutes, Seconds and Chronograph
Movement: Breitling 82
Battery Life: 3-4 years
Water Resistance: 100m
