Breitling Colt GMT Ref. A32350, 2000s

Identity

Breitling Colt GMT, steel, Ref. A32350, late 2000s. Automatic movement, Breitling calibre 32 based on the ETA 2893-2, COSC-certified chronometer. Steel case, 41 mm in diameter, unidirectional rotating bezel with four rider tabs engraved at the quarters, signed screw-down crown, back engraved with the reference, water-resistant to 500 metres. Midnight blue dial with concentric finish, applied luminous Arabic numerals, 24-hour scale on an inner ring, date aperture at 3 o'clock, luminous baton hands, GMT hand with a red arrow tip and red central seconds with a luminous dot. Sapphire crystal. Breitling Professional steel bracelet, signed folding clasp with safety catch.

Horological context

Founded in 1884 in Saint-Imier by Léon Breitling, the maison devoted itself from the start to short-time measurement. In 1915 Gaston Breitling signed a chronograph with a central seconds hand and a thirty-minute counter; 1923 brought the first pusher separate from the crown, then 1934 the second pusher, which split the reset from the stop — the two-pusher command that became universal. In 1952 the Navitimer and its circular slide rule were adopted by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association as its official watch, whose logo appears on the first examples. Ernest Schneider bought the brand from the family in April 1979, then presented the Chronomat in 1984, designed for the Italian aerobatic team Frecce Tricolori: it is from that watch that the four-tab bezel comes. The Colt appeared in the same decade, conceived for military use before being released to civilians; the line was discontinued in 2020.

Character

The four tabs on the bezel are no ornament: they let it be turned with gloves on or wet hands, and they are the line's visual signature. The dial states its credentials in full — COLT, CHRONOMETRE, AUTOMATIC, GMT, 500M/1650FT — where others keep them for the caseback. Reading happens on two levels: local time on the outer minute track, the second time zone on the inner twenty-four-hour ring, pointed to by a red arrow. Five hundred metres of water resistance on a travelling watch: a diver's depth carrying a pilot's complication.

Serviced. Normal patina and wear consistent with age. Delivered with the Contre-Temps box and the Contre-Temps 24-month warranty certificate.