Hands On With The Breitling B31 Top Time

Breitling’s Top Time watches have been many things to many people since the brand first launched the Top Time collection in 1964. The collection started out as an effort by Breitling to make chronographs for a wider audience, and the designs had a broader appeal than Breitling’s earlier dress chronographs and technical chronographs, like the Navitimer. The most famous Top Time is probably the model worn by Sean Connery in Thunderball, in 1965, in which Q branch fitted a Top Time with a Geiger counter. The collection was produced in a number of variants by Breitling until the late 1970s, and then, in 2020, Georges Kern, who became CEO in 2018, brought the name back, and the colorful, eye-catching designs as well (no Geiger counter though, at least not yet). Since then, Top Times have still been mostly chronographs but the technical brief has broadened (there are even Top Time tourbillon chronographs, believe it or not) and last March, Breitling launched the Top Time B31, which is a time and date, 38mm x 10.3mm watch in stainless steel, with 100M water resistance and a new movement: the Breitling caliber B31, an automatic caliber with a 78 hour power reserve.

The B31 is available in three different dial variations (white with a light green chapter ring – you might want to call it pistachio, which is sort of the flavor of the month for dial colors right now – deep green with a black chapter ring, in which the green’s pretty close to British racing green; and deep blue, with a white chapter ring. The watches in general all have the same combination of bright colors and slightly retro design cues found in the other Top Time watches, with the B31 establishing a lower bound on case diameter (the upper is 44mm, found in the Top Time Tourbillon Chronographs).

One hesitates to say nowadays that a watch “pops” in the same way that I hope restaurant critics hesitate to say “cooked to perfection,” but what can I tell you; the watch pops. The orange seconds hand against the deep blue dial gives some great contrast, which I think the saturation of the dial demands; the blue is deep enough that without a strong contrast it would probably overwhelm the rest of the dial and feel a little heavy. Orange on blue adds some drama to what might otherwise be a slightly self-effacing design; it’s like a flicker of heat lightning on a summer night.

There are two reasons to have a date magnifier on a wristwatch; the first is perhaps the most relevant for the younger set, which is that it looks cool; the second is more relevant to those of us struggling with age-onset presbyopia, which is that it makes it easier to see the date. The cyclops magnifier also adds visual interest to the dial and gives the B31 some of its additional idiosyncratic, vintage-ne0-retro appeal, which is obviously deliberate and if you don’t believe me, ask this guy.

Austin Butler, B31 Ambassador

On to the movement. The caliber B31 is as we have said, a collab between Breitling and Manufacture AMT; Breitling said on the release of the B31, that ” … for the production of components, the Breitling Chronometrie relies on its network of trusted suppliers, while movement assembly will be shared by Breitling and on a dedicated line with AMT in La Chaux-de-Fonds.” Caliber B31 is 28mm x 4.8mm, running at 28,800 vph in 26 jewels.

The movement gives the impression of a very precisely made and well designed machine. Finishing is machine applied and neatly done, with sharp, clear transitions between polished bevels and other surfaces. There’s an interesting radial brushing patter on the rotor, with tightly spiraled brushing near the center that gradually opens up towards the edge of the winding weight. The going train is designed to support a center seconds hand, with the fourth wheel pivot directly under the center of the winding rotor. The balance is freesprung, with a flat balance spring and adjustable rim weights for bringing the watch to time and the movement is chronometer certified by the COSC. Overall, it looks like a very sturdy, reliable piece of work and should give many years of reliable service; Breitling seems to have a great deal of confidence in the design and although it’s only been a few months since the movement debuted, it’s already in not only the Top Time B 31, but also in the recently revised Superocean Heritage collection.

In addition to COSC certification, the B31, per Breitling, undergoes a further 16-year aging simulation that includes 100,000 crown winds, 3,456,000 weight turns, and 60,000 shocks at 500 G, among other extreme challenges.

This is another solid offering from Breitling, with an in-house designed, high spec chronometer movement, a great size, and just enough vintage era, original Top Time adjacent design cues to keep things interesting without falling into the trap of actual imitation, as well as being versatile enough for the office, or, hey, sitting on a motorcycle in the middle of the desert wearing a biker jacket and scuffed up jeans. A great example of a daily driver done well.

The Breitling B31 Top Time: case, stainless steel, 38mm x 10.3mm, water resistance 100 meters; sapphire crystals front and back; front crystal cambered with double AR coating. Movement, Breitling manufacture caliber B31, 28mm x 4.8mm, running at 28,800 vph in 26 jewels and chronometer certified by the COSC; bidirectional winding with 78 hour power reserve. The B31 Top Time, on strap as shown, $5600; $5900 on a stainless steel, three link across bracelet with folding clasp. The 1916 Company is proud to be an authorized retailer for Breitling watches; see our Top Time collection, as well as our collection of pre-owned Breitling watches.