The history of the Top Time dates back to 1964 when the first releases were made available. At this time, it was offered as a sporty, more everyday chronograph timepiece as opposed to the more ‘specialist’ chronographs of the time such as the Navitimer.
It was designed as a watch for the younger generation, something that they would enjoy and would fit in with a dynamic 1960s lifestyle. This accessible chronograph proved to be an immediate success and even adorned the wrist of Sean Connery starring as James Bond in the 1965 film Thunderball (in fact that specific watch ended up being purchased for £25 at a car boot sale, eventually selling at auction for £104,000!)
To ensure that the Top Time was appealing to a younger audience, it was available in a variety of chronograph scales and different designs, both bold and more traditional; for this 2020 reissue, Breitling have opted to use perhaps the most striking of these designs – the ‘Zorro’ dial (or sometimes the ‘Bowtie’ dial) from the reference 2003 model. I think this is perhaps the most befitting way to reintroduce such a watch to the modern market, with the new Breitling Top Time (reference A23310121G1X1).
Breitling Top Time
Breitling Top Time A23310121G1X1
The design of the dial certainly ensures that the Top Time stands out, and immediately gets – and holds – your attention. The white dial ensures that the unusual black ‘Zorro’ design stands out as much as possible, and the overall aesthetic is made further prominent by the red hands and red section of the chronograph minutes sub-dial at 3 o’clock.
Sub-dial with concentric circle decoration
A closer look at the dial reveals that each of the sub-dials are slightly recessed with concentric decoration for added intrigue. This decoration, coupled with the applied ‘B’ logo, multi-faceted applied hour indices, and cream coloured lume pips all combine to make the dial extremely interesting to look at. The angles of the indices play with the light just enough that you will catch yourself rolling your wrist and enjoying it a little more often than you might have initially imagined!
The polished stainless-steel case is a 41mm in diameter, and measures about 14.6mm thick. Whilst not a thin watch, it still wears comfortably owing to the diameter and also the lugs. At first when I saw the watch I thought the lugs appeared quite long, especially when you look at it head-on, however they are in fact fitted at a downwards angle which ensure that it sits quite comfortably on my 17cm / 6.5inch wrist.
The case is fitted with a sapphire crystal over the dial, and a closed caseback adorned with the Breitling logo and ‘One of 2000’. Despite this closed caseback, it is rated to only 30m (or 3 bar) water resistance, meaning that you should really avoid any kind of exposure to water where possible.
The movement inside is the COSC-certified Breitling 23 calibre, an automatic chronograph movement based on the Valjoux 7753, with 48 hours power reserve, a 30-minute chronograph counter and running small-seconds. The chronometer movement ensures accuracy to within -4 and +6 seconds a day.
Wearing the watch, you can occasionally feel the rotor of the movement spinning around inside the case if you happen to move your wrist in the right way. Personally, I quite like this as I find it a novel way to interact with a watch without looking at it, although I can imagine it might well annoy some folks. I particularly liked actuating the pushers for the chronograph, which takes quite a firm press and gives a hugely satisfying ‘click’!
The watch comes presented on a brown nubuck leather strap with white stitching and yellow underside, fastened using a pin and buckle which is beautifully curved and adorned with the Breitling logo. The strap is 20mm wide at the lugs and tapers to 18mm. The colour and texture of the strap are perfect for matching the vintage vibes of the piece overall.
Finally, the Top Time is the first instance of Breitling using a blockchain based digital passport, which serves as an immutable record of ownership, servicing, and more – you can read more about blockchain in the luxury watch industry here.
In Summary
The first time I saw this watch, I really liked it. The ‘Zorro’ dial is not something you see very often; I think in the right watch there it has a certain je-ne-sais-quoi about it, and I can see why Breitling chose to use this dial. This is most definitely the right watch for it, too – the longer I had it on my wrist, the more it grew on me, I found it to be quite simply an inherently cool watch.
With a 41mm diameter and it being quite thick, it certainly has some wrist presence, and so I wouldn’t recommend this to someone with a smaller size wrist or who prefers something smaller and more discreet. It is however ideal for people with a bigger wrist or a preference for a bigger, weightier watch that is sure to catch the eye. All in all, it is certainly not a bad way to spend £4,100!
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