Breitling Introduce New Heritage Premier B01 Chronograph Collection

Back in 2019, Breitling released a new take on their classic Premier, a model with a storied history of elegant chronographs. The difference was that these newer pieces were sportier, more high-contrast and generally a lot more contemporary. But as the past few Premier releases in 2021 have shown, there’s much more demand for heritage designs, so it was only a matter of time before Breitling went full vintage and replaced 2019’s Premier’s entirely. So, here we are, with the new Breitling B01 Heritage Chronograph collection.

If you liked Breitling’s 2021 capsule collection, you’ll like these. Let’s get that right out of the way, there’s very little surprise here. We’re talking elegant, 42mm chronographs with a variety of nice, safe dials ranging from blue, black and green to overtly vintage salmon and cream variations. What it’s lacking is that superb pistachio we’ve come to know and love, though I’m expecting that’ll crop up sooner rather than later.

There are a few cool little dial details. For example, the minutes sub-counter has elongated indexes that in historical models would have been used while on a payphone to let you know when you’re going to have to pay more. Not so useful now, but a cool, historically rooted touch nonetheless.

Bracelet-wise, the 7-link number is downright lovely and really feels like what these pieces should be on. There’s nothing wrong with the straps and generally for vintage-inspired models that’s what I’d suggest, but the bracelet here just looks and feels right. Especially on the full gold version with a cream dial, a gorgeous highlight.

Equipped with a column wheel chronograph and 70-hours of power reserve, the Calibre 01 movement’s as solid and expected as the design. It’s a great calibre and there’s a good reason it’s a Breitling mainstay.

So, what’s the hook here? Well, essentially these will be the new heritage baseline for Breitling in counterpoint to the modern pilots’ Navitimers and 60s retro Chronomats. The previous Premiers never really filled that niche and, despite being decent enough, didn’t have the cache of the new pieces.

And that’s it: a new collection into which Breitling can funnel their vintage aesthetics. At the moment it’s not ground-breaking, especially given 2021 and 2022s capsule drops that can’t help but overshadow it, but give it a couple of years. I’ve little doubt there’s a lot in the pipeline for the Premier B01 Heritage Chronograph.