BREITLING AVENGER SEAWOLF LE
Model: Seawolf LE
Maker: unknown
Movement: a2836
Dealer: Hont
Soooo, where shall I begin?
I was browsing the forums a few months back and noticed a thread where somebody was asking if this rep had been released. It wasn't, but looking at the gen made me think it was a very nice watch and I would have liked it to be repped because I wanted it.
Naturally it went out of my mind in a second, as I'm always searching for new watches to add to my collection and find new "wanted" ones almost every day
Then suddenly, a few weeks ago it was released. Quick look at the pics (the seawolf is a not so new rep and I knew it as a well made one) and bam! Ordered.
You know, always research the watches you want to buy in order to not be disappointed...
When I received it my feelings were mixed. The watch looks great and has a great wrist presence, but the construction quality is not what I expected.
Now, after owning it for a week and wearing it a couple of times I can say I'm satisfied with it, as I said it looks nice indeed. But it has a bunch of noticeable flaws that can be not so easy to live with, so I hope to do good to the forum members by trying and point them out so that a possible buyer know what to expect.
Please forgive some speckles of dust in the pics, black DLC and white velvet don't go well together!
Here we go:
CASE
The case is full DLC'ed, with a slightly brushed, semi-matte finish. Color is darker than the gen pics I've seen, but still nice. I expected a "gunmetal" color, it is instead almost black.
Case shape is close to gen, but the curve of the lugs, as you can see from the side view, should be rounder.
BEZEL
Bezel is brushed in the outer ring and polished in the inner side, giving a nice contrast.
The bezel turns in one direction only as per gen, all numbers are well engraved and number 1 don't look like "flagpoles".
It is not very tight though and the clicks aren't as crisp as, say, my H-fac skyland avenger.
Moreover, some dings can be observed under the coating, probably from poor machining of the bezel.
PEARL
The pearl was a great issue on this one, apparently it was coated in the DLC process, so I had to remove a black layer that was covering it and manage to scratch badly the pearl that was laying under it
I then had to remove the pearl holder, brush it a bit to remove the bits of DLC that was there and reglue it in place.
What can I say, it was my first attempt at a kind of "modding" thing, and even though the result is FAR from acceptable, I'm still happy with it. Call it a lesson learned
CROWN
The crown is another detail that could have been done way better.
It has the correct shape, and the "B" is enough defined, but the finish on it is matte, different than the rest of the watch. That's not so noticeable on the wrist but still...
DIAL
Dial is black with yellow accents (red accents are available as well).
Lume dots and metal indices are well placed, Breitling logo is nice and not crooked, hands are nice as well. The yellow seconds hand is what sold me to this watch
Date is perfectly centered.
The BREITLING inscription under the 12 marker has wrong font, not very noticeable flaw but it's there.
Lume is fairly weak and AR is good but not exceptional.
CASEBACK
Caseback is polished ss as per gen, and all the engravings are very well defined. Shape is nice from the side and it looks pretty good, in contrast with the black case.
Pity it shows the wrong model number, the reference is that of the Chronomat Evolution. Again, no biggie but another flaw to add to the list
STRAP
Strap is very nice both in color and feel. It's very soft and has nice grain, the underside is made of smooth leather that gives a very comfortable feel on the wrist. At least no need to change this one
CONCLUSIONS
It is a nice watch, and it gives his best on the wrist thanks to its great presence.
My take on this is that if you really like it you can live with the flaws, which are after all acceptable for a rep, and maybe have a bit of fun trying to fix some of them. I know I did
On the other hand, if you see it as just another watch to add to the wanted list, there are a lot of better made reps in the same 280-300 usd price range to choose. The Skyland Avenger, the Tudor BB and many of the 44 mm Luminor PAMs are the first that come to mind.
Some more pics:
Mandatory wristie:
As usual I'm glad to update with any findings by other members, so if you find any inaccuracy or anything I missed please let me know
:cheers:
Model: Seawolf LE
Maker: unknown
Movement: a2836
Dealer: Hont
Soooo, where shall I begin?
I was browsing the forums a few months back and noticed a thread where somebody was asking if this rep had been released. It wasn't, but looking at the gen made me think it was a very nice watch and I would have liked it to be repped because I wanted it.
Naturally it went out of my mind in a second, as I'm always searching for new watches to add to my collection and find new "wanted" ones almost every day
Then suddenly, a few weeks ago it was released. Quick look at the pics (the seawolf is a not so new rep and I knew it as a well made one) and bam! Ordered.
You know, always research the watches you want to buy in order to not be disappointed...
When I received it my feelings were mixed. The watch looks great and has a great wrist presence, but the construction quality is not what I expected.
Now, after owning it for a week and wearing it a couple of times I can say I'm satisfied with it, as I said it looks nice indeed. But it has a bunch of noticeable flaws that can be not so easy to live with, so I hope to do good to the forum members by trying and point them out so that a possible buyer know what to expect.
Please forgive some speckles of dust in the pics, black DLC and white velvet don't go well together!
Here we go:
CASE
The case is full DLC'ed, with a slightly brushed, semi-matte finish. Color is darker than the gen pics I've seen, but still nice. I expected a "gunmetal" color, it is instead almost black.
Case shape is close to gen, but the curve of the lugs, as you can see from the side view, should be rounder.
BEZEL
Bezel is brushed in the outer ring and polished in the inner side, giving a nice contrast.
The bezel turns in one direction only as per gen, all numbers are well engraved and number 1 don't look like "flagpoles".
It is not very tight though and the clicks aren't as crisp as, say, my H-fac skyland avenger.
Moreover, some dings can be observed under the coating, probably from poor machining of the bezel.
PEARL
The pearl was a great issue on this one, apparently it was coated in the DLC process, so I had to remove a black layer that was covering it and manage to scratch badly the pearl that was laying under it
I then had to remove the pearl holder, brush it a bit to remove the bits of DLC that was there and reglue it in place.
What can I say, it was my first attempt at a kind of "modding" thing, and even though the result is FAR from acceptable, I'm still happy with it. Call it a lesson learned
CROWN
The crown is another detail that could have been done way better.
It has the correct shape, and the "B" is enough defined, but the finish on it is matte, different than the rest of the watch. That's not so noticeable on the wrist but still...
DIAL
Dial is black with yellow accents (red accents are available as well).
Lume dots and metal indices are well placed, Breitling logo is nice and not crooked, hands are nice as well. The yellow seconds hand is what sold me to this watch
Date is perfectly centered.
The BREITLING inscription under the 12 marker has wrong font, not very noticeable flaw but it's there.
Lume is fairly weak and AR is good but not exceptional.
CASEBACK
Caseback is polished ss as per gen, and all the engravings are very well defined. Shape is nice from the side and it looks pretty good, in contrast with the black case.
Pity it shows the wrong model number, the reference is that of the Chronomat Evolution. Again, no biggie but another flaw to add to the list
STRAP
Strap is very nice both in color and feel. It's very soft and has nice grain, the underside is made of smooth leather that gives a very comfortable feel on the wrist. At least no need to change this one
CONCLUSIONS
It is a nice watch, and it gives his best on the wrist thanks to its great presence.
My take on this is that if you really like it you can live with the flaws, which are after all acceptable for a rep, and maybe have a bit of fun trying to fix some of them. I know I did
On the other hand, if you see it as just another watch to add to the wanted list, there are a lot of better made reps in the same 280-300 usd price range to choose. The Skyland Avenger, the Tudor BB and many of the 44 mm Luminor PAMs are the first that come to mind.
Some more pics:
Mandatory wristie:
As usual I'm glad to update with any findings by other members, so if you find any inaccuracy or anything I missed please let me know
:cheers:
