Breitling Introduces the Endurance Pro

Sporty, fun, and lightweight.

While best known for its mechanical aviator’s chronographs, Breitling has a diverse history of quartz watches for professionals, most notably the multi-function Aerospace and the Emergency with a built-in distress beacon. The latest in Breitling’s range of quartz instrument watches is the sporty and casual Endurance Pro.

The quintet of watches share the same black dial and carbon composite case, but with the dial flange and strap in five bold colours. While the colours are fun, the utility of the watch is taken care of with a chronograph and bidirectional rotating bezel that can be used as a solar compass.

Initial thoughts

As a sports watch, the Endurance Pro gets many elements right. For one, it is notably lightweight despite its large size. The case is made of Breitlight, an proprietary carbon composite – carbon fibres within a polymer – that is three times lighter than titanium, making it unobtrusive on the wrist.

Second, while mechanical movements have more appeal for enthusiasts, a quartz calibre more practical for a sports watch. Compared with a balance wheel, a quartz oscillator is less susceptible to external influences such as shock, magnetism, and orientation. And a quartz sports watch is convenient, it can be picked up and worn right away, with no winding or adjustment necessary.

Even though the Endurance Pro is the most affordable quartz watch made by Breitling (and also its lowest-priced men’s watch), the price tag is still US$3,000, which is expensive for what it is, even with the ultra-light case and high-end quartz movement.

Design and function

The colours and 44 mm size give the watch a masculine, sporty look. Legibility appears good, and the dial flange features a pulsations scale, a useful tool for athletes to measure their heart rate.

Also practical is the rotating bezel engraved with cardinal points, allowing it to be used as a solar compass. It’s a simple matter of aligning the hour hand with the sun, and the midpoint between the hour hand and 12 o’clock indicates south. Turning the bezel to mark south then allows for an easy reading of the other cardinal points.

High-accuracy quartz

While quartz movements are more stable than their mechanical counterparts, a quartz oscillator is susceptible to temperature changes. That’s because the high frequency vibration of the quartz crystal – which functions as the regulator of the movement – varies according to temperature.

A version of the Thermoline movement made by ETA, the SuperQuartz cal. 82 in the Endurance Pro addresses the problem with a sensor that measures ambient temperature, and then adjusts the digital regulating algorithm of the movement to compensate for the temperate-induced variations in frequency.