Breitling Superocean Heritage Rubber Strap

Before we discuss the Breitling Superocean Heritage, we should discuss the Breitling storied history. Breitling is one of the most sought-after brands due to its long history and its focus on timepieces for pilots and divers alike. It has been producing high-quality timepieces since 1884.

Breitling was founded in St. Imier, Switzerland by Léon Breitling during the renaissance of watchmaking. Many of the finest watchmakers grew up in Switzerland in the mid to late 1800s into the early 1900s. Breitling grew steadily and in 1892 they moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, which was at the heart of the watchmaking industry.

Breitling is probably best known for its contribution to the development of chronographs. In 1896, Léon Breitling invented the chronograph which was accurate to 2/5ths of a second. Later in 2005, he came up with the idea of the tachymeter for automobiles which was the precursor to the watch tachymeter and the modern-day speedometer.

Léon’s son, Gaston Breitling, introduced the first push-piece to a chronograph at the 2 o’clock position in 1915. This “pusher” stopped and started and also reset the chronograph functions. He eventually added the reset feature to the “Crown” in 1923, which was a big improvement over the single pusher.

Léon’s grandson, Willy Breitling, continued to improve the chronograph function. He decided to split the pusher functions by adding a second pusher to the 4 o’clock position in 1934. This used a separate register which allowed the wearer to reset the stopwatch function. This design was so inventive that it became the go-to design for almost every chronograph that has been made since. It is copied by nearly every watchmaker to this day.

Knowing the history of Breitling as the leader in chronograph design, watch designer Jack Heuer 1967 offered to share costs with Breitling to design the first self-winding chronograph. Up until this time and even into the 1970’s chronographs all used a manual winding caliber. Codenamed “Project 99”, the resulting movement became the legendary Calibre 11, which was launched in 1969. It was arguably the first self-winding chronograph design ever made.

Breitling Superocean

The Superocean brand has been in production since 1957. Unlike some brand lines which have one design, the Superocean has multiple designs, sizes, and functions. The Superocean released multiple-sized timepieces and timepieces that came with and without chronograph functions.

The early Superoceans had very few markings on the dial, and yet made advances in luminescence and stylistic improvements. One of the key features of the Superocean was its 200-meter waterproofness. Due to the popularity of the Superocean, Breitling decided to reinvigorate the brand by introducing new brands that had the same look and features as the original Superocean.

Breitling Superocean Heritage

The Breitling Superocean Heritage is an iconic brand with multiple designs to fit your needs and goals. Launched in 2007, the Breitling Superocean Heritage brand differs from the modern Superocean because it focuses specifically on the simplicity of the Breitling dive watches of the 1950s whereas the current Superocean focuses on extending the modern capabilities of the dive watch.

Breitling Superocean Heritage II

The Breitling Superocean Heritage II collection was released in 2017 to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Superocean brand. There are multiple Heritage II models. Just like the Superocean Heritage, the Heritage II collection emulated the models produced in the 1950s. The timepieces included case sizes of 42mm, 44mm, and 46mm. Each model supported 600 feet of water resistance.

There were several versions of the Superocean Heritage II, with multiple colors and configurations including base models with just the regular hour, minute, and seconds hands, and more elaborate models with a full chronograph function.

Breitling Superocean Heritage Today

Today there are several new Superocean Heritage versions. Several Superocean Heritage Chronographs have a 44mm case and feature pushers at both the 2 and 4 o’clock positions. It has 3 dials at 6, 9, and 12 o’clock and a Full Day and Date aperture indicating the weekday in 3 letter digits, and the numerical day of the month. Other chronographs have the more traditional dial structure located at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock with the date aperture between the 4 and 5 o’clock positions.

These new chronographs also come with a rubber mesh strap or a steel mesh strap. Costs range between 4500 to around 9500, largely depending on whether gold is added to the case or not. Aftermarket Breitlings may be found cheaper, but interestingly, the oldest Heritage series seems to be rising in price due to collector demand.

Rubber Straps for Breitling

Rubber B has developed an extensive array of bands for Breitling. You can see the entire Breitling watchband collection here. However, Rubber B has paid special attention to the various versions of the Superocean Heritage series. They support Superocean and Superocean Heritage brands with the case size of 42mm, 44mm, 46mm, and 48mm.

Rubber B has long been known to be the premier leader in the rubber watch band industry, often coming up with new and inventive designs that are often emulated but rarely copied. All Rubber B bands are designed and produced in Switzerland, ensuring the quality of each band that is produced.

Rubber B uses only the finest vulcanized rubber. Even 2-tone color designs are fused together without glues, dyes, or other adhesives, ensuring a nearly perfect watchband that can last for years with minimal maintenance. It is for this reason that Rubber B bands continue to look new even when wearing them during sports, swimming, or in the ocean.

The Rubber B lineup keeps changing and new colors and styles are added to each brand as time goes on. For example, the new Swimskin model offers a vegan-friendly, 100% rubber, the leather band in both black and brown. It looks like real calf leather and has the same texture that you would find in true leather. However, since it is a unique machine process that creates this design into actual vulcanized rubber, this “leather” band will truly be ready for all kinds of athletic activities including swimming, without destroying the band. For more information visit our Breitling page here.