Breitling Top Time B31 Showcases the Brand’s First In-House, Time-Only Caliber

The Breitling Top Time collection, which began with a limited edition in 2020, is one of the newest product families to join the Swiss brand’s modern portfolio, but historically it is much older, with roots stretching back to the 1960s and that era’s free-spirited culture of hot rods and motorbikes. Like those early models — one of which famously made its way to a key role in a James Bond movie, 1965’s Thunderball, which helped put it on the pop-cultural map — the modern Top Time watches offer an unconventional, energetic take on the chronograph and a clear aesthetic tie to classic cars and motorcycles of its ancestors’ heyday. With today’s launch of the Top Time B31, however, Breitling takes the collection beyond its chronograph roots and marks a historical new step with the introduction of the first three-handed, time-only movement that Breitling has ever designed and developed in-house.

All three of the Top Time B31 time-only models feature a 38mm steel case that should hit the sweet spot for many 21st Century enthusiasts and which represents a clear move toward understatement compared to the 41mm chronograph versions, aka the Top Time B01. Like the chronographs, these three new time-only models display a decided affinity for color contrasts and dial elements that pop; each has a central seconds hand in bright orange that stands out against the main dials, in green, blue, or a two-tone execution that frames a white dial with a sky blue outer ring. At 3 o’clock, the B31’s sole complication, a date display, commands attention with a magnifying lens over its window, reminiscent of Rolex’s Cyclops-lens dates. Each watch pairs with either a three-row stainless steel bracelet or a calfskin leather strap with perforations that call to mind vintage leather gloves worn by racing drivers.

The real story here — to employ the obvious automotive metaphor — is under the hood. Breitling ushered in a new era of vertical integration with the epochal launch of its first in-house movement, Caliber B01, in 2009. Appropriately for a watchmaker historically associated with chronographs, that movement has an integrated ¼-second stopwatch driven by a classical column wheel. Caliber B01 has provided the base for a relatively small variety of descendants, including Caliber B04, which adds a GMT function to the chronograph, and just last year, Caliber B19, which pairs the chrono with a perpetual calendar. Believe it or not, up until now, Breitling has not created a stripped-down, three-handed movement, sans chronograph, based on the B01, opting instead for outsourced movements for its three-handers in series like the Superocean. 

After four years in development, that movement, Caliber B31, is finally here. It measures a modest 28mm in diameter and 4.8mm thick to accommodate the reduced case dimensions here. It includes several elements that are standard on other Breitling manufacture calibers, including a free-sprung balance wheel that improves precision, a skeletonized rotor, and an array of high-horology finishing, like côtes de Genève and perlage, which can be viewed through the watches’ sapphire casebacks. Also in keeping with Breitling’s in-house output, this movement is COSC-certified for chronometric performance — a standard arrived at through what Breitling says is a testing regimen equivalent to 16 years of use. Its power reserve is even slightly higher than the impressive 70 hours offered by Caliber B01, reaching up to 78 hours of running autonomy when fully wound.

All three models of the Breitling Top Time Caliber B31 carry an MSRP of $5,600 on the straps and $5,900 on the steel bracelets. All come backed by Breitling's five-year warranty.