Breitling Superocean

Rated to 1,524 metres and fitted with a helium escape valve, the Breitling SuperOcean Professional reference A17045 was the brand's most serious dive tool of the late 1990s. This vintage Breitling SuperOcean grew out of the Colt SuperOcean of 1995, keeping that model's unidirectional bezel with its twelve screws and quarter-hour rider tabs, then adding the deeper depth rating and the valve that gave the Professional its name. Driving it is the Breitling Caliber 17, an ETA 2824-2 base assembled and regulated in-house, with a quick-set date.

This example carries the yellow dial, one of two catalogued colours for the reference and by far the more striking of them, with painted Arabic numerals and matching hands, a date aperture and an inner 24-hour scale. The 41 mm steel case is a genuinely substantial thing at roughly 15 mm thick, with a screw-down protected crown and a screw-down case back. Offered as a full set with its original box and papers.

The case back shows fine hairline scratches and swirl marks, and the bracelet links carry light surface scratches and scuffing. There are minor marks along the rotating bezel edge, the kind a dive bezel picks up from being used as one. The case shows minor signs of wear consistent with regular use.

It comes on a steel bracelet closed by a brushed steel folding clasp bearing the Breitling winged-B logo and engraved lettering.