INTRODUCING: The Breitling Avenger Blackbird 44

Felix Scholz

The story in a second: Breitling shave 4mm off their big, bad Avenger Blackbird, making it a whole lot more wearable.

As watch brands go Breitling isn’t exactly subtle. It takes a fairly tremendous amount of self-confidence to promote your watch as being tougher, more precise and generally more badass than a freaking aircraft carrier. Confused? Check out the video below, preferably on an big screen with big sound. Sure, the Avenger is probably better at telling the time than the USS Nimitz, but I suspect the Nimitz has the edge on the unleashing deadly payload front.

But somehow it works. Breitling make unashamedly bold and masculine watches, and they make them well. Take the new Avenger Blackbird 44, even the name is cool, sounding like a backup character in the latest Marvel movie. But Breitling realise that not everyone has the forearm firepower that can handle a 48mm case (the sizing of the previous Avenger), and they’ve scaled it down to a large, but more manageable 44mm.

Everything else is business as usual though – the titanium case with DLC coating backs up the promise of the Avenger’s ‘Blackbird’ claim. Dial and strap are also black, the only accents being the luminous materials and splashes of red on the dial and at the tip of the seconds hand. Thankfully though all the textures of black are quite different; the case as a satin finish, the dial a textured matte one and the strap is woven nylon.

44mm is the right size for this watch, large enough to do the hyper-masculine aesthetic justice, yet small enough to avoid dinner plate syndrome. Breitling know who they are, and know what they do well – and I suspect they’re onto a winner here.

Breitling Avenger Blackbird 44 Australian pricing

The Avenger Blackbird in a 44mm case has a retail price of $6620.