Breitling Colt 41 Automatic
Welcome to the inaugural Strap This Watch feature post. I have had my Breitling Colt 41 Auto for about 2 years now. The little Colt is something of an anomaly in the Breitling line with a modest 41mm diameter and a slim sub 12mm thickness it wears incredibly well. You can purchase this watch on a nice leather strap or a stunning fully polished bracelet that is so shiny it could be used as reflector for the hubble telescope. It’s slim design and wonderfully textured dial make this watch a horological feast for the eyes.
You cannot think of Breitling without thinking of aviation. The two evolved together from early on in the companies history. The Colt however is more of a jack of all trades. This watch has plenty of Aviation chops, but it also has 200m of water resistance (with a screw down crown to boot) which is completely not needed for an aviation watch, and yet it is there. It has a robust ETA based movement that can take quite a bit of abuse and be reliable for years while being cheap to maintain. Like all Breitlings it has a bit of flash and bling that add some pizzaz to your wrist. So what the Colt manages to do quite successfully is that it is a bit of field watch, a bit of a dress watch, a bit of an aviation watch, and even a bit of a diver with enough water resistance you could actually dive with it. The Colt could VERY easily be a one watch collection. This is the exact reason picking a strap is so difficult for it.
Lets see how the watch was purchased:
This bracelet has been completely unbeatable so far in the two years I have owned it. Its polished link are every thing you would expect a Breitling to be (For better or worse depending on your view of the brand). I happened to love how it feels on the wrist and the way it shines and reflects everything around it. So the first step was removing that wonderful bracelet and seeing what we are dealing with.. LETS GO!
Okay, so we have a 41mm diameter watch with a 20mm lug width. The case is only 11.7mm thick. Case thickness is very important when picking watch straps. A thin watch can easily be overpowered by a strap that is too thick. The aesthetic becomes unbalanced when you have a strap thick enough to lift an Abrams Battle Tank on a 7mm thick dress watch that is only 36mm in diameter. When picking a strap give some thought to the thickness and the diameter of the watch case. The form factor of the case is just as important as the style of the watch itself.
That begs the question, so what is a thick strap? I really hate to say this, but the answer is it depends on the watch case. In general a 2.5 – 4mm strap is very universal. 1.5-2.5mm straps are normally dress straps make of very nice material (think Shell Cordovan or exotic skins). On the other end of the spectrum straps can be 7mm or more thick at the lugs. These are very rugged and purposeful straps that lend themselves very well to watches that can balance the weight of the strap (large divers or pilots watches are an example). The perfect strap balances style, case size, and material, function and wearability.
So without being too wordy, lets get started with some watches on Breitlings wonderful Colt 41 Auto!
Okay I admit this is a cop out. I purchased the Breitling blue leather strap immediately after I got the watch. It was pricey for a strap (over 230 dollars!), but the color match on the dial is spot on and that is hard to find. This is a good time to point out a VERY important fact about colored dials and straps. If you have a watch with a colored dial, and you want a colored strap, if you cannot match it PERFECTLY, do not even try. Instead, concentrate on using complimentary colors. I will have some examples of that coming up. Naturally if you can find Perfect color matches with the dial, your can choose threading color choices to bring out some other dial feature. It can be a very powerful using complimentary colors to bring out your dial as well.
This is an example of using complimentary colors to help bring out the dial. On the color wheel, orange is complimentary for blue, meaning it is on the opposite side of the wheel. This is an old interior design trick (I have watched A LOT OF HGTV with my wife, so I know this is a fact). This the Colareb Perugia Rust strap. It is 20mm tapering down to 18mm. The white stitches bring out the white rail road tracks in the dial. The orange tone of the strap helps the blue really stand out. I think this could be a very attractive strap. This strap is 3.3mm thick along its length so it will balance the watch out very nicely. Its slight taper is the middle ground between dress and sport and works well with the Colts universal appeal. The distressed leather also helps the crisp machined parts of the bezel and case stand out dramatically. That strap looks like it has lived a life worthy of a Colt. You can find it here on amazon. https://amzn.to/2Jv47To
We are changing pace pace to a more dressy strap. This is a Hadley Roma strap that is slightly padded. I reviewed this strap so have a look for it on my site at this link. (https://strapsense.com/2018/02/21/hadley-roma-ms885-20mm-brown-oil-tan-leather-contrast-stitched/). This strap is well made and elevates the Colt to a more dressy piece. The stitching is nicely done and again helps to compliment the white railroad on the dial. It has the same 20mm to 18mm taper that makes it easy to wear and look the part of sport and dress. This straps color is varied and has some pull up in the leather meaning it will pick up use and patina well. I like this strap, but it is probably not one I would pick to keep in this watch as I feel the design is a tad too dressy for the Colt.
This was fun as this is one of my all time favorite straps. This is the Hirsch James Performance strap. I had to try this strap as it is completely water proof while being a bit dressy and sporty. The construction is incredible and manages to walk the line of many aesthetics. I have had this strap many watches and I have yet to find one it is not at least good on. I think the orange tones in the brown really make the blue pop. The clean even coloring of the strap match the crisp machining rather than compete with it. I think they could have sold this watch with this strap. Breitling offers a very similar strap as an option when you buy the Colt 41 Auto, but it has no water resistance at all. This strap allows you to take the Colt on any adventure you dare and I think it is a really viable option to the bracelet. I really enjoyed reviewing this strap (https://strapsense.com/2018/03/12/hirsch-james-calf-leather-performance-watch-strap-in-gold-brown/) I wear it to this day.
This the the absolutely stunning Di-Modell Chronissimo. I adore this strap. I like it so much I prepared to buy a watch just to match its aesthetic (I am thinking Sinn or Damask). This strap begs to be put on an aviation watch. So I had to try it. But the Di-Modell has a trick up its sleeve. It is also water proof! So it matches the rugged do anything vibe of the watch. I actually wore this watch on this strap for a week during my review of the strap. I ended up putting it back on my Sinn 104. As much as I love this strap I think the blue dial just fights with the black strap. I also think this straps 7mm thickness and multilayer construction overpower the lugs of the Breitling. The Sinn 104 is also 41mm and is also about 12mm thick, but it has extremely beefy lugs that more match the strap. If I had the black Colt instead of the blue, this would almost CERTAINLY be THE strap for it.
I wanted to get out of my comfort zone with this one. You are looking at a Hirsch Croc embossed Leather strap. This strap is barely 2mm thick, and like the Di-Modell, I think the black just does not go wit the blue dial. Pairing black and blue is extremely difficult and I have never been successful trying that combination. However, other people may be wondering what it looks like and at the end of the day I am not doing this for myself. With that being said, if a blue croc strap could be found that had perfectly matching blue in it, I think it would look out of this world. It would be the quintessential dress strap for the Colt.
There is one word to describe this combo. Fun. This strap is one of my favorite straps. It is from Strapped for time. I did a full review on this strap as I did on all of the straps in this article (take a look at the Reviews tab on the main menu). This strap has all the style indicators that you would associate with a rally strap. And I would have to agree with you. But the Colt is about an active life and this strap exudes sport. Its color has just enough orange to compliment the dial and its padding and subtle taper just make this combo work! The white stitches bring out the white in the dial and when I see this strap on the Colt I tend to smile. It makes a potentially serious watch and make is squarely dress casual. I put this strap squarely into the definite possibility.
This is another interesting entry from Colareb. This is the Colareb Firenze Grey. I have to be honest, it is very much more blue than grey to me despite its description on Holbens website. Just like the last Colareb, this has a distressed leather look to it that I really like on this watch. It provides the same extreme contrast to the precision machined bezel and the two different finishes really add visual interest. I like the minimal stitching and more drastic 20mm to 16mm taper of this strap. This was pleasant surprise to me as I have never worn this strap on any watch since I bought it. The thickness is almost 4mm and it lends itself well to the sporty nature of the watch while the larger than average taper keep some err of elegance. Remember what I said about matching dial colors and strap. If it is not exact avoid it. Here, the distressed leather has many layers of color and the deeper ones really work with the blue dial nicely. Distressed leather gives you some wiggle room on this as they usually have depth and variety in their finishing. I may have to try this on the Colt for a while. I really like this and I did not think I would. Goes to show you that when shopping around you must take some risks.
Moving on we are looking at a very conservative choice, but not without some interest. This is the Crown and Buckle Ulrich Black label strap. This is a strap with thickness of a dress strap but the style of a vintage strap. It is decidedly brown but has some grey tones in it that mute the color and some how seems work with the steel of the watch. It has a beautiful taper from 20mm down to 16mm which emphasize the dressy and vintage nature of this strap. I think this strap is so unassuming it can work with darn near any watch. Its construction and quality allow it enhanced the watch without adding much to it. Some straps can change a watch. I think this strap is not one of those straps. This strap does a good job of letting the Colt just be the Colt. As much as I like this strap, I do not think I will ever wear it with this watch.
Okay now we are getting close. This is the Herren Marke hand made watch strap from Alabama I believe. This is about as rugged and rustic as they come. Thick dual layer construction give the impression that this strap has led many lives before you even attach it to the watch. While it is not particularly water resistant, I cannot help but love the patina and character this strap picks up. The strap has a 20mm to 18mm taper like others, but it seems to exude toughness and age better. I would never call this strap dressy, but looks like it was made out of an old bomber jacket. Which is why I love this strap on the Colt. The orange tones in the strap really bring out the Blue dial. The patina of the leather make the Colt feel older and special. This strap has so much going for it. I think on aviation watches like the Colt, it cannot miss.
I was not going to do this strap in this review. But for the sake of being thorough I had to. This is an Uncle Seiko 20mm Tropic style strap. This was my attempt to bring out the 200m water resistance the Colt has. Tropic strap have but one and only one purpose in life. They make vintage divers look amazing. I thought this was be a joke when I put it on, but man, I was shocked at just how well it worked. I said before black and blue are darned near impossible make work together, but to me this some how works. Not sure if I should give the credit to the watch or the strap here if I am honest. The tropic style strap is one of the all time most iconic straps ever made. It can elevate any watch to look like it was just saving the coral reef on a dive. I think it did an admirable job of making the Colt look like something Jacques Cousteau would wear.
Okay now we are getting close to some Leather Royalty. This is a bit of Chromexcel Leather from the legendary tannery in Chicago Horween. This leather embodies suppleness and ages well with incredible pull up that will pick up signs of wear and a life lived. I wanted to give this a try on the Colt as well. This leather comes in a variety of colors, and while I think the fit and thickness and taper are absolutely spot on, I think if the color was just a hair less dark and had more orange overtones, it would work even better. This is by far not a bad look. The strap really give s the Colt an old world look much like the Herren Marke and I think that is good thing.
At the end of the day we wear certain styles of watches for a reason. Often that reason is that we want to incorporate a piece of that lifestyle, be it diver, pilot, executive, what have you, into our own small part of the world. Straps allow us to tailor our watches even further to advance this narrative and that is a very good thing. I gave many examples of how a Colt can change with a strap change. Some worked better than others, and the end of this little experiment I learned a bit about the Colt 41 auto and how it can change to fit a style I may have not known I wanted. Self discovery is a fun and often undulating path. I hope you saw something in the Colt that you could use to pick a strap for your collection. I will still try more on my Colt, but I am walking away with two to three real options now. I could not be more pleased. Hope you enjoyed this journey!