In for review is the Panzera Breuer 47 Limited Edition. Stemming its inspiration from the German Bauhaus popular back in the 1950’s and 60’s for their minimalistic and timeless designs, today’s Breuer 47 fills the needs of those looking for that minimalistic and clean dress timepiece. If you remember, my college Don Evans reviewed the Breuer 44 almost a year ago to date, which initially turned me on to the brand. Check out Don’s review HERE: For those that like larger dress watches while keeping it classy, the Breuer 47 might be for you. With a retail price tag of $700USD, let’s break the watch down.
Panzera offers the Breuer 47 in 2 dial colors, black and cream, with a choice of either a leather strap or a shark mesh stainless steel bracelet. The exact model sent for review is the B47-02 Altos Ltd and was my preferred choice amongst the collection. The initial driving force for this watch was the color combination between the cream dial and the brown leather strap. The dial of the B47 really consumes you at first glance, as it’s a “full dial” pulling in at 44mm. Stainless steel index markers are used, adding a sharp and elegant feel of the dial. I think it was a strong move by Panzera to utilize a cream dial over a stark white, as the dial really does give you a strong vintage feel.
One gripe I do have with the dial is with the hour and minute hands. Yes, while both the hour and minute hands fit the minimalistic aesthetics of the dial, I did find it difficult to read, or should I say, find the hour and minute hands at times. When aligned with the chronograph seconds hand or the indices, both the hour and minute hand seem to disappear into the dial. While it’s definitely not a game changer, I would have liked to see slightly thicker hands.
Protecting the dial of the B47 is a domed mineral crystal. The crystal is coated with an anti-reflective coating, which only makes sense as domed crystals really bounce light. Truthfully speaking, I would have liked to seen a sapphire crystal used with the B47, not for any reason other than I personally have had better experiences with sapphire domed crystals -vs- mineral. Either way, you’re not going to 100% avoid the light bounce associated with a domed glass. In my opinion, sapphire has just proved to be the better choice. What’s your preferred choice for domed glass? Leave a comment below and let me know.
Powering the B47 is the Seagull ST-1901 hand-wound mechanical chronograph movement. The St-1901 packs a 40-hour power reserve and is equipped with a total of 23 jewels. For those of you unfamiliar with hand-wound mechanical movements, it can take some getting used to. Most are typically used to self-winding autos, where your only worry is put the watch on wrist everyday. Different game with the hand-wound, as you must manually wind the timepiece before the power reserve runs out. It may sound like a pain, but quickly becomes second nature and adds a classy characteristic to the watch.
The case of the B47 is composed of 316L stainless steel and is finished with a high polish. Complimenting the domed crystal, the bottom casing is rounded off giving the B47 an overall esthetic lateral appeal. The LTL measurement comes in at , with a lug width of . At the 3 o’clock position you will find the push-pull crown accompanied by the chrono pushers. The crown is easy to manipulate with its coined edging and is mildly engraved with the Panzera signature anchor.
Flipping the watch over you will find the screw down exhibition caseback (mineral) displaying the ST-1901 movement. Being a hand wound movement you get the full beauty of the movement on display without the rotor taking over the show. I really enjoy being able to not only watch the movement in general, but enjoy the chrono engagement as well. Engraved around the exterior portion you’ll find the Panzera name with the serial number for the timepiece. The Breuer 47 is a limited edition of 2000 watches, and at the time of this article is still available on their website.
As previously mentioned, the B47-02 Altos Ltd comes with a fine genuine brown leather strap with croc pattern. While not a real alligator strap, the quality of the strap on the B47, in my opinion, is superb over other croc pattern straps on the market. Securing the strap is a push button stainless steel deployment clasp, which has operated flawlessly and is built with good construction. Etched into the clasp is the PANZERA name, keeping minimal branding on the watch to the clasp and dial.
So what are my final thoughts on the Panzera B47-02 Altos Ltd – At the retail price of $700USD, I do wish that Panzera would have used a sapphire crystal for both the dial and caseback, but overall, I do like the watch. While the B47 may look large on wrist due to the 47mm dial, the watch does fit comfortably on my 7” wrist, and I have received many compliments on the timepiece from my colleges. Over the past couple of weeks on wrist, I have no complaints of the strap quality and seems it will hold the test of time. Apart from forgetting to wind the watch, operation of the movement has been flawless as expected. If you’re looking for a contemporary or classic German Bauhaus style mechanical watch, I do encourage you to check out the Breuer collection on Panzera’s website here:
Thank you to Panzera for supplying the B47 for review. Please feel free to leave your comments/questions in the section below.
