I’m quite fond of the Chronoliner watch that was launched last year by Breitling Replica Watches. It wasn’t Breitling’s first vintage-inspired watch, of course – there’s the entire Transocean collection for that – but I thought that the Chronoliner offered a better mix of vintage-inspired looks and modern toughness and reliability.

The case is still crafted out of steel, but it has been given a carbon-based treatment which makes it black but, more importantly, also makes it more resistant to the rigors of daily wear. The case size and thickness are both unchanged at 46mm and 15.95mm, respectively, which means that the Breitling Chronoliner Blacksteel Replica is a big, chunky watch but not out of the norm by Breitling standards. It has also retained the black bidirectional ceramic bezel and vintage-style pushers which I love. Water resistance is 100m, which is only fitting for a sports watch.

What has changed, however, is the dial, hands, and strap. Instead of the “panda” dial with cream-white subdials, the AAA  Breitling Chronoliner Blacksteel Fake Watch has, you guessed it, an all-black dial. That said, legibility isn’t hampered because the subdials are slightly recessed and come in a slightly lighter shade.

The other major change is the strap. While the Chronoliner was offered in a choice of Breitling’s Ocean Classic mesh strap or a Navitimer style steel bracelet, the Cheap Breitling Replica Chronoliner Blacksteel will be offered with a rather unusual rubber strap that has been designed to mimic the look of mesh straps. Breitling calls this the Rubber Aero Classic rubber strap.

Finally, the hands have been given a blacked-out treatment as well, but legibility doesn’t seem to have been adversely affected since the hands and hour markers have generous amounts of luminescence on them. That said, the Breitling Replica GMT hand does seem to be a little difficult to spot since it’s so small, but this is a problem that’s carried over from the older Chronoliner.