Breitling Avenger Bandit

 The Watch

Breitling doesn't make this watch anymore. The Avenger Bandit ran from 2016 until its retirement from the catalogue, and it remains the only Avenger built entirely in titanium: 45 mm of it, satin-brushed across every surface, with no polished metal on the case to catch light or pick up a scratch. If you've passed on the Avenger line because steel at this size wears like a brick, this is the one that fixes it. All of the watch, a fraction of the weight, and a grey-on-grey look the current catalogue has nothing like.

It's a proper instrument up close. Grid-textured crown and pushers, a unidirectional bezel turning through 120 clicks with rider tabs at three, six, nine and twelve, and a red-tipped chronograph hand that's the only color on the dial. The automatic Calibre 13 is COSC-certified, running a 12-hour chronograph at 28,800 vibrations per hour, and the titanium caseback carries the Avenger's engraved conversion table. Water resistance is 300 metres. The anthracite strap is genuine Breitling and brand new, so the one part of a pre-owned watch that usually shows its age arrives here untouched. I've fitted it with a polished stainless tang buckle, the single polished piece on an otherwise all-brushed watch.