Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 Six Nations Ireland Watch Review

While I’m one of the few people in Oracle Time HQ who doesn’t know his Arsenal from his West Ham, there are some sports I find myself enraptured by. Bizarrely it’s tennis and rugby that find themselves at the top of that list despite being at the opposite ends of the finesse spectrum. If you want a tennis themed watch, you should look at Richard Mille’s Rafael Nadal series. But for rugby, it has to be Breitling and their annual Six Nations collection. For 2025 they’ve launched the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 Six Nations and I have the Ireland edition here for review.

As an English publication, you might ask the question why aren’t we reviewing the English edition? Well, the core feature of these six watches is a brand new dial finish and under the bright lights of our photography studio it’s the Irish green that’s easier to see the details on rather than white. Breitling are calling it a ‘pitch finish’ and it consists of alternating bands of matte colour and metallic, horizontal brushing. It’s really successful at creating an impression of a rugby pitch with its striped lines in the grass.

Plus moving the watch under the light creates a really satisfying shimmer as the light plays across the contrasting details of the brushed and matte surfaces. While you’re moving the watch around to catch the light you can’t help but admire the case too. It’s just the standard Chronomat design but it suits the sporty vibes of the theme perfectly with its bold unidirectional bezel. At 40mm in steel it’s well sized on the wrist as well and the Rouleaux style bracelet is one of the most comfortable around (as a hirsute man, hairs getting trapped is a constant pain but here that’s never been an issue).

Breitling have been producing Six Nations watches for a few years now and each time they focus on a different complication. For the Breitling Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 Six Nations that means a dual time zone GMT complication. A central 24-hour hand points towards a peripheral 24-hour scale on the flange, allowing you to tell the time in two time zones simultaneously. You can advance the time on the GMT hand in two ways. When you change local time, the GMT hand will move proportionally with it or you can use the jump function to move it in intervals of one hour, making it easy to change the monitored time zone with ease. All of which is controlled by the very ergonomic, fluted, screw-down crown.

The fact it has a screw-down crown also helps to contribute to a 200m water resistance rating, building on the sporty versatility of the piece. As does the ultra-legible display with lumed baton hour markers and matching lumed hands. The colour of the GMT hand varies depending on the model so the Ireland one is white but England’s is red for example.

Turning the Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 Six Nations over reveals a solid caseback with the focal nation’s rugby union crest. It also denotes that the watch is ‘one of 250’ as each variant is a limited edition of 250. Beneath that caseback is housed the Breitling Calibre 32 with 42-hour power reserve and COSC chronometer certification. It’s based on the ETA 2893-2 automatic GMT. The fact it’s a chronometer helps ensure its accuracy and reliability as it’s been lab tested in multiple positions.

Each of the watches in the collection is priced at £4,950, which is the same as Breitling’s other Chronomat GMT 40 watches. I find it hard to judge the value of Breitling releases, it is a COSC chromometer but there are plenty of watches out there with similar quality for much less. But at the end of the day, Breitling itself carries a lot of cachet of its own and its own style that few in the industry come close to replicating.

More details at Breitling.

​Oracle Time 

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