Movements

Both brands built their modern ranges on ETA bases and then on movements of their own, and the library holds the whole arc. Breitling's five most common calibers cover 53 per cent of its watches, and one of them, the in-house B01 chronograph, is inside 861 of them; the ETA-based Caliber 17 and Caliber 13 follow. Omega's five most common cover 38 per cent of its 3,794 across 177 movements, led by the 2500, the first co-axial caliber, with 398 watches and the quartz 1376 with 332; the largest of its Master Chronometer calibers here is the 8800, at 243.

Certification is where they differ in kind. Breitling submits every movement to the COSC, its quartz calibers included, and 17 per cent of its watches here are quartz. Omega tests the cased watch under Master Chronometer certification, 694 watches here across seventeen calibers, and the Master Chronometer piece sets out what the eight METAS tests measure.

Cases and depth

Breitling is the larger and the steelier: a median case of 43 mm against 38 mm, 71 per cent steel against 45, 9 per cent precious metal against 28. Both are diving brands, but Breitling rates more of its range deeper: 29 per cent of its watches here are rated to 300 m or more, against 15 per cent of Omega's, and the Avenger and Superocean go to 1,000 m and beyond. Omega's deepest are the Planet Ocean and the Ultra Deep at 6,000 m.

Half of the Omega watches here show their movement through a display back; a fifth of Breitlings do.

Chronographs

Twenty-one per cent of the Omega watches here are chronographs and 20 per cent of the Breitlings, the closest match in this library. The architectures differ: Breitling's B01 and Omega's 9300 and 9900 are column-wheel movements with vertical clutches, while the older ranges of both run the cam-actuated Valjoux 7750 the 7750 piece describes, and the Moonwatch's 3861 keeps its hand-wound cam architecture. The chronograph piece sorts them.

Breitling's rarity median is 2 and Omega's 4; 12 per cent of Breitlings here are limited editions and 8 per cent of Omegas.

The pairs

The Navitimer and the Speedmaster Moonwatch are the two famous chronographs, the pilot's and the astronaut's. The Superocean and the Seamaster Diver 300M are the divers, the Aerospace and the X-33 the analogue-digital instruments, and the Galactic and the Constellation the lines where both brands put their SuperQuartz and quartz calibers, the B71 and the 1376.