Breitling Caliber 17

Brand	Breitling
Caliber Number	17, B17
In-House?	No
Base Caliber	ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW200-1
COSC?	Yes
Movement Type	Automatic, self-winding mechanical
Lignes	11.5”’
Diameter	25.6mm
Height	4.6mm
Power Reserve	~38 hours
Content Credit	calibercorner.com
Jewels	25 or 26 (see below)
Vibrations Per Hour	28,800 bph, 4Hz
Lift Angle	50 degrees
Shock Protection	Incabloc
Regulator	Etachron
Rotor Type	Ball bearing
Rotor Winding Direction	Bi-directional
Hand-Windable?	Yes
Hand Winding Direction	Clockwise
Functions	Central hours; central minutes; central sweeping seconds; date at 3:00 (could be different depending on the date window cutout on the dial)
Hacking Seconds?	Yes
Country of Manufacture	Switzerland, Swiss made
Known Models	SuperOcean, SuperOcean Steelfish, SuperOcean Pro, SuperOcean 42, SuperOcean 44, SuperOcean Heritage, Avenger Blackbird, Avenger Seawolf, Colt Auto, Colt Ocean Auto, Shark Auto,  (Add your watch in the comments below…)

The Breitling caliber 17 (sometimes called Breitling Calibre B17) is found in many automatic Breitling watches.

Is the B17 and in-house movement?

Beginners to the watch game often mistake movements like the cal. B17 (aka Breitling 17) for being an in-house movement because a brand designated caliber number can be misleading to those not in the know.

The B17 is not an in-house movement. It is basically a COSC grade (read more about grades) ETA 2824-2 or Sellita SW200-1 with a Breitling branded rotor.

Although not designed and manufactured by Breitling, this caliber is said to be assembled and regulated in-house (perhaps finished as well).

In Breitling’s own words:

“Automatic time-only movement supplied by either ETA or Sellita.”

How to tell which base movement it is?

Since Breitling uses the same caliber number (17) for the movement whether it is based on an ETA or Sellita, it is what Caliber Corner calls a “Forrest Gump” movement.

If you want to know which base calibre powers your SuperOcean or Avenger, the easiest way to tell is the jewel count. The ETA has 25, the Sellita has 26.

Additional Resources:

• ETA caliber 2824-2 caliber listing
• Sellita SW200-1 caliber listing
• More Breitling watch movements