Breitling Caliber 17

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