A pre-owned Breitling Chronomat starts at roughly £1,000–£1,500 for an older steel Vitesse and runs past £13,000 for a solid-gold Evolution, with the current in-house steel model sitting around £4,000–£6,000 as of July 2026. It is one of the widest price ladders in modern watchmaking, because the Chronomat name has covered thirty years of steel, two-tone and gold chronographs — so what you pay depends almost entirely on which reference you are looking at.
The Breitling Chronomat is the watch widely credited with pulling the brand through the quartz crisis. The modern rider-tab design launched in 1984, developed with Italy’s Frecce Tricolori aerobatic display team, who wanted a robust pilot’s chronograph they could grip with gloves — hence the four raised tabs on the rotating bezel. In 2009 Breitling gave the line its first in-house automatic chronograph, the COSC-certified Calibre B01, and the current B01 42 takes its name from it.
How much does a pre-owned Breitling Chronomat cost in 2026?
Here is the market laid out by configuration. These are wider open-market asking prices in GBP, gathered from Watchfinder & Co, Chrono24 UK and WatchCharts in July 2026 — not sold figures, and not Chrono6538’s own prices. We sell fully checked and guaranteed pieces, which sit at a premium to the bare private-market floor.
| Configuration | Reference | Pre-owned asking (GBP, Jul 2026) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Older steel (Vitesse) | A13050 | £1,000–£2,700 | Late 1980s–2000s, 39–40mm; the genuine entry point |
| Steel Evolution 44mm | A13356 | £2,000–£4,000 | 2004–2012, larger case |
| Modern steel B01 42 | AB0134 | £3,800–£6,000 | Since 2020, in-house B01 movement |
| Older two-tone steel & gold | B13050 / D13048 UTC | £2,000–£4,000 | 1990s–2000s |
| Modern two-tone B01 42 | UB0134 | £6,000–£9,000 | Steel & 18k gold |
| Solid 18k gold | K13050 / K13356 | £8,000–£15,000+ | Vintage and Evolution gold |
| Chronomat 44 GMT | AB0420 | £2,850–£4,450 | Second time zone |
| Frecce Tricolori (ltd 1,000) | AB01104D | £3,300–£7,450 | Aerobatic-team edition |
Which is the cheapest way in?
The honest floor is an older steel A13050 Vitesse from the 1990s or early 2000s. WatchCharts UK put the model’s market value at about £1,324 in July 2026, with worn examples in the four-figure region and clean, serviced, full-set pieces closer to £2,000–£2,700 on Chrono24 UK. A steel Chronomat Evolution (A13356) from the mid-2000s is the next rung, commonly £2,000–£4,000. Neither carries the in-house B01, but both give you the rider-tab identity for a fraction of the current model’s price.
What about the current in-house model?
The B01 42 (AB0134) only launched in 2020, so there is no true vintage in this reference — the oldest examples are barely five years old. Pre-owned they typically run £3,800–£6,000 against a new UK retail of roughly £8,100, so a lightly used one is a meaningful saving on a watch with an in-house column-wheel chronograph and around a 70-hour reserve. Blue dials and full sets sit at the top of that band.
Do the gold and two-tone versions hold up?
This is where the range fans out. A modern two-tone B01 42 (UB0134) trades around £6,000–£9,000, while older two-tone pieces from the 1990s sit far lower at £2,000–£4,000. Solid 18k gold is a different market again: vintage K-series and gold Evolution examples ask £8,000–£15,000 and up, with the gold content underpinning the price. As always, separate the reference from the metal before you compare — a two-tone Chronomat and a solid-gold one are not the same watch, and neither is priced like the steel.
Are the limited editions worth chasing?
The Chronomat has a long line of squadron editions tied to Breitling’s aviation history — the Frecce Tricolori (limited to 1,000), the Swiss Air Force Team GMT, and Japan-market Blue Impulse pieces. The Frecce Tricolori 44 trades around £3,300–£7,450 depending on completeness; the GMT editions sit in the £3,000–£4,500 band. They carry a modest premium over the standard steel and appeal to buyers who want the documented backstory.
Where to buy a Breitling Chronomat
Buy the reference, not the name — the gap between an older steel A13050 and a solid-gold Evolution is more than ten thousand pounds. Prioritise box and papers, a recent service, and honest photos of the bezel tabs and bracelet stretch, which are the first things to wear. You can see the Breitling Chronomat pieces at Chrono6538 →, each authenticated and guaranteed.
Prices are wider-market asking prices as of July 2026, gathered for guidance only and not offered as Chrono6538’s prices. How a watch has held its value is descriptive, not a forecast — this is not investment advice, and values can fall as well as rise.