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The storyWhy this reference matters
Almost everything Breitling sells has an ancestor in the archive: the Navitimer goes back to 1952, the Chronomat to the eighties, the Premier to 1943. The Avenger does not. It arrived in 2001 with no genealogy at all, as the house's modern, utilitarian line, aimed at military and display pilots: big case, a bezel with relief grips you could work in gloves, an outsize crown and three hundred metres of water resistance on an aviation watch, which is not remotely standard in the genre.
After the brand reorganised itself into three worlds — Air, Land, Sea — the Avenger sat fallow for a couple of years. Breitling relaunched it in September 2019, at the third of its Summit events, held in Los Angeles: fourteen references, three sizes and a facelift that borrowed from the Colt, the entry model the house had just dropped from the catalogue. The Avenger inherited its visual language and, with it, its slot in the price list.
The Automatic 43 is the non-chronograph member of that batch: the simplest, the slimmest and the one that makes the least fuss. Three hands, a date and a rotating bezel. It runs Calibre 17, the ETA 2824-2-based automatic that Breitling regulates and sends to COSC. An unpretentious engine with thirty-eight hours of reserve, somewhat overshadowed in this collection by the B01s in the chronographs, but cheap to maintain and serviceable by any workshop.
SpecificationsThe numbers, in one table
| Brand | Breitling |
|---|---|
| Family | Avenger |
| Reference | A17318 |
| Years made | desde 2019 |
| Calibre | Breitling 17 (sobre base ETA 2824-2) |
| Movement | Automatico |
| Frequency | 28.800 alt/h (4 Hz) |
| Power reserve | Aprox. 38 horas |
| Jewels | 25 |
| Complications | Fecha · Bisel giratorio unidireccional |
| Diameter | 43 mm |
| Thickness | 12.28 mm |
| Lug width | 22 mm |
| Case | Acero inoxidable |
| Crystal | Zafiro abombado con tratamiento antirreflejos en ambas caras |
| Water resistance | 30 bar (300 m) |
IdentificationHow to tell it apart
Measure before you argue. The Automatic 43 is 43 mm across by 12.28 mm tall, with 22 mm lugs tapering to 20, and thirty bar of water resistance. It is the slim one of the family: Avenger chronographs from the same period comfortably clear fifteen millimetres. Unidirectional ratcheted bezel, screw-down crown with two gaskets, and a screwed back with no window onto the movement.
The dial is what dates the reference. The 2019 generation keeps the winged logo and prints the minute track on the dial itself, with a luminous triangle at twelve and baton markers. In the 2023 revision Breitling cut the three-hander to 42 mm, moved the minute scale to the rehaut and swapped the wings for the script B. If your watch measures 43 and not 42, it is from the earlier run.
The full code is what counts: A17318101B1A1 is the black dial on a steel bracelet, and suffixes ending X1 belong to strap versions. The A17318 trunk identifies the 43 mm steel three-hander with Calibre 17; any other base number is a different size, material or generation. Do not trust the label in the shop window — read the number engraved on the case.
CollectingWhat collectors check
On a watch this recent condition is nearly everything, and here the case combines brushing with polished bevels, so knocks show. Go over the lug edges and the rim of the bezel. An amateur polish rounds those edges off and there is no going back. The screw-down crown should thread home without uneven resistance; if it grinds or skips, the thread has been damaged, and the three hundred metres that justify the watch go with it.
Calibre 17 springs no surprises, and works no miracles either: thirty-eight hours and it stops. If the seller assures you it runs for two full days, either he is lying or the watch is badly regulated. Check the date change, which should happen at midnight and all at once; a lazy roll spread over half an hour points to a worn calendar mechanism. Being an ETA 2824-2 at heart, parts turn up and servicing is affordable, which is more than can be said for the B01s.
On variants, the steel bracelet holds up better than the leather straps, which wear out and need replacing. There are black, blue and the odd green dial, plus coated-case versions. Since it was displaced in 2023 by the Automatic 42, the 43 turns up second-hand fairly easily; compare several examples before committing, because the spread of condition on this model is wide.
Common questionsWhat people ask us about this reference
Which movement is in the Breitling Avenger Automatic 43?
Breitling's Calibre 17, an automatic built on the ETA 2824-2 base, regulated by the brand and COSC certified. It beats at 28,800 vibrations per hour and gives around thirty-eight hours of reserve.
Can you dive with it?
It is rated to thirty bar, three hundred metres, with a twin-gasket screw-down crown and a unidirectional rotating bezel. More than enough for swimming and for recreational diving, provided the gaskets have been checked.
How does a 43 mm Avenger wear?
Wide but surprisingly flat: 43 mm across and only 12.28 mm tall. Next to the Avenger chronographs of the same period, which pass fifteen millimetres, this one slides under a shirt cuff far more easily.
How does it differ from the later Avenger Automatic 42?
In size and in the dial. The 42 came with the 2023 revision, which dropped the diameter, moved the minute scale to the rehaut and replaced the winged logo with the script B. The 43 is the 2019 generation.
Keep readingWhere to go from here
Close relativesThe ones it gets confused with
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