The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I recently dropped in at a small local watch dealer to check out if he had any cool straps and just general curiosity about what was in stock there. Said curiosity was rewarded with a rant that was kind of interesting, kind of entartaining and a little bit spooky.

There was nobody but me in the store so we started just talking about different straps and soon moved along to watches. Now, this guy was the owner and apparently a watch-maker since he serviced the watches himself. He was in the process of doing a make-over on an Omega with a gold case/bracelet. He started talking about how lame the movements of these new models are while flipping the case/bracelent around and flung it back on the work desk, probably making a couple of scratches on it in the process. The movement was lying exposed on the desk, so it was a good thing it didn't land on that...

So he proceeded to more or less trash Breitling as a complete waste of money and how they had poorly made, unreliable and dodgy movements, and how it was a pain in the @ss to service watches like that. I asked him if he did Rolex and he just snorted and said "No way, those are even worse". He also said that Breitling and similarly priced brands did in fact not modify and customize the ETA/Valjoux movements and that if they did, they would only mess them up.

As an example of a good watch he proudly showed me a Festina (or was it Certina?) and said that it could wipe the floor with my Chrono Avenger M1 any day of the week. Riiiight....

At this point the whole thing was getting a little uncomfortable. He had gotten himself pretty worked up and I couldn't get a word in edgeways, so I smiled a little smile, thanked him for the chat and got out of there.


Worst. Salesman. Ever. (I use the term "salesman" loosely here)


Well, that just about sums up my little story. Hope it made for an interesting little read.

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"Either this man is dead or my watch has stopped!"
- Groucho Marx

Interesting dialog. It sounds like this guy can't qualify to work on Rolex, so he is mad at the world of high end watches. You certainly don't need this guy repairing anything, not even a anvil.

It takes an investment of somewhere near $100,000US to get inspected and approved by Rolex. You are required to have certain tools, a cleaning area in a seperate room, specific lighting, etc. plus specific training. The last I heard, Breitling requires you to have at least 30 watches in the display case to qualify to service their watches, along with specific training. These are not small investments for your storefront watchmaker.

As a watchmaker, I don't take in the high end Swiss watches. Although you can get aftermarket parts for most of these, it is, IMHO, terminally stupid to scarifice the integrity of the watch just to make a few bucks. However, I'm not in a rant about it.

I made a decision long ago to repair only what I was comfortable with and send the rest somewhere else. If I fix your Rolex and somewhere down the road you send it back to them, they will replace all the parts I put in and send you a hefty bill or maybe refuse to work on it at all. Then you will come after me for screwing up your watch! Sorry, I don't need the stress or the damage to my reputation.

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1809 Cosmonaute
1903 Navi
Navi Olympus
Super Avenger

That guy sounds like a total nut-job! I wouldn't trust him with the TV remote, let along a watch!

For me, the basic quality of a movement is lot to do with reliability, refinement and accuracy. If a movement has those three qualities, what else do you need? Over and above those qualities, I personally look for a bit of innovation which is where my love of in-house movements come in - long power reserves, interesting features, etc, etc - but these are additional to the 3 basic qualities of reliability, refinement and accuracy.

As onewatchnut said, it sounds to me like this guy had a serious case of bitterness going on for some reason.

Moral of the story is don't trust a local nutcase with a set of Bergeons to repair/service your watch!

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Driver8

Site Moderator