The Breitling Watch Source Forums

i must admit my ocean racer keeps exceptional time

when i first got into breitling watches, a friend would talk about chronometers, chronologs, chronographs, chronomats. boy, was i confused. it took me a while before i knew what he was going on about.

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Breitling Blackbird, Breitling Superocean Heritage 38

It's even worse when it's an AD that doesn't know anything.

A nice saleslady tried to sell me the "Skylander Avenger" one time. Made me chuckle.

My mom and dad each have had a Rolex Datejust for 25 years now and I'm pretty sure they don't know what kind of Rolex they have. Most people are not the watch geeks (and i mean that in the best of ways since I am calling myself one too) that we are. So, as much as I agree with everything that has been said by everyone on this post, I tend to give people slack when it comes to this.

Don't get me wrong, if you spend a couple grand on a watch, you should know the name of the darn thing, that is annoying. I talk to my AD about this all the time, we are both Bling nuts.

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Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm
Breitling Chrono Avenger
Breitling Chronomat Evolution
Breitling Chrono SuperOcean
Breitling Avenger Seawolf
Omega Seamaster Pro James Bond LE Co-Axial Auto

I personally tend to excuse ignorance of watches from the general population, especially if they are wearing a Rolex, but from the dealers and their employees it is truly unacceptable!!!!!!

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Chronomat, Steel/Gold, MOP Dial, 2-tone band (2008)
Super Avenger Black Baton Dial (2009)
Bentley B04 GMT Silver Dial (2013)
Avenger Blacksteel Baton Dial (2014)

Yeah, a few weeks ago I noticed that one of the administrative assistants where I work was wearing a Daytona. I said, "Nice Daytona!" She gave me a very withering look, "Um. It's actually a Rolex!" She has a very California way of speaking where she pronounces the last word of her sentences like they are all questions ("It's actually a Rolex?!?"). I expected her to add, "Like...DUH!!"

She was, in fact, surprised to learn that the model of her Rolex was a Daytona. Like....DUH!!!!

Mofongo

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

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BREITLING EMERGENCY + UTC CORAL DIALS
BREITLING AEROSPACE TITANIUM PROF (SOLD)
ROLEX SUBMARINER BI-COLOR BLUE DIAL
LOUIS VUITTON TAMBOUR DIVERS
PANERAI LUMINOR

Well, I bought a Blackbird about a year ago and didn't know anything about "high end" watches and let me tell you how a "noob" feels at this point.

I researched high-end watches for about 4-5 months before I settled on my Blackbird...my wife thought at my age (41), that it was time to get a grown up watch and in my line of business, a little pizzaz doesn't hurt - nor do stylish clothes.

Anyway, even though I did a lot of research online and by talking to a TON of different dealers, I probably learned way more after I bought the watch. I did buy it from an AD; however, I can tell you that when I return there, if I talk to 4 different salespeople, they tell me 4 different things about how/why things go wrong with Breitlings.

Point being, yes, some people just buy stuff as status symbols or because something looks good, but just because you buy a Breitling from an AD doesn't mean you're getting accurate and useful info.

I also posted in another column that my Breitling went kaplooey after owning it for 7 months and it's been at a certified repair center in CT for 7 weeks today and I'm told it's due back next week, but can't get accurate info as to what was wrong with it.

I gotta say, shelling out $5,500 for a prestigious/quality timepiece certainly doesn't guarantee a reliable watch - nor does it guarantee reliable customer service.

I also read through these boards and it seems like a lot of folks make up excuses as to why their Breitlings don't keep accurate time.

At the end of the day, I want a watch that's RELIABLE and quite frankly, I'm gaining more respect for people who choose to purchase battery operated watches for a few hundred bucks vs. thousands for automatics that seem more like temperamental sports cars than reliable Toyotas.

All Breitling Autos are COSC and should keep their time inside that specs which is -4/+6 sec/24 hours.
If it's out of that specs and under a warranty, AD will regulate it without a charge.

Man you got to love that post of the toyota becaus i think he is totally right. That really got me thinkin, about my next watch..... Nahh!! Im still gonna buy my super avenger whaha

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i'm still gonna buy the beamer.

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Emergency
Bentley GT
Chrono Colt
Avenger Skyland Blacksteel
Steinhart LE#9/15

gotta say my latest superocean bought from an AD which is now a year old keeps impeccable time which has not been the case with some others i have had, will also say another thing, most of my friends have heard of rolex and tag heuer but only one had heard of breitling, i think the name only impresses people that actually own them, as for myself love em, but would not wear it if it was badly inaccurate, regardless of how good it looked.

On this point you're quite correct. Unfortunately there are a couple of things at play here-

Firstly a lot of the larger AD's are staffed by people who are just not particularly into watches. To some of them it's simply a job, and as a result I guarantee you will find infinitely more knowledgeable people on sites like this. The key is to find an AD or a person at an AD who is passionate about watches. I've overheard sales assistants telling customers all sorts of rubbish in the past - I overheard one sales-girl telling a customer that Brietling test all their watches by "baking them in an oven at hundreds of degree for days on end" to ensure they'll keep working in all conditions! To me it's the same as if you buy a suit : if you go to M&S you may come away with a suit that fits well enough and some reasonable information, but if you went to a 5th generation Saville Row taylor you're going to get very very best service. It's all about finding someone (or an AD store in general) that is passionate about the watches.

Secondly, many AD's unfortunately become somewhat blazé about the values involved. Many forget that some of these watches cost more than a small family car, and it's in those instances that customer service sometimes falls down. It's certainly not right, but sometimes AD's (and headoffices) need to be "reminded" of this.


On this point I don't really agree. In my experience the only people who will make excuses for why their watch isn't as accurate as the atomic clock are those who buy a mechanical watch without really understanding what it is they're purchasing. The lack of accuracy compared to quartz is just a simple fact of physics. Additionally people need to remember that the underlying technology behind mechanical watches is hundreds of years old. It's like buying a 1965 Mustang (or a replica built using the same technology) and then wondering why it's not as reliable as Honda Civic. It's not an excuse : it's just a fact.


There's nothing wrong with feeling like that whatsoever - it just means that you're probably a different kind of buyer to most of us here. To use the car analogy again, many people would much rather have little reliable runaround to do their shopping in, instead of a gas-guzzling monster built on archaic technology. BUT, there's a group of people who would rather cut their own arm off than drive something mediocre, even if it means spending a fortune and having to deal with the odd foible along the way. Those guys will talk about "soul" and "passion", and the same goes for watches. No-one is necessarily right or wrong - it's just something you either "get" or you don't. And to be honest if you don't "get" it, then it's going to save you several thousand pounds/dollars a year buying watches, so in that respect it's probably a good thing!

This article on Chronocentric sums things up very nicely for me - http://www.chronocentric.com/watches/bu ... mechanical

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Driver8

Site Moderator

It's funny this topic has come up. I just went through this thought process the other day. I have gotten excited a few times when recognizing someones Breitling while out on the town only to have them respond with a look and an answer like I just asked them to perform Chinese arithmetic. I finally ran into an older gentleman the other day and commented on his rose gold Chronomat and to my delight he went on and on about Breitling and his opinion on their quality versus Rolex, etc. I didn't know whether to hug the guy or tell him "hey buddy, your preaching to the choir." Anyway, I thing g-star has a great idea about making every Breitling owner prove they know at least something about what the hell is on their wrist.

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Never deny anyone hope..........it may be all they have.

..and nothing wrong with that. Some people don´t know jack about their cars, tv, phone, etc.. Others know every detail. They just liked something and wanted it enough to buy it. That´s great!