The Breitling Watch Source Forums

sorry but what was the point?
here is a forum, everybody can write what he thinks about one thing, this is democracy, right?
why are you complaining if someone doesn't like your watch?
i don't get it.
you like your B01, good for you... me and others people don't like it and we argued why...

easy,

d

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

IMHO the B01 separates two eras in the life of Breitling. The old era, where traditional & functional design met with proven ETA/Valjoux movements; and the new era, where modern & trendy design meets with in-house movements. The B01 is the first one to step into the new era, with bold design change and introduction of the first in-house movement. The next steps in the new era are not as obvious, since this year there's no new movement and there's no new watch to get the B01 movement. But this year Breitling applied the new design on the Cockpit/Starliner range to make the Galactic line, and the new SuperOcean is here with a huge leap into the new era in terms of design.

I've read through quite a few topics about the new SO in this forum and a lot of other forums, and it boils down to a bit different conclusion than the B01. It seems those guys who prefers functional design don't like the way Breitling presents a serious diver's watch (cut-down functionality), and would have preferred a face-lifted old SO. And the new guys who never had a Breitling before -- and just found the press release and/or the shots of the new SO on a generic horology website -- say they love it. To me it seems contrary to the B01 the new SO appeals to those people who doesn't care about technical details, doesn't care about movements, functionality or heritage. Design is everything for them, and the new SO (and in fact the B01 either) does that very well.

Maybe in the past few years Breitling realized that their market is full. Maybe they analyzed the numbers and thought it's no way to expand their market share with the current lineup anymore. It was still a brave attempt to roll out their first in-house movement in a radically re-designed case, but maybe it will pay off. Or maybe their latest moves will repell the old Breitling lovers, and Breitling will turn into an expensive fashion brand. It would be weird to see that happen with the company's motto "Instruments for Professionals"...

As for me, I don't like the B01, but it's only because of the bezel. I don't like all-shiny bezels, I miss the true rider tabs, and those fonts are not for me. I don't like the new SO, but it's yet again because of the bezel (rubber coating, no functionality). If the new SO had the old bezel, or the bezel of the SOH with minute notches, I'd be the first in line to buy it. As for the other new models, for me it's the B01 problem again: the Galactic bezel is a deal-breaker.

I got into Breitling watches only a year ago. I bought two in quick successions, and since then I've been considering getting my 3rd and 4th Breitling virtually every day. I love the "old" SO, the Blackbird, and if I had the budget I could pick 3 or 4 further models and happily wear them all in a daily rotation. But they're all from the old era. And since the new era will soon take over the entire lineup, I may get the mentioned two old era Breitlings and then move over to another brand

i agree with you about that, especially about that.. see my collection and you can understand..

i hat th new bezel, the new fonts.... this is not Breitlig for me and i won't change my opionio ever.. so i guess i will still love Breitling but the 'old' era of Breitiling, i meant... let's see


p.s: the new 2010 Galactic serie is AWFUL, the worst... if this is the new future of Breitiling.. Breitiling bye bye....



d

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

Glad that I have sparked some debate!

I don't think that I am jaded by moderator duties - it's a choice. I try and answer questions as much as I can - even if it is the 750th time of explaining the 'danger zone'. There was a member a couple of weeks ago who asked a question about one of the Professional SQ models - Aerospace or Airwolf I think and I couldn't help at all. He didn't get an answer within a day or so so came back and posted "Thanks for all your help, I'll go elsewhere" - that annoys me, but not the rest of this stuff.

As I said, I don't think that the 'edgier' response to the B01 is a bad thing - part of it is that it is a much larger forum now - if acceldebt posted some of his anti-strap opinions now it would be received very differently because people don't know that is acceldebt's personality.

I do firmly believe that the B01 is bringing in new people to the brand and that is going to be part of it - just like some people feel that Breitling is a 1984 onwards brand rather than a brand with 125 years of history - look at last week's thread referring to the 1984 onwards Chronomat as 'the original' Chronomat.

As I tried to say in my first post, I don't think that the edginess is a bad thing - although we have to be careful that it doesn't provoke personal responses as we are passionate about our pieces, and I suspect that things will change over time as people get more used to the look or B01 fans learn more about the tradition of Breitling - nothing makes me happier than posts like "that's cool - never knew about that model" - that's real education (we saw it with Paul's (vintage) Grand Premier that he is selling.

now i have to debate on this because it is directed to me
i bought my first Breitiling in 1991 and yes, i discovered Breitiling thanks to the 1984 Chronomat which i still love so much.. i'm swiss, and i knew at the time that the 1984 Chronomat was not the 'original' Breitling chronomat, i know very well the history of Breitling... i just said that for me it's the 'original' Chronomat and not the Chronomat Evolution... ok?

d

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

Unfortunately I got sucked into this debate early. Ive wanted a Breitling since I was about 19 years old. It took over 20 years for me to be able to afford one. During that time, my Breitling holy grail was the Chronomat, its Breitling to the core, but then Breitling produced the BO1. So it became a choice, a very hard choice, between the watch Id wanted for over 20 years or the new BO1 with the new inhouse movement. In the end, I spent 2 weeks chopping and changing, poor George, I was ringing him almost every 2nd day ... I probably confused the guy. Anyway, in the end, I went with the BO1. I dont regret my decision. I dont dislike the Bezel and the pictures on the net do the Bezel an injustice, In reality its a very classy Bezel- just my opinion. Do I believe that its a real Breitling- Yes I do. Would I change my mind now- No I wouldnt. This debate started to get some heat when afew posters in here started to try and trash the BO1 and in effect start to try and trash the Brand. That is something that is pretty hard to cop- when you spend x thousands on a watch and people just wanna trash it coz they dont like the Bezel doesnt seem right to me. It reached the point where some people even posted that Breitling should chop all models from 2008. It was in my opinion total nonsense.

On some other subjects, I dont particularly like the new wave SO even if I did consider buying one for a while. I prefer the Heritage models, I think that IWC have the designs downpat in there Acquatimer range.

I think the Galactic is wrong, Its a poor move from Breitling- the BO1 deserved Better from the company. They shouldnt have put the Bezel on the Galactic, It cheapened the BO1 almost instantly.

Should Breitling have put the inhouse movement in a new watch- probably yes although they probably wanted to put some distance between the BO1 and putting it into a new model.

So the upshot is that the debate probably got heated but it was because people are passionate about the brand. I dont concur that its new Breitling vs old Breitling. Ive been a Breitling person since I was 19yo. The good point is that new people have come into the brand, they will learn to appreciate the other models, we all know we have the Breitling bug which leaves our wallets much lighter as we go from one purchase to the next. Anyway if anyone was offended by my defence of the Chronomat BO1 then I sincerely apologise. In the end we all appreciate the brand and thats a good thing.

Cheers
Ramps.

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Breitling Chronomat BO1 Riviera Blue Dial Stainless Steel Case and Pilot Bracelet

It wasn't an attack.

It was simply the most recent example of my point - many people on here believe that the 1984 Chronomat was 'the first', but by hanging around here they can learn more about some of the history - that's all.

didn't say you attack me..
since 1991 i collected all Breitling catalog, i know well the history of Breitling, as i said before...
and as i said before, i wrote 'for me the legend, the one and the only is the 1984 Chronomat and not the Chronomat Evolution'... i knew and i know that there was another Chronomat before, the first one, which i like it too..
i'm informed... i'm not one of these people you refered.. just that... no problems at all.


d

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Breitling Antares B10047
Breitling Chronomat B13050
Breitling Chronomat A13050.1 - pilot bracelet
Breitling Chronomat Blackbird A13050.1 - serie spéciale
Breitling Avenger Seawolf E17370
Breitling Chronomat EVO A13356 - pilot bracelet

My 2 cents, and I'll try and be brief;

Newbies - everyone has to be new sometime, their progression and percieved status in a forum is based upon their own posts. If the posts suck, or recieve short, trite, and thoughless responses consisting of ridicule, they will fade away. People attract people.

B01 - I think its not my bag. It just dosent call to me. I guess thats why B makes more than 1 kind of watch.

Finally, I got my first B a few months ago. Have been a fan of the brand for many years. As my knowledge grows, so does my infatuation for my Breitling and the disire for others. Honestly, without this site, I probably would have never pulled the trigger.

The words, topics, and collective knowledge intrenched here are an invaluble source of information and entertainment.

IJ

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If your going thru hell, keep going. Whinston Churchill
Colt Automatic
Bell & Ross Type Demineur

I never said that you were.

My point, which apparently I am failing to make very well is simply..........

Some people feel that the 1984 onwards Breitling are the ones that are 'classics' - read my original post, I didn't say that they didn't know about the earlier ones, I said that they feel that Breitling is 1984 onwards.

I always encourage debate!

The B01 is OK as far as I’m concerned – is it as cool as a Blackbird or a Bentley? Clearly not. But it is cooler than most Rolexes, Omegas or Tags. Also, remember the 70s 1806 – the big case Chono-matics – they weren’t a great seller. Now, in 2010 with big watches common, they’re a very cool piece – perhaps in 30 years the B01s will likewise be more appreciated?

To my eye, the B01 – especially with the bezel font – has an 80s look. Now, that’s brave, because that wasn’t a good decade for mechanical watches. I’ll be frank, the 80s Chronomats make me ill, but the B01 with it’s chunkier case and patterned dial has potential to age well.

For me, there are worse Breitlings - I don’t like the non-chronos. Their simplicity takes away from Breitling’s technical heritage. But what I really hate are silly coloured dials and the heresy of Roman numerals on a chrono…truly vile.

So I guess a two-tone green dialled B01 with Romans would be rather uncool…

I have romans on a Riviera Blue Dial- looks pretty good I reckon.

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Breitling Chronomat BO1 Riviera Blue Dial Stainless Steel Case and Pilot Bracelet

NOW you've DONE it! Dissing my Steelfish, Cockpit, and SOH46. Put 'em up. Put 'em up.

Anyone want to buy a simple watch? LOL

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SHARKMAN

I first became interested in the Breitling brand while on a Caribbean cruise circa 1998. I had recently graduated from college, had begun to develop an interest in fine timepieces, and wanted to start my collection. I recall visiting several jewelry stores on different islands, including a Little Switzerland in Aruba. LS at the time had Aruba Breitling concession and their case was chock full of Crosswinds.

Pilot bracelet, roman numeral scheme, polish, facial design-it was all perfect. I recall trying on a two-tone model with the blue face and gold romans, asking the clerk for the RRP and upon learning that it was a shade over USD 5K sheepishly handed it back, admitting it was out of my budget at the time. The clerk tried to put the hard sell on but I wound up walking away and buying a TAG SEL instead. It is one of the few times in my life where the salesperson turned out to be correct and in retrospect I turned out to be wrong.

I did not manage to purchase my first Breitling until late 2003, and that wound up being a Crosswind Special LE, two-tone with arabics; by sheer unadulterated luck, one of the most popular models Breitling has manufactured. Over the last 3 years I have managed to accumulate an additional 5 chronomats (black/romans/RG bezel, ivory/romans/RG bezel, black/romans/two-tone, ivory/romans/two-tone, black/arabics/diamond bezel) and couldn't be happier with the state of my collection. I've recently had to balance purchase ambitions with a new home but fully intend to pick up a Legende, Skyland and a couple of more chronomats in the near future.

But after that?

After that, well, I can't say that I will return to the brand. I have tried on the B01 and while I believe the watch will appeal to some subset of buyers at some point, I just don't think it's for me. Combined with the introduction of the Galactic, changes to the SuperOcean(rubber bezel!) and other recently introduced models such as the Chronomatic 49, well, I just don't think that Breitling-in the words of another poster here-is going in a direction I can follow.

And this does upset me, greatly. I have come to love Breitling's design, the way they manage to combine class with functionality, bling with subtlety. And I would like to expand my collection and remain a customer. However it just feels like Breitling has rejected me, basically making the statement that, 'It's been a nice ride but you are probably in your mid-30s by now, maybe don't have as much disposable income as previously and therefore we need to focus on the next batch of late 30-30 somethings, and guess what the Crosswind doesn't appeal to them one bit.'

So yes, this kind of hurts. And what's worse, I don't understand the move. Clearly Breitling has a demographic in mind, and clearly they believe this demographic has the purchasing power to buy the B01. But as previously stated I have a hard time believing that the 20-30 something market will be able to fork out the scratch at 7-8K for the base model. Navitimer B01s are likely to carry similar price tags.

I have begun to wonder whether this will be the end of my watch collecting habit. While I don't relish that day, it would certainly make my other half happy......

I would love to see an interview conducted with Breitling's head of design to see exactly what is going through his head viz. B01 and Galactic bezel plus all of the rubber accents on the newer models.

Crickey, evidently something of a hot potato thrown into the mix from Mr Roff here!

From "the other moderators" point of view, I must be honest, but I've not personally noticed a different edge or tone when it comes to the B01 discussion compared to discussions over the Blacksteel models or Full-Ling debates a few years ago.

I'm the first to admit I've been a pretty vocal opponent of the design of the B01 bezel (and Breitling's design direction in general), but that's because I too am a crusty old (30 something) git who can't let go of the past!

My take on this forum, and forums in general, is that people only frequent them because they are passionate about the topic, and since humans are incapable of always agreeing with each other, opinions on things will indeed vary, and that's just the way of the world. As long as comments are not abusive or personal in nature, then differences of opinion simply generate debate. Personally I think it'd be a boring place if we all liked the same things all the time. I certainly don't except people to like the same things that I like, and it doesn't bother me in the slightest when people don't, especially on a forum.

As some of you may have noticed I use "IMO" and "personally" on here a lot in my posts, and that is because it's important to me to make that distinction. None of my posts have ever been personal attacks - they are just my opinions about things - but likewise I don't want people to shy away from voicing their opinions for fear of offending sensibilities. As long as it is clean, non-offensive and not a personal attack, then opinions are the very lifeblood of forums..... IMO!

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Driver8

Site Moderator