The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I like a giant discount same as the other guy, but at a certain point doesnt the huge discounts devalue the brand?

There is a reason that Breitling is so anti gray market. If places like Sams Club or Cosco or Target carry Breitling or Rolex or even Omega or Tag, then I would suggest that with their masive buying power they could devalue all of the brands by their ability of 5% over cost or lower. Now if they carry the brands and keep the pricing to something close to MSRP minus the customary AD type discount figured in, then I guess I wouldnt have a giant problem. But at an even price point... whats their motivation for selling this product?

I do not like the practice of discounting our favorite watches down to a level where its readily available to a bunch of posers not watch lovers and therefore every idiot on the street will be toting a Brietling. This could move the brand towards the level of Tag. They make a good watch but noone can argue that they are on the same level as Breitling. One reason is the quality but another is the MSRPs. I love my watches for several reasons. One of them is the somewhat excusitivity of ownership.

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Breitling Steelfish(black)
Breitling Steelfish(silver)
Panerai PAM 312
Bell & Ross BR03-92 Phantom
Steinhart BreitlingSource LE #5/15

Nice post Bronco... My sentiments also.

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BC

x2. I totally agree as well Bronco.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I disagree with Bronco . He states he does not want "posers" to have a Breitling, but follows up this comment by stating he likes the exclusivity of the brand? If that's not posing I don't know what is.
I bought a Breitling after much research. I'm a recreational diver and need a decent watch for my sport. The quality for the price point is what got me. Lets face it Breitling makes a handsome watch . If I were to lay out more money I suppose the Rolex deepsea would have been my watch for diving as it has received better reviews from pro divers. A watch doesn't define a person by the way except in the eyes of the superficially inclined.
Anyhow, that being said I did not join this forum to crap on the brand. I'm a fan and have no regrets about my Breitling. It's great value for the money.

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2009 Superocean Steelfish

I don't want to start a flame war here, but seriously, apart from the bunch of die hard Breitling fans that hang out here on the forums (myself included), wouldn't you agree that Breitlings are already one of the prime targets of posers? In my experience, I've seen more B'lings on real estste agents, car dealers, mid level executives, gang bangers, rappers, celebs etc, and I'd be willing to bet that if you asked them what model Breitling was on their wrist, they couldn't tell you. Just look at the replica sites and count how many B'ling models are represented vs. other brands. Driven by demand and popularity.

I don't wear B'lings to be unique or different, I wear them because I like the style and quality. I'm sure that most people that see me wearing a Bentley will think I'm a poser and think my watch is fake, but I don't care what they think. I wear it because I enjoy the watch.

I honestly can't agree that Costco will devalue the brand. They are just allowing us the occasional good deal on a high end watch IMHO.

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I agree Mark. Lets face it, the quality and "eye candy factor" is high for Breitling. If we take Breitling's moto of "instruments for professionals" seriously, then all except for professional pilots and saturation divers sporting a Breitling are technically "posers". I wear it because it's a quality brand that looks great.

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2009 Superocean Steelfish

I've said it before on here, but I thoroughly believe that massive discounting devalues the brand. A 50% discount effectively moves what should be a £5000 watch into the £2500 category.......... which is lower, and hence devalued. Do you really think Patek or A.Lange & Sohne (or even Rolex) would have the same aura if you could buy one in a supermarket along with your washing powder? These are supposed to be luxury items, and maybe it's just me, but part of the buying process is going to a nice AD store, being treated personally, enjoying the moment........ enjoying the little bit of luxury of it all, if you will. To me it's not just picking one off the shelf and putting it in your basket along with your tooth-paste and Wheatabix!

And as I've also said on here before, I don't buy my watches to show off to anyone - in fact I tend to keep them under my shirt sleeves most of the time, BUT that doesn't mean I want the brand to become less exclusive. And it's not about me only wanting "rich" people to be able to afford them - the snob in me HATES the fact that so many bling-bling rappers and Premiership footie players have taken to the brand, and they can hardly be called poor. Obviously the more impressionable members of society will want what their "heros" have - hence the boom in fakes. But when the genuine item becomes available at supermarket prices, every man and his dog with a few quid will be buying one. Once that happens, the brand becomes even more associated with a "cheap and cheerful" image and thus the brand itself is devalued. Sad, but true I'm afraid.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Well, Rolex does fall into the same category I'm afraid. And I don't think any less of them, I only wish I could afford one.

http://www.costco.ca/Common/Category.as ... CA&topnav=" target="_blank

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OK my mistake about the Rolies. I'll give you that one! Perhaps that was a bad choice as an example on my part as Rolex produce more watches per year than any other prestige brand, so I guess some will invariably slip through into the supermarkets next to the deodorant and the dental floss! However Rolex do also have their famous "artifical restriction of supply" on their side, and the public at large's perception of "ultimate quality" to fall back on, plus the absolute non-discounting nature of their AD's which keeps the brand image high.

Anyway as I say, I personally just don't like the "stack 'em high, sell 'em cheap attitude", but I guess we all have our own opinions on this topic. Good debate though!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

It's an interesting discussion. Costco doesn't care what they sell - it's just a commodity that they can make money on, and if Breitling want it to stop then I have to say that it is in their power to do so.

The only way that Costco (or the online grey market dealers) gets hold of these watches is to buy them from ADs. The ADs that do that are breaching their contract with Breitling and can be thrown out, but Breitling aren't doing it. There is some recent evidence in the US that they are clamping down on ADs that breach the rules on discounting, but one of the reasons that the PPs of the world don't have this problem is that they are much more strict with ADs.

I recognize the PP dealer network is smaller and easier to police, but you only need to set an example of a few to get the message across. All Breitling have to do is use an intermediary to buy a watch from CostCo, Prestige, Joma, etc find out which AD sold the watch originally and kick them out. They then tell every AD what they've done.

The fact that Breitling hasn't done this leads me to think that however much they may be publicly against it, they recognise that it is expanding brand awareness. Now that the popularity has reached a certain point we may well find that they do ramp up the pressure and reduce the supply of these pieces.

Interesting observation so I'm going to open another window and count a replica site that the replica people endorse to find their products...

here are the counts:

Rolex » (1226)
Panerai » (168)
Omega » (129)
Anonimo (9)
A Lange & Sohne (9)
Audemars Piguet » (157)
Alain Silberstein (4)
Baume - Mercier (25)
Blancpain
Bell & Ross » (67)
Breguet (18)
Breitling » (290)
Bvlgari (29)
Burberry (4)
Cartier » (134)
Chanel (46)
Chaumet (4)
Chopard » (123)
Chronoswiss (12)
Christian Dior (9)
Concord (3)
Corum (31)
Daniel Jean Richard
Daniel Roth
De Witt (14)
Ebel (7)
Eberhard & Co
Epos
F P Journe
Fendi (1)
Ferrari (15)
Franck Muller » (89)
Glashutte (9)
Glycine
Graham » (33)
Gucci (30)
Harry Winston (13)
Hermes (8)
IWC » (123)
Longines (7)
Louis Vutton (30)
Jaeger LeCoultre (31)
Maurice LeCroix (4)
MontBlanc » (96)
Montega (2)
Movado (1)
Oris
Parmigiani Fleurier (20)
Patek Philippe » (121)
Paul Picot (3)
Piaget (16)
Pierre Kunz (2)
Porsche Design (10)
Prada (5)
Richard Mille
Roger Dubuis (3)
Romain Jerome (4)
ST Dupont
Tag Heuer » (90)
Tudor (3)
U-Boat (52)
Ulysse Nardin (4)
Vacheron Constantin (45)
Versace (6)
Vulcain
Zenith (10)
Leather Goods - Balenciaga (25)
Leather Goods - Chloe (51)
Leather Goods - Coach
Leather Goods - Fendi (15)
Leather Goods - Gucci (37)
Winders And Display Cases (4)
Boxsets for Watches (24)
Horological Equipments and Servi (4)
Misc (29)
Pens (48)

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A poser, in my book, is the same type of person who would spend $900 on a realistic Breitling fake and march around as if its real and Bling it out to the tee with diamonique! There is a difference between a poser and a watch enthusiast who likes luxury timepieces. I dont buy my watches to march around for others to see. I buy my watches for ME. If fact, in my circles very few even know that my watches are expensive (or have even heard of Breitling). One of the reasons that I love Breitlings is their quality and the fact that they do sell a heck of a lot of watch for the money.

Compare them to Rolex, everyone knows Rolex... hardly anyone knows Breitling. BUT start selling them in massive quanities in the Coscos and Sams Clubs and price them super low... more and more people will drop coin on them and ... tadah Breitling becomes another Tag. The only reason Rolex wont follow suit, even if Coscos sell them, is because of the discount restrictions and original pricing structure of their brand. Frankly I DONT want everyone walking down the street wearing a Breitling ( or a Breilting fake for that matter) I like the exclusitivity of Breitling ownership and the non attension from a lesser known brand (outside of watch lovers, of course). I am in favor of cracking down on the grey market, to the point of shutting down any grey market seller that is offering greater than 20% off. OK, with me if the AD's give a greater discount, but the practice of polishing off the serials and undercutting the AD's pisses me off.

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Breitling Steelfish(black)
Breitling Steelfish(silver)
Panerai PAM 312
Bell & Ross BR03-92 Phantom
Steinhart BreitlingSource LE #5/15

There you go... pretty much sums it up. #2 in the replica poser world. I can only assume that over half the B'lings and Rollies we see in the wild are fake. This is what will devalue the brand... not Costco knocking a few bucks of a high dollar watch. Maybe I'm wrong... but if and when I see a B'ling in a Costco showcase, I won't think "damn that sucks"... I'll think "oooh baby, how much is it?".

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I was told once that everything in Costco is there sort of like a consignment store but not really. The information I was told is that Costco buys/requests, huge amounts of product/surplus from suppliers, manufacturers and doesn't not pay them until there products sell. Does anyone know anything about this? I may have completly misunderstood the idea. But if it is the case where are the Breitlings comming from?

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Rolex 42mm Explorer
IWC Ingenieur

A few others too.

BUT start selling them in massive quanities in the Coscos and Sams Clubs and price them super low... more and more people will drop coin on them and ... tadah Breitling becomes another Tag.

Where is the logic in this statement. Does a Breitling watch diminish in quality and turn into a tag if it is sold by someone other than an AD? Obviously not. Unless.......maybe COSTCO installs a self destruct mechanism in the Breitlings they sell. Yes that makes sense.

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2009 Superocean Steelfish