The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Are you talking about watches or cars?

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

I agree that Breitling should calm down with all the increases. Some of the prices are getting out of control. I´ve been dreaming of the B01 and that dream is getting a bit too far. I think that compared to other inhouse watches it´s still priced ok, but it´s now more then I´m willing to dish out. But...

Here the Super Avenger and Avenger both cost about 4200€ (=5980$) on a bracelet (and 3800 € on leather). To me it´s still very good value for money. You get a lot of watch for that. A Pam 104 is thought to be a value for money piece too. It´s similar size (44mm) to the Avenger and costs around 4900€ (=6900$) on leather. It has only a nonchrono modded movement compared to the Avengers or Super Avengers modded chrono.

I know they´re very different and maybe shouldn´t be compared, but for me my AS offers much much bigger bang for buck.
Don´t get me wrong. Two of my close friends own that Pam. I´m a big fan of it too, but no matter how much I see it and compare, I think that the amount of detail plus the chrono feature makes the AS / SA much more atractive piece. Ad to that discounts and it´s game over Pam.

I know I´ll probably get burried for this sacrilidge comparison, but that´s just my opinnion.

If I was buying a new watch right now in around 5000$, The Avenger / Super Avenger would still be my choise every day of the week. It´s still THE BEST WATCH IN IT`S CLASS!!! ...IMHO!

At these prices, I definitely wont be buying any new Breitlings and time soon. At these price points, there are ton of other options.

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-RJ

Ugh...handbags. Don't even get me started.

3k for a chanel bag tell me where my wife would be thrilled. they just raised their prices too . she lucked out and got her bag before the increase. believe me i wish it was 3k.

Just out of curiousity, everybody here are saying that with the price increase there are better options then say the SA/Avenger. Didn´t almost all brands have a similar price increasa? Wouldn´t that effect on those options too?

And I´m sinceraly intrested in hearing what you guys would consider better value for money? So if the list is 5200$ now, and 25% discount can be expected. What would be you get for 3900$?

Same for the Navi 01, listed at around 10000$ -25%. What would you get for 7500€ instead?

Well, this is just me but, for $3900 I'd get a Speedy Pro and have enough left over to get my wife a present to make up for the new Speedy Pro and for $7500 I'd pick up a IWC 7 day, maybe have to go used, or a Zenith like the one Sergio just got or something in the JLC Master Control series or a UN Maxi Marine Diver or a Rolex Exp II or a Rolex DJII (the big one) or an Omega PO Chrono or a...well you see where this is going?

Personally I find the two watches that you mentioned, the Navi 01 and the SA too far on the opposite sides of the size spectrum for me. The SA I find way too big and the Navi 01 feels way to small, but again that's just me.

The great thing about this watch thing is that there's something for everybody out there.

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

Yes and No. Some brands went up, some stayed the same, and one I know of actually had a price reduction. Zenith reduced their prices on some models by $1,000. For an El Primero movement, one of the best movements on the market, that's a great deal.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

Its not that there are other options for the same money; its that the gap has narrowed considerably. Step up with a little bit more money now, and you can buy into a lot more prestigious and in-house brands.

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-RJ

As I was cruisin’ with family across the country I paid a visit to another AD than my usual one. They had very little info about the “new” Connie Navi but they proposed me the new price list, valid from May 1st.

After a quick comparison, I was amazed to find out that it was the same as the old one, that is, containing the same models, even the discontinued ones since it has to correspond at the catalog. Of course, prices weren’t the same. And this is what I don’t get: why increase the prices of discontinued models? Theoretically, they’re not produced anymore, so I guess that if you want one and your AD doesn’t have it, he must locate one elsewhere. So, if it is a piece already produced, how can they justify a price increase (especially if it is an LE model)?

If I compare this situation to the car market, it’s the contrary that happens: you get a sale price because dealers want to get rid of older models before the new ones hit the market.

Having said that, I have to admit that the price increase for some models is ridiculous, between $10 and $100. For some (the exception?), there was no increase. However, for obvious reasons, gold models (but not all ) have really taken a hike.

Here as some examples (before and after). All prices in CHF.

Navi steel case leather (101) 5’570 / 5’600
Navi steel case AR (102) 6’610 / 6’610
Navi steel and gold case TT bracelet (106) 9’270 / 9’270
Navi gold case croco (107) 14’940 / 15’000
Cosmonaute LE red gold case (117) 14’940 / 15’000
Montbrillant steel case croco (119) 5’240 / 5’250
Montbrillant rose gold case croco (123) 13’700 / 13’850
Chronomatic 49 steel case aero classic bracelet (135) 7’350 / 7’350
Chronomatic 49 steel case leather (136) 6’790 / 6’820
Chronomat steel case DP II (144) 5’000 / 5’020
Chronomat steel case pilot (148) 6’200 / 6’300
Chronomat gold case gold pilot (156) 38’900 / 41’180
Chronomat TT case diamond bezel croco (174) 15’045 / 15’055
Blackbird blackeye DP II (178) 6’070 / 6’090
Blackbird polished pilot (180) 6’370 / 6’370
Emergency pro (232) 6’490 / 6’520
Emergency OR (235) 5’940 / 5’940
Aerospace leather (239) 3’010 / 3’190
Avenger leather (264) 4’520 / 4’990
Avenger DP II (268) 4’470 / 4’930
SA pro bracelet (271) 4’880 / 5’340
Seawolf OR (277) 3’810 / 3’810
Seawolf DP II (278) 3’510 / 3’530
Seawolf chrono OR (283) 4’460 / 4’460
Seawolf chrono blacksteel LE (284) 5’120 / 5’170
Steelfish pro bracelet (296) 3’150 / 3’170
Steelfish leather (297) 2’790 / 2’820
Steelfish DP II (299) 2’740 / 2’760
Superocean Heritage 46 (303) 4’020 / 4’080
Superocean Heritage 38 (306) 3’750 / 3’810
Colt GMT DP II (317) 2’690 / 2’710

Note: numbers in parenthesis refer to the Pure Breitling catalog.

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

The increase is due only to the weak dollar and the strong swiss franc.

As Breitling is one of the few companies, who produce nearly everything except leather straps in switzerland, there is nothing, that Breitling can do for or against it.

Of course, when You bought your cases and bracelets from china, paying with US$, You could pass on the better pricing to Your customers...

BG
Thomas

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http://www.ellert.at

Ah... the sweet smell of globalization -> truly worthless without a global currency. I, for one, am glad that with the Euro becoming the new in vogue currency, others around the world will begin to see the impossibilities associated with exporting goods when the "strength" of your own currency stabs you in the back at every turn. Anyone else seeing similarities in today's Europe to the USA of the 1970's - 1990's when exporting began to be all the rage?

Ditch the dollar, America. Let's learn how to make stuff again! How about we start with nice watches? Surely to God we can make a watch for less than $8,000.

I completely understand how currency fluctuations drive price increases, what gets me is that it doesn't usually work both ways. It's like a ratchet, the prices can only go in one direction.

Two years ago, the AUD was weak again the USD (about USD 0.65, from memory). For a short time Australia was, I believe, one of the cheapest places in the world to buy a high-end watch. Result: Australian prices were increased to bring everything (artificially) into line.

Fast forward to today, the AUD is much stronger (just over USD 1.06 today). This means that, relative to the US, Australia is a staggeringly expensive place to buy a watch (example: list price on a Sub C here is more than USD 10,000). So do they drop the Australian prices? Nope, they increase the US prices.

There are occasional exceptions. Breitling and Panerai have each had one 10% price drop here in the last 18 months or so.

I think in your case some of that is geographic isolation. I imagine that Canada and Australia are similar markets, but here in Canada downward adjustments have been more common (in many high end goods) because of the proximity of the huge US market and the real impact on Canadian retailers of cross border shopping. While the internet obviously creates a global market, that's still a relatively small part of the business so the impact of price on Australian retailers is probably less.

There are still some products that have substantial disparities between Canada and the US - cars are an example because of the relative difficulty in importing them as an individual, but other non commodity goods are broadly in line.