The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I search on ebay a lot looking at various Breitlings. It occured to me the other day that some of the older models look quite dated in my eyes, including some that only date back 10 years or so.

I wonder how long I'll view my current favourite, the Airwolf as up to date and asthetically pleasing. I would hope the watch could potentially last 20-30 years, but will I even like after that time, or will I continually be trading up to more current models I know I do with gadgets

Obviously there are plenty of people who appreciate and collect older/vintage watches so I guess this question kind of doesn't apply

I guess it all depends on the model really. I think dials with stick markers are more likely to maintain their current appeal over time, where dials and marker such as the stenciled numbers may be more trendy and have a shorter lived appeal.
The Hercules I have, I believe has a long lasting look to it, where my Skyland may become a dated look due to it's dial design, but I still love it.
Some personal taste has to be a big part of it as well... Some of us here love the vintage looks and some not so much.
I say enjoy them until they run their course for your specific taste and then you can always pass them along to someone else who will enjoy their current style!

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Cheers,
Christopher

Currently...
Blackbird, Black Hercules, PAM 000
Down to a humble three...

I have an old Crosswind, but for me it is still up to date. I know huge watches are in right now, but for me it is still an up to date watch.

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Breitling Crosswind Black Dial (Custom project status: On Hold)

Great topic...

This watch is 20 years old but to me looks very modern and could easily be sold today.

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This is a Rochefoucauld, the thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique, sculptured in design,hand-crafted in Switzerland.
In Philadelphia it's worth Fifty bucks.

I think it depends a lot on whether the looks followed trends or not. An 806 has a lot of the same design cues as a modern Navitimer, but some of the mid 70s Sprints and Pults would have been dated in just a few years.

Today, it's hard to tell because we don't know what the trends are - will large watches become passe or are they here to stay, what about titanium, blacksteels, etc. I think that watches tend to evolve more slowly these days which probably means a longer lifecycle.

I think the watch is evolving into a cell phone... Most youngsters have a phone and use it as there main timekeeper. Both my boys (18 & 21) simply won't wear one because it's really not "in" for them.

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This is a Rochefoucauld, the thinnest water-resistant watch in the world. Singularly unique, sculptured in design,hand-crafted in Switzerland.
In Philadelphia it's worth Fifty bucks.

It's definitely a smaller market than before when a watch was a necessity, but the mechanical renaissance of the last 25 years or so doesn't show any sign of ending (economy aside).

Remember guys....We don't buy watches because we need them....We WANT them...

I currently have almost 10 of them but only 1 wrist. Where's the logic? Its called madness...........

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Rolex DeepSea, GMT Master II TT, Pres 18038, DJ TT 16013
Breitling Chronomat 39mm (bullet+UTC), Starliner SS/MOP (wife)

back with ROLEX

If you're lucky, your watch will never look dated -- at least not in
your eyes. The point some of the guys made about a need
for a watch is absolutely true. I have a digital clock in every room
of the house -- timekeeping is no problem. But it's only when I strap on
my Breitling or IWC that the true joy of keeping time becomes obvious.
I think my watches are going to look timeless for many many years. May
you be so lucky with yours.

Steve

Breitlings are pretty timeless IMO, thats why Im proud to own them

I was reading all these posts and then I came to Steve's, and his post totally hits the nail on the head for me.

I can't imagine that I'd ever buy a mechanical watch that I would suddenly think was dated after a few years. Yes, many watches are certainly "of their time", but IMHO that's part of the appeal. Pretty obviously (considering it's a re-release), the Omega Ploprof 2009 looks like it comes from the late 60's / early 70's...... and that's all part of the appeal IMHO. So, it's 70's - yes, dated - no. When all said and done, when it comes to mechanical watches we're talking about technology that's pretty much unchanged for over a hundred years, so in that respect ALL of our watches are dated internally.

The other thing is there are plenty of watches being made today that look like pieces that were being made at the turn of the 20th century. Does that make them dated? No. It makes them "classic".

So in summary, I'd say that mechanical watches actually never look dated to me - every watch simply looks either "of it's time", or it is simply aping a watch from a different time period anyway.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I agree with you somewhat. For some young people, they don't wear watches, just use the cellphone for time. I find it too much of an inconvience to keep looking at a cell phone just to see the time, a quick glance at the wrist, and I'm done. If I didn't have a watch, I would have to pull my BB out of its case, in my pocket just to see the time or the date. I have worn a watch for most of the life that I can remember.

I'm 27, so I'm not much older than your kids, for work a watch is a tool for me and I will wear my SuperOcean or a Seiko Chronograph which I have had since I was in high school. If I am going out, I will wear my Chronomat, which is my jewlery. To me a watch is more "in" for a young person to wear vs. wearing rings, or bracelets for a guy(like my Dad does). My girlfriend is 26, and she wears a watch everyday as well, she doesn't carry her iphone in a pocket all day long, its in her purse. She wears it as jewlery and as a utility, esp. since she could be standing in middle of an oil field for half a day, or in her office or being in meetings all day.

As for how quick the Breitling looks dated, its all up to the indivdual person. My SuperOcean is almost 10 years old, it doesn't look that dated to me. My dad's Rolex is probably 10-15 years old, doesn't look that much different from buying one today, or one from 30 years ago.
To the average person, most people probably couldn't date the watch as long as its clean, and not too damaged or with a discolored dial.

Some interesting discussion guys. I think Legmaker came up with a very valid point regarding my tastes. Baton markers are probably a safer bet, as I persoanlly think certain number fonts really date a watch. A good example.



I don't wish to offend anyone that has one of these, but if I owned one today, although its only 10-15 years old, I would be looking at trading it on due to thinking the dial looks dated. Like I say, just IMO

So for me, I don't think its a current trend thing, just what I percieve as being pleasing to look at. I don't think the Steelfish numbers look very modern, but I love the dial. Hmmm, all very subjective

The B01 was just released and it already looks dated.

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

you're right about that - the B01 will date very easily

personally speaking, I dont intend to keep any watch for more than a few years after discontinuation, (vintage aside) as I like to keep up with trends.
Call me shallow if you want but hey, thats me!

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Oyster Date '78, Blackbird chrono DLC '10, Blackbird chrono' 02, Navitimer Fighters '02, Aerospace Evo , Seamaster Chrono Diver 300' 02, Carrera cbm2110