The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello Fellow Lingers, The other day I made the mistake of telling an ad that my Blackbird was bought from amazon. Not a third party but direct from amazon. They also gave me 12 months no financing. Anyway he put a couple seeds in my head that are disturbing me. Long story short, my Blackbird arrived with the new style box(with all the planes), wrapped in plastic (like a typical new watch would. I did not however get a Certificate of authenticity nor did I get that yellow tag that I see hanging on new Breitlings.
My questions is, #1 can I trust Amazon?
#2 is there a way to find out from the serial number which AD unloaded to Amazon. My fear is that even though the watch looks grand spanking new, is it possible that the watch was reconditioned to look like new. Basically can I look somewhere to look up serial number somewhere. I thought about calling Breitling, but am hesitant for obvious reasons. Can anyone tell me something to ease my mind. By the way Amazon Jewelry department has not been answering my requests as to why I did not receive COA. I know someone out there can help because YOU GUYS ARE AWSOME AND VERY HELPFUL!!!

Not sure what you mean about Certificate of Authenticity - I assume that you mean the COSC certificate. I have heard of those being withheld by grey market, no idea why. You can get replacements if it's a big deal to you (for resale). You very rarely get the warranty book from the grey market.

Breitling will not give you details pertaining to the watch, but they will give details to an AD. The AD can phone with the serial number and Breitling will confirm which watch the serial matches and where and when it was first sold. Generally it's usually only the country - I assume that regional distributors handle the details of which specific store gets which watch.

I bought a Steelfish from Amazon a few month back. The watch arrived quickly and was clearly brand new. The COSC certificate was included.

A few weeks later I went to adjust the time and the crown stem pulled out with the crown. I returned it to Amazon immediately, no questions asked, with a full refund including shipping.

So, yeah, they are good to deal with...Better than an AD in some ways. But the lack of a real warranty could be a problem for you.

One other thought.....

The manufacture date is between the 6 o'clock lugs. You'll need to remove the bracelet / strap and don't try it if you don't have the right tool - you'll just scratch the lugs, but any watchmaker can do it.

The first four numbers are the week and year of manufacture.

If it is sold BY Amazon.com, you've no problems.

If it was sold by a 3rd party THROUGH Amazon.com, your contract will be with them, not Amazon. Most are simply small businesses using Amazon's store front and traffic flow rather than build their own but if you're worried it may be fake, post a close up photo and we'll take a look.

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For more information on identifying Breitling replicas, please visit my web site
http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

I think the fear is reconditioned rather than fake Sharky - and Amazon might not know if that's the case.

you hit the nail on the head Roffensian, thats my fear. Again its only because it was a really great price, and the abscence of the COSC. I have purchased a lot of things from amazon from everything to carbon paper to a plasma TV.I pretty much trust them but am suspicious of their jewelry division. Can anyone tell me what the hanging yellow thing is I see in pictures with new watches? Thanks again everyone for you help!!

OK, I see what you mean.

If you're not 100% happy, I would expect Amazon.com to refund with 14 days (or whatever their policy is) without question whereas you might have more of a struggle getting your money back with a 3rd party. I'm assuming there is Distance Buying legislation in the US similar to that in the UK.

_________________

For more information on identifying Breitling replicas, please visit my web site
http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

The yellow plastic thing is called a hang tag. Not necessarily a problem without it, a lot of ADs will remove at time of sale unless the buyer asks for it.