The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I been looking on ebay and notice alot of breitling's dont come with papers, Can you have these reprinted as there quite important for resale in my opinion.

Many thanks

as a rule of thumb, don't buy without papers, there could be so many issues with this, you will be VERY lucky to get reprints!!

For example

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BREITLING-MEN-S-C ... m333.l1262

I have always been puzzled by the fact that anyone who pays thousands of dollars for a timepiece does not retain it's paperwork. You simply put it in the box and store it away in a safe place. Because there are so many fakes out there I will never purchase a watch that does not have papers with matching serial numbers, although there are folks out there who have the ability to produce exact duplicates. Guess it all boils down to who the seller is and how trustworthy he/she is, by way of references who you can speak to and checking on various forums ie: Timezone or Watchnet.
Stay away from paperless timepieces. And, by the way, when you decide to sell it, no one will be interested without papers. G'day, Bryan

Well Driver8 is testament that papers can get lost. He's anal about paperwork and still managed to lose some

The instruction manual is fairly easy to pick up - often an AD will have spares for current models, and COSC certificates can be reprinted for a fee - but the watch has to go to an AD at least (sometimes sent away depending on region) for validation.

There's no way to obtain a reprinted warranty.

More than anything you need to make sure the watch is real. The papers can be faked or someone can just buy a box and blank papers off e-bay for $100 and put a fake watch in the box.

In other words papers are nice but they don't mean much unless the watch still has a warranty. Many people treat the box in the same way you would when you buy anything else, like it's junk.

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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 have bought quite a few pre-owned pieces, some at very good prices on fleabay. For some strange reason, it seems that more ladies Breitlings are sold pre-owned without box and papers than the gents watches. I'm not sure if there is a hidden message in there somewhere, it just worked out like that with my purchases. With experience (and decent photos from the seller), you can usually ascertain authenticity before pulling the trigger on a pre-owned piece. Excellent fleabay "feedback" can't guarantee authenticity but it does go a long way to help. The best deals I have snagged have been from high positive feedback fleabay pawn, jewelery or resale shop owners who put up a piece for sale with no reserve and a $1 starting price. Three of the ladie B's I snagged had no papers/boxes but I was able to pick up correct vintage boxes, manuals and chrono tags for them on other auctions. Wouldn't have mattered. Mom, sis and wife could care less about boxes/papers or chrono certs or tags. I could have given the watches to them wrapped in old newspapers and they would still have been thrilled to receive them. They wear the watches and could care less about provenance or resale value. From my perspective, I'm satisfied knowing that their B's have the number "3" in the middle of the model number on the caseback which puts the cherry on top of the Breitling sundae...
Best,
Ron

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"The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea"...

Click to view: 500px Photo Gallery "Flow" or... 500px Photo Gallery or... Breitling Pics Slideshow

I personally wouldn't buy a watch without papers and I'd rather buy it from a "real" person vs. over the interwebs - I'd prefer to pay a small premium for something I can actually see vs. taking a chance.

As far as paperwork, my Ling was my first really nice (expensive) watch and had my dealer not told me to be sure to keep the papers, I don't know that I would have thought about it. The packaging was so pretty that came with my Ling that I didn't want to get rid of it, but I think especially when it's a gift or someone's first "nice" timepiece, it's not something you necessarily think to do. Those of us who tend to think we'll sell the watch someday or want to trade it know the importance of having the original documentation, but for others, not so much.

As far as women are concerned, I'd assume they're not as intrigued by the packaging of the watch than the men - thus, they don't tend to hang onto the boxes and paperwork, etc.

Either that, or I have no idea what I'm talking about

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PAM359, Omega PO Big Size, 1951 Omega Seamaster, Rolex Sea Dweller

This is exactly why the box and papers mean ZERO

http://cgi.ebay.com/BREITLING-CROSSWIND-WATCH-BOX-WITH-PAPERS-L-K_W0QQitemZ250501466255QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWristwatches?hash=item3a530d088f&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_600wt_1167

http://cgi.ebay.com/BREITLING-BENTLEY-BOX-CERT-WARRANTY-TAG-PAPERWORK_W0QQitemZ320428664929QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWristwatches?hash=item4a9b096861&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_600wt_1167

http://cgi.ebay.com/BREITLING-Genuine-Vintage-Box-Set_W0QQitemZ260481546104QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWristwatches?hash=item3ca5e8f778&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_500wt_1182


Focus on the watch. If you get papers, great.

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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.

More importantly, focus on the Seller. My seawolf came from a TZ seller; box, no papers. It has already been to Breitling service and back, so I know it is real.

Lack of box and papers is one thing that really frustrates me when buying used pieces. People that say they lost them in a house move. Well my usual answer to that is you managed to remember all your old pants, but cant remember to take stuff relating to a $5k watch. Hmmm, right!

I don't mind so much if just one item is missing the warranty book or instructions. Not ideal, but tollerable

I have never yet sold a watch that I didn't buy specifically to sell, so to me the papers are not really important. Sure it's nice to have a full set, but as Ron says you wear the watch.

I like the fact that watches are available without papers because (as this thread shows) it puts some buyers off, which means that I can potentially get a watch that I want for less money.

If I am looking for a vintage piece I do tend to look for provenance as it gives a much better sense of security that you are getting a real watch, and obviously they don't get so much wrist time so as part of a collection they have more value.

Obviously the ideal thing is if you have the "whole package."
To be honest I don't really care about the box, it's nice and all, but I just keep mine in a drawer empty.
As for the papers, the instruction manual and the "attestation" can be replaced, but I would never buy a watch without the correct stamped, perforated, dated, etc. warranty booklet. When I look at eBay, I also prefer private auctions to business sellers. I'm OK with buying a watch "second hand" but not third or fourth, or God forbid a stolen one...

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Breitling Headwind SS Blue Dial (Current)
Breitling Colt Ocean Automatic (Sold)
Breitling Colt Quartz (Sold)

Sure you can buy papers for your watch on ebay or any internet sales forum, the problem is that the warranty card and the COSC certificate include the serial number of the watch it was purchased with and will not match the S/N on your watch, ergo, a waste of your money.

Really?

Look closer at this one.. It's blank.
http://cgi.ebay.com/BREITLING-BENTLEY-BOX-CERT-WARRANTY-TAG-PAPERWORK_W0QQitemZ320428664929QQcmdZViewItemQQptZWristwatches?hash=item4a9b096861&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14#ht_600wt_1167

Point is the papers are useless... Look at the watch, and to some degree the seller. Sometimes the seller has no idea they have a fake.

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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.