The Breitling Watch Source Forums

So my current budget is around $2500-$3000 and I am looking to get a Breitling. My top two choices right now are: New Superocean Heritage Black Dial on Mesh bracelet or a Used Chronomat Evolution Slate Dial with Black Subdials on Pilot bracelet (btw what is a good price for a used one?).

I am pretty much 50/50 at this point and will be visiting my local AD to see the Superocean Heritage. What are your guys thoughts?

Chronomat. A classic, and I'm not a fan of the SOH.

It really depends, have you seen pulp fiction? Remember the scene where Christopher Walken talks to a young Bruce Willis?

There's your answer.

The main things I would consider are do you prefer new and which one do you like better; you're the one wearing it after all

Try them both on and see which one 'speaks' to you. They are pretty different watches.

Good luck

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

I really prefer the look of the SOH on an Ocean Racer over the bracelet so deciding between them I'd have to go with the chronomat as an everyday watch. I do think the SOH looks good but is down several watches on my ling want (or already bought) list.

The pilot bracelet is very nice.

Not much to add here other than you can't make a bad decision either way. Its just personal preference. Try them on, you should have an emotional response to one over the other.

I think the Evo is more universally liked, its a classic that appeals to everyone on some level, and Breitling's best seller. The SOH is beautiful in my opinion, but is also more polarizing on mesh, some love it, some hate it.

As for used prices of Evos, on Pilot, you are looking at $2400-2700 as an average in 90%+ with box and papers if you see one on TZ or here. Ebay asking prices are higher, but very few sell above the range I quoted.

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I hear it a lot that the Evo is the best seller, but based on the used markets, I see a lot more Super Avengers being bought and sold than Evos. This could mean that people who buy them tend to hold onto them more, or it could mean that SA's sell more. Most of the time the volumes in the secondary market are a reflection of the volumes in the primary market.

I would guess that Breitling doesn't publish hard data on this, so there's no way to know for sure.

You might be right, I think my data is a couple years old, before the SA craze. But remember, the forums are a very small group of enthusiasts percentage wise, who buy and sell watches for fun. The vast majority of people walk into a jewellery store, plunk down the money and walk out. And I still think the Evo is far more attractive to the average Joe than the "in-your-face" SA. But as you say, this is all speculation and likely we will never know the answer unless someone from an AD chimes in.

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My first thoughts when I wanted to buy my first Breitling was the SOH on the mesh bracelet then I saw the Black Avenger Skyland and that was that. Great watch either on the ProII bracelet or the Ocean Racer!.

Here you go!





Not the best shots but its a start.

Cheers

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Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

So my AD didn't have the SOH in stock afterall. Guess I have more time to decide afterall. Threw in an offer of $2700 for a 2 year old Chronomat Evolution Graphite/Slate (not sure of the difference here) dial with Black subdials that is in supposedly LNIB condition.

This is the graphite dial






and this is the slate

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=14805

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Justin
Please contact me via PM for the contact details for Govberg Jewelers
Govberg is an AD for over 50 fine Swiss and German watch brands.
Visit them on the web at http://www.govbergwatches.com or call 800-528-8463

Last conversation I had on the subject (a few months ago) was that Chronomat was still the biggest seller. The Breitling person I spoke to suggested that dressier watches tend to be more 'buy to keep' than sportier models, and that the Chronomats were more 'keepers' because the great variety in dial / case combos made it easier to find the 'perfect' watch for each individual.

I kinda buy the second argument, not sure on the first.

Seems like a reasonable theory, but hard to back up without real data. Also, at what level of Breitling was this person? Canada? North America? World? I'm sure there are regional differences.

Breitling SA, so Swiss based.

Also, if looking at the sales forums was an indicator of total sales, then you would think the Skyland Blacksteel was the best selling watch ever. The forums are polluted with them. I think we will always see market floods after the initial craze wears off and people flip them, which is happening with the Skyland and happened recently with the SA. I do agree with Roff (we'd be silly to disagree with him LOL)

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