The Breitling Watch Source Forums

"Dear Breitling,

I am a Breitling aficionado. I have owned many of your fine watches. I have spent considerable time examining your 2010 and 2011 offerings and while some are just great, most do not strike me as following the Breitling “tradition.”

I want to let you know what I would like to see at Basel in 2012. "

[in 100 words or less, complete the letter with CONSTRUCTIVE COMMENTS].


I will select the best submission one week from today and the author receives a free Breitling pen – the black and blue one with the croco embossed vinyl case.

_________________
SHARKMAN

For Basel 2012 please give back the Breitling that we all knew and loved. Where rubber bezels were once inconceivable and multicolored dials were incomprehensible; they are now the unfortunate norm. The Breitling we once knew must return; models such as the Steelfish need to be resurrected with an in-house movement at an affordable price point. Legendary pieces like the Blackbird and Navitimer World do not need radical changes; just the addition of an in-house movement. Breitling fans want advances in the use of ceramics and titanium, NOT rubber and quartz. Please give us back our Breitling; Instrument for Professionals.

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

Wow... Couldn't have said it better myself.

_________________
Never sell a car without using our guaranteed price.
You can get more. But never accept less.

Well at least I already have his mailing address.

_________________
SHARKMAN

Absolutely agree

The only thing I'd add is please stop the upsizing of the models. Please offer more watches in the sensible range of 39..42mm.

_________________
Ingenieur - Speedmaster - Submariner

I dont agree one way or the other, but it wasnt long ago that everybody was saying that the models are too small.

_________________
-RJ

Ok, ok, but what would the rest of you ask Breitling? How would you finish the letter? It could be as simple as your notion of the perfect watch within the Breitling framework. A timepiece that does not yet exist.

_________________
SHARKMAN

Please add an olive green rubber bezel to the Navi 01 in the DiamondWorks treatment. This is what the people want.

_________________
Steelfish GMT LE (white)

I'm working on something. Thoughts are germinating, fermenting, festering away.

One of the models that I have been disapppointed with is the Cosmonaute. This of course is the watch used by Scott Carpenter in outer space, which was a manually wound watch.

The watch for the public was always hand-wound until about a few years ago when it became an automatic. I was saddened to see this; one of those changes that makes the watch better as a watch, but it is not original. Also the addition of a date window. Again, without doubt makes it more of a useable watch, but takes it away from what it was originally.

Apparently it was hand-wound because they couldn't work out how to make an automatic work in outer space. Or that is what I read, anyway!

I would like them to re-introduce the Cosmo as a manually wound watch, without a date window. This would be a real tribute to the original.

By the way, Breitling do respond to letters, in my experience not quite in the way I expected; when I wrote to them ten years ago asking for a limited edition Emergency commemorating the Orbiter 3 expedition, the wrote back to me stating they had no plans for one. But then they brought one out anyway!

I think Sergio's submission is outstanding, and fully agree with Fiery as well. Still, to add some variety...

Please stop embracing change for change's sake. Whereas other watch brands embrace an evolutionary model of change, only introducing moderate changes and improvements over time, you seem to wish to fully remake your lineup every few years. For example, in 2005, you completely revamped your classic Chronomat lineup by introducing the Chronomat Evolution, and doing away with all preceding Chronomat variants. What could have been the start of an enduring legacy in that model became more fodder for the dustbin of history by yet another redesign and total replacement of models in the lineup, starting with the Chronomat B01 and the Galactic line. However, whereas the Evolution and its siblings could be seen as modern classics, the B01/Galactic line started to embrace the trendy and gaudy, with more flashy styling and a move away from functionality. This came to its most grotesque manifestation this year with not only the discontinuation of the Chronomat Evolution, but with the introduction of the Galactic Chronograph II, which simply reintroduced the Evolution with a brushed case and a pointless compass dial in the silly "Buck Rogers" numeral font that characterizes all Galactic and current Chronomat models. A brushed Chronomat Evolution would have been a wonderful addition to your catalog. The Galactic Chronograph II strikes me as an absurd manifestation of your insistence on fixing what isn't broken.

Unfortunately, the Chronomat lineup is not an isolated occurrence. This year also sees the gutting of your previously classic Superocean line, and the introduction of the utterly faceless, banal new Colts. Even some of the finest Bentley models have gone by the way. I have to wonder how the Avenger and Professional lines will fare in the next few years. It seems the only line to age gracefully by escaping this pointless fiddling is the Navitimer range. The Navi 01 is an excellent update of the classic models, and shows you aren't completely disdainful of your heritage. Why you should show such contempt for it in your other lines is both puzzling and distressing. It has gotten to the point where the brand I once knew and esteemed is one I no longer recognize, to say nothing of actually liking. What a shame.

Going back to classic is the answer. Look at the models that made you great - the Chronomat with simple, functional styling and rider tabs. The Navitimer. The Superocean line - in particular the Steelfish. These are the models that have captured the interest and imaginations of many Breitling fans, and these are the models many of us would like to see return. These are the models that look as good today as the day they came out. Will we be able to say that about the Galactics in ten years? That isn't to say you can't make moderate changes and improvements to some of these, but the key words here are "moderate" and "improvement." If a change does not actually improve a model, why make it? Please do not become the Procter & Gamble of the Swiss watch industry.

Speaking of change for change's sake, bigger is not always better. Reintroducing more modestly sized models would be nice for some of us smaller-wristed folks. I understand big is in, and some people really like the more assertive-sized models you offer. But those of us who either need or want a smaller size wristwatch are left with no choice but to seek out other brands. Yes, I know, you introduced the Chronomat 41 this year; please see my previous comments regarding the trendy and gaudy.

Sincerely yours....

I think I may need to scrounge up an extra pen!

In the meantime, the field is wide open for a flattery-will-get -you-further epistle.

_________________
SHARKMAN

Yes...I did add an extra paragraph of encouragement, realizing this was intended to be more about what we want to see in the future, rather than why we're pissed off now. Still, I gots to writes it how I feels it.

I'm no math wizard but that has to be more than 100 words.

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