The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Being a public forum - I know a guy who was told by a guy he knows a guy who stopped by a Breitling AD to pick up a strap today. This guy, thrice removed of course, was told Breitling, SA's Pres. is making the round of US ADs. This distant guy's AD was a bit surprised by the tone of the visit - The Pres was curt and stern, making the point of his visit a warning that Breitling is cracking down on discounting and will be sending in "secret shoppers" all over the US.

Of course this is now quadruple hearsay, being a public forum and all, but I was wondering if this is periodic yodelling or a sign Breitling is letting a couple in-house movements go to their heads?

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SHARKMAN

I'd say that if Breitling is starting to raise the bar and want to be associated with the big boys they might become a lot stricter towards their AD's. What I've experienced AD's are really generous with their discounts and that can damage the brand, especially if they are leaning towards branding themselves as a high-end luxurious brand. I mean if you were to go to the local Ferrari dealer and he all of the sudden gave you a 30% discount you'd be less likely to consider it high-end. Even though it's twice as expensive as a high-end BMW.

If Breitling is looking to target those people that only look at the price tag and don't consider the craftsmanship going into their products then this would really be a quite logical way to go. Nobody wants to flaunt their high margins.

Just my 2c.

I don't know if it's saber rattling or not but if it is true I imagine that the gray marketers will be very happy. Unless Breitling cracks down on their supply chain too.

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David
Je suis désole pour mon mauvais français.

Zenith Pilot Big Date; IWC Vintage Collection Aquatimer; IWC Portuguese 7-day

If Breitling is strengthening their tone in the US other countries/continents won't be far after. So if this is true then you won't see any grey market dealers since the AD's won't be selling discounted watches anymore.

i could see this happening. maybe it is the move to inhouse that has them sitting on their high horse. personally im not quite sure what to make of it. on the one hand it will help in the secondary market for resale but on the other hand it could kill their own quotas for amount of product moved.

edit - i could also see this helping individuals own personal relationships with their AD's

I understand the issue with discounting and image, but comparing cars to watches doesn't work. In the world of watches, there are very few brands that do not offer good discounts. Heck even JLC and many others can be had at similar discounts to Bretiling. Breitling may be my favorite brand, but I'm not seeing much in sales if they are trying to replicate the Rolex pricing model. Prices are way up and at pushing $10k for the in house models (I tried a Chronomat 41 today that was over $9k), with minimal discounts Breitling consumers will be switching to other brands already considered higher end than Lings.

Of course, this is all just quadruple hearsay.

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SHARKMAN

I was just trying to prove a point regarding branding and image. Which you understood without my clarification. I'm quite surprised that they are changing their price model since they're not cheap watches to begin with.

I agree with you on the discount part though. I think sales numbers will decrease in a rather dramatic way if they start controlling discounts as well as raising their prices.

Both you and the guy, three times removed, who had to pick up a strap, were at the AD today? Small world.

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David
Je suis désole pour mon mauvais français.

Zenith Pilot Big Date; IWC Vintage Collection Aquatimer; IWC Portuguese 7-day

IMO Breitling will need to go fully in-house á la Rolex or JLC if they want to start taking an no discount policy route.

People will pay for brand image and exclusivity, and at the moment Breitling have neither (relatively speaking of course) if they want to play with the big boys.

IMO if they want to play that kind of game, they need to ditch the playschool coloured lower-end peices, lose the *ahem* "trendy" fonts, up the "classiness" of the ranges to that of the Navi and TO series, and (as said above) go fully in-house.

There's no way on Earth I'd pay full RRP for a red-rubber-bezeled, DLC coated POS running a bog standard ETA. But I might pay full retail for a classically and timelessly styled, in-house equiped piece that I know will look just as good in 30 years as it does now.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Well said Driver8.

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David
Je suis désole pour mon mauvais français.

Zenith Pilot Big Date; IWC Vintage Collection Aquatimer; IWC Portuguese 7-day

BINGO!!!

Brand image goes with prestige and exclusiveness.
Exclusive in this context meaning within the means of certain "special" individuals, those who can, successful, etc..
One way to achieve this type of exclusivity is to make it expensive which is exactly what Rolex is doing and looks like Breitling are trying.
However that is only half of the story. The other is the prestige part and that Driver8 has captured beautifully.

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"It is just a matter of time!"

+1
and fire Hank !

We've been here before and we'll be here again.

A few years back BUSA said Merry Christmas to a few prominent ADs by terminating their contracts during the holiday season for excessive discounting. For a few months the message was heard and discounts were a little harder to come by. Then BUSA saw the sales numbers......

Less than a year later most of the terminated retailers were ADs again and BUSA just started upping the price that they charged retailers to make it harder to offer discounts.

Start selling the watch to the AD at 80% of list and the discounts will disappear, but for that to happen you need a product that the customer wants to buy at the list price and Breitling don't have that product from a watchmaking, design or image / reputation standpoint.

I know a guy who was told by a guy he knows a guy ! Really what a load of crap Breitling have become less desirable with each new model ? The prices are just stupid and getting stupider with each price increase , what do they care about what a AD selles their watches at ? The AD needs to move as many as he can to make a living he's not going to do that by high balling the watches.

Why not ask the people on the forum who work at and own stores that sell Breitling if its true instead of " I know a guy who was told by a guy he knows a guy "

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Veni, vidi, vici

All-in-all pretty interesting but as many have pointed out before, the dealers still have to make a living. Two weekends ago I was in a Breitling retailer in the NE USA and one of the sales staff spotted my B1 and my wife's CAM1. Within minutes, the saleswoman was telling me about their one day sales event on Breitlings. Although I did not buy anything, I had gotten an offer of 40% off anything in the case....they had a pretty good sized inventory and I admit to being tempted by a reno air races Airwolf, but the bottom line always is that of the dozens of B's that I have owned, I only bought my Cosmonaute new. The price differential between new and gently used has always been the deal killer for me...