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?

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.

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 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.

I tried a Chronomat 41 today that was over $9k

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.