Breitling just finishes it’s best year ever financially....

...many other brands would kill for being as “unpopular” and as profitable as Breitling.

That's excellent news on the financial front Fred! At the end of the day, money talks, and sound financials are obviously one of the major barometers of success, so this clearly shows Breitling are doing more than a couple of things right these days!

I take your point Scoot, but the problem is that the "Rolex or Patek Experience" in terms of value retention just isn't something that can be built overnight, if at all.

The business model (and the realities of that business model) that Breitling and 99% of all other watchmakers out there are quite different to both Rolex's and Patek's. Breitling, along with pretty much every other mass production watchmaker, are all about (first and foremost) selling the most they can and making the most money possible. The supply and demand model can go one of two ways - you either sell a lot relatively cheaply (stack 'em high and sell 'em cheap), or you go the other way and sell a lot less but charge a serious premium for it. The fact is it's considerably easier to do the first than it is to do the latter, as the latter requires far more reliance on building a perception of rarity and exclusivity with the consumer. That takes many years to build, and Patek has perfected that by not making many pieces per year and making them to an exceptional level. Rolex have done it by essentially not straying from their design path for almost their entire history, and building their brand image exponentially. Plus both companies are privately owned, so their focus is somewhat different to the likes of Breitling.

The main reason for most companies wanting to make as much money as possible is shareholders, and the company doesn't make money from second-hand sales which means value retention is very much a secondary consideration. As you say, it's also very much worth remembering that Breitling's owners, CVC, are a private equity firm who's mission is, again, to make as much money as possible, and Georges (who owns a share of Breitling) said in a recent interview that at some point they will look to sell Breitling on. That's a very different business model than either Rolex or Patek...

Not sure if they’re unpopular but definitely not a grail piece.

I kind of disagree. I think that a lot of men - who dont spend hours on watch forums or read watch magazines - want one nice watch. And at least in my experience, these people range Rolex, Omega, and Breitling more or less in the same class. They have never even heard about VC, Blancpain, Breguet, etc. So they pick their "grail piece" from what they know.

let me tell you that countless hours of strategy meetings and considerable funds went into curbing grey market sales, AD have been cut drastically, a buyback program has been established to channel out of catalog models through the Breitling Outlet Boutiques and much more. No, there is no “pump and dump mentality” anymore, but none of these measures work overnight, of course.

Breitling been unpopular is both false and true to an extent. It's popular amongst watch enthusiasts because we have a fondness for our watches and that moves us to search for the best out there, but for all others, it's not much of a name or brand. I bet almost everyone knows the brand name "Rolex" not as much as Breitling.
Maybe it results from brand management or superiority.

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