The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I think I've seen this one before somewhere.

Paul

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-1960s-Breitling-Chronograph_W0QQitemZ190268350982QQihZ009QQcategoryZ31387QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Good to see you again Paul, thought you had got lost!

I love the way that this watch has been away for 9 months getting an overhaul - funny how it was being flogged on eBay about 3 months ago.

It would take me about a minute to overhaul it - with a sledge hammer.

It's Fugly.

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It's whorable too. Craig

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S. Craig Bergsma

Hey guys. Perhaps a waste of breath and energy, but here goes (my comments are meant to be constructive):

The watch is mine. It wasn't "being flogged on eBay about 3 months ago". Three months ago I had just received it back from servicing, and posted some pics and an inquiry on this forum asking for any information that was available on it. Roffensian replied with some thoughtful comments regarding any possible relationship between Elgin and Breitling (as I'd seen an Elgin on eBay with a very similar dial in the past), while Vintage/Paul replied that it was "one of the worst [he'd] seen". All comments were taken as opinions, some more well-meaning than others.

I have seen discussion on watch forums that during a period in the early seventies, there were oddball but authentic Breitlings (mostly the sports-type ones) sold by Breitling that used available parts but aren't found in the catalogs and Chonologs of the period. And then there are the straight-up, ubiquitous 'Frankenwatches'. I am not attempting to pass anything off fraudulently. I purchased the watch in good faith, and am selling it in good faith after having had it it completely gone over by a qualified individual, and having just purchased yet another watch with the idea that I'd sell one of the watches I've accumulated (we've all made those deals with ourselves, right?). That's all. Perhaps I should have stated in my eBay description "DISCLAIMER: Paul ("Vintage") of BreitlingSource.com has deemed the watch 'the worst I have seen' - please take this into account when bidding"?.

I sincerely appreciate your mission of protecting fellow Breitling enthusiasts from the fakes and replicas that are so abundant online, but when your comments start to take on the tone of a group of bitchy high school girls at the lunchroom table gleefully criticizing the new kid's clothes and haircut, you start to lose a little relevancy and credibility. Every online enthusiast chatroom and "unofficial" forum I've frequented (be it for high end audio, vintage jazz lp's, Audi automobiles, vintage drums, or whatever) seems to eventually devolve into a few self-anointed 'experts' intoxicated on their perceived 'online expert' status getting haughty in their opinions and proclamations, and the dialogue starts to take on that bitchy tone that eventually turns readers off.

But isn't that just the internet for ya?

Your accumulated knowledge of all-things-Breitling is evident and appreciated, and I have enjoyed reading the various posts over the last few months, but sometimes the tone just gets a little pissy, and veers away from the helpful tone that is usually the order of the day here (and no, I'm not wearing my 'sensitive pants' today). I'm sure you'll devour this post like a piece of meat thrown in the crocodile tank at the zoo , but I just felt I had to comment, however longwindedly . Have a nice Thanksgiving holiday everybody.

No devouring from me Steve.

Hear and appreciate your comments, don't think any more response is necessary.

I suspected from our previous correspondence that you are a gentleman, and you just confirmed it.

Kindest regards,
Stephen