The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I drove up to London yesterday for a day out with my g/friend, and I made my usual pilgrimage to New Bond Street to check out the watch shops and jewellers, and general drool over the displays.

The usual amazing pieces were on display - from AP to GP, from Harry Winston to Urwerk, from Cvstos to MB&F, from Greubel Forsey to Richard Mille - and all within a few hundred yards. It's the sweet shop for the watch fanatic! (One thing that always amuses me is how the likes of Rolex and Breitling are poked away in the corner like the likes of Fossil watches might be in a provincial town AD. There's just so many amazing and unique manufacturers on show, the mainstreamers like Rolex hardly register).

Standouts for me were the MB&F Frog, which while being totally insane and impractical, is just a pure work of art, and the Greubel Forsey Quadruple Tourbillon, which is frankly incredible. God knows what the price of that one is as Bond Street is very much a slave to the principle that if you have to ask, you can't afford it : hardly anything has a price tag on it.

Two other surprises for me were - 1) how cheap and nasty the Urwerk models look in person. I've never been a fan of the look anyway, but still expected them to be better in person, and 2) how good the latest Hublot models are! This REALLY shocked me, as in the past I've never been impressed with Hublot's offerings either in pictures or in person, but the new models are really starting to change my perception of them.

Later in the afternoon we popped into Harrods and as usual I was somehow drawn into the Fine Watch Room while my g/friend was in the Jimmy Choo section (I assume!). I tried on a Panerai 306 tourbillon at a cool £76,000 GBP - looked amazing on the wrist which surprised me as it's the first 47mm Panerai I've ever tried. However, it's titanium and the lack of weight alone would put me off spending that sort of cash on it, even if I had it. Other standards were a GP Tourbillon coming in at a little over £300K GBP, and a really fantastic skeleton dial IWC Portuguese. I'm not sure if it was a perpetual calendar or a minute repeater as a guy was trying it on while I was there, but the incredible thing about it was that it was number 1 of the series. Around £160K if memory serves.

No pictures to shares guys as all the shops have very large and burly security men who seem to assume you're about to raid them if you get a camera out!

So what (real world) thing did I take from this trip, apart from feeling exceptionally poor when every couple of mins a brand new Bentley or similar vehicle would turn up to deposit a very wealthy looking person inside one of the jewellers while the driver waited outside? Well, it reinforced my love the AP ROO Safari Themes. There were around 4 or 5 for sale on Bond Street and after trying one on, it's definitely a watch I want to aspire to. The second thing it reinforced is that I really will have to land an in-house Panerai at some point. They just feel right to me whenever I wear one.

God knows when I'll be able to land any of these as the current economic climate is killing me, but it's good to have something to look forward to when the market conditions finally take a turn for the better. Apologies for no pics guys, but just thought I'd share my day out.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Great post Driver, I enjoyed hearing about your findings and your thoughts on those watches. Although I do disagree with some of what you said, such as a 47MM Panerai feeling too light, I find that our general tastes do seem to be similar. I COMPLETELY agree that Urwerk watches are disappointing!

I also find it refreshing that someone finally shares my thoughts on the new Hublot models! They are quite the turning point for the company and a far cry from their initial offerings. The AP Safari is indeed a must have, and to me a staple in the collection! The only thing that could be better would be to pair it with the new Forged Carbon!!!

Here is hoping that we both get what we are looking for this year! I would say one quick thing here driver, dont despair just yet! I was in your shoes just a couple of years ago. In fact I remember when I first joined the forum and struggled with spending 4K on a Chronomat, and two years ago I had to sell my collection of four watches and my car to take care of family health issues, thankfully you are nowhere as bad a shape as I was, and having a year like 2010 seemed like a laughable dream at the time. But things tend to turn out for the best, heres hoping the economic crisis eases off of Europe soon!

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Certified watch nut.

Thanks for your kind words there Altair - I appreciate it a lot. I remember you having that situation a couple of years ago, and I'm really pleased it all worked out OK for you and the family member concerned. At the end of the day it's only money and there are way more important things to worry about.

I agree that you and I do have quite similar in watches - Indeed there's probably 90% of your collection that I'd take tomorrow... TODAY in fact!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I just got back from London yesterday and unfortunately did not go on this watch expedition you described. I was there with my fiance, and as she let me do a little watch shopping in Madrid, I decided to not push my luck in London. However, it seems I should have. Thanks for the report, Driver. I'll be sure to make it a point to check out New Bond Street the next time I'm in London, which probably won't be that far away.

-Craig

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Chronomat 01- Sierra Silver/Steel
Navitimer 01- Limited Edition #1337/2000

Great, just one more reason for me to visit London, I'm certainly not gonna rent a damn car though. I'm going to Nassau in a couple of months and can't wait to go check out all the watches again, if my wife will let me that is. Of course I think it's mostly mainstream brands there, but that'll do for me.

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

I knew that there was something that I missed about the UK!

Great post Driver8, although I don't appreciate the comments about one of my grail brands (Urwerk)

I thought you'd been taxed off the road

Keep promising myself a trip to Bond St one day.

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For more information on identifying Breitling replicas, please visit my web site
http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

Yes well I wouldn't have done it if I didn't have the new tractor.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Driver, I make that same run each year. Great post.

Good post D8, I'm glad you had a good day. I was on New Bond Street back in 2006 and thought the experience fantastic. I'm glad you got to try on some nice timepieces.

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

It can't be THAT bad, is it?

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Thanks for a great post Mr Driver.

Whenever I get the chance to visit London (Maybe once a year even though we're only an hour and a half away on the train _) I always go to New and Old Bond Street and delight in examples of the highest grade horological pieces on the planet.

I also pop over to Selfridges because they have a lot of very nice watches there too.

I need to get to Harrods since they have revamped their Watch Room.

BTW, if its the model I'm thinking of, the Greubel Forsey you mentioned is close to £300K. I had the pleasure of trying this on at the British Horological Institutes 150th Anniversary a few years ago.

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I'm guessing that New Bond Street is a street where all the high-end stores are packed in together? Like a Newbury St in Boston, or 5th/Madison in NY.

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Breitling Colt GMT
Breitling Navitimer World
IWC Portuguese Automatic
Breitling Transocean Chronograph LE

Only better, but in miniature....

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- This is Ghost Rider requesting a fly-by. - Negative Ghost Rider. The pattern is full.

Very nice D8! Sounds like a lovely day with the lady. While I've never been there, I'll be sure to go if I'm in London.

I've been planning on taking a tour of Jeweler's Row here in Chicago (Wabash between Washington and Monroe ). While not nearly as posh as your description of New Bond Street, I think it would be interesting to take a few photos and give may take on the various shops along the way. I think this post may have inspired me to make that happen sooner rather than later.

Thanks for sharing!

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“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.” - Albert Einstein