The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Breitling.com opening page warns 99% of Breitlings sold online are fakes and the rest are second hand and further states "no AD sells Breitlings online".

I see Prestigetime.com among others advertised here on this forum and I see posts about people waiting for there watches to be delivered. Is there a safe way to purchase a Breitling via Internet or not

The prices quoted online are always the best discounts but seems pretty hard to ignore such an emphatic warning

Using breitlings logic, since there are no authorized dealers that sell online, any new breitling that is being sold online is incomplete without warranty and is unauthorized, or fake.

_________________
-RJ

Yes, these prices do seem to be better prices but they're grey market dealers and their watches aren't covered under Breitling's warranty policies. Prestigetime and a few other sites are trusted or proven sites if you will with descent feedbacks and experiences. When you see people saying that they're waiting on their watches to be delivered, they're referring to AD's having their watches shipped to them post the sales method accepted by their AD's, fax order, phone order, face to face, etc. Lots of times if the watch wasn't in stock, it's shipped to the AD then to you, so they're not purchasing from an AD via the internet. Prestigetime and others aren't Authorized Dealers, they're grey market dealers. Hope this helps somewhat, I'm sure the others will give you their opinions as well.

_________________
Breitlingfanatic30



Montbrillant Legende (Silver Dial)
Super Avenger (Black Dial with Baton Markers)
Bentley 6.75 (Silver Storm Dial)

If your in the states I would definetly give Govberg a call I just purchased a watch from them excellent service. Or speak to Jnelson3097.

_________________
Breitling Super Avenger
Breitling SOH 46

Yeah, call George. I have purchased many watches from him, piece of mind knowing its real!

_________________
Breitling for Bentley Barnato 42
Rolex Submariner

Just for full information, some grey-market dealers do in fact supply ALL the paperwork, which makes the watch totally indistinguishable from one bought from the originating AD. However, not all do so if you really must buy online, ask plenty of questions about the paperwork first, and always only buy from one of the more trustworthy ones.

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

I think the wording on the website is both wrong and misleading, and I'd be curious to know where their numbers come from. I doubt they have real data to back them up.

BOTTOM LINE: DON'T DO IT!

I had THE worst experience with Thewatchery.com! The watches are real, but once you run into a issue and and you have to send it back to them your f*$%ed!

I didn't see mine for 6 months+ ended up threatening the guy and he gave me a refund! Plus, THEY do not fix the watches like they say! They say that they do but its not true. They have a random shop do it privately for them....

Its all BS! Learn from my experience, don't be cheap! Buy from the store, if you can afford it, wait till you can!

PS: The mans name who was in charge at thewatchery.com was..... "LAZER" Seriously!

_________________
Past: BlackBird, Navi World, SA, Rolex DJII, IWC Yacht Club
Present: CE, DSSD
Future: Changes daily

That statistic is complete bollocks. It really lowers my opinion of Breitling, frankly. How the heck can they know how many watches are actually sold on the internet?? Maybe 99% of watches advertised on the internet, maybe, but not "sold." Breitling seems to be doing its best to destroy the pre-owned watch market, and I think they are shooting themselves in the foot by doing this. It's short sighted. A person who bought a new Breitling and can sell it can turn around and buy another new Breitling.

I own 4 Breitlings and I purchased all of them pre-owned "on the internet." Actually, 3 of them were through Ebay and the 4th was originally on Ebay but I ended up doing a private transaction after the auction had ended. All of these transactions went flawlessly and I got exactly what I expected. I do restrict myself to doing business with actual brick-and-mortar stores or with individuals for whom I have contact info that I can verify. Eventually I might still get burned, but I am pretty sure that in the end I will always be ahead.

To judge from people's experience, it seems that the .com-only sellers (those without brick-and-mortar locations) are a mixed bag. Prestige Time has a good rep, but people have had minor problems with AuthenticWatches and others (like, obviously, The Watchery). My attitude is that you should have zero expectations of any grey-market warranty. If they end up fixing your watch with no hassle, consider that a bonus, but don't purchase with that expectation. If you are still OK with the price you paid, then fine. Otherwise, maybe you should consider going with one of the ADs that are talked about on this site, who do offer very competitive discounts to grey market.

I always by mine pre-owned, so I get a substantial saving off of even the grey market price. Sure, I will have to pay to get the watches serviced sooner, should they have problems, but that is already more than built into the price I pay.

///M


P.S. I should add, though, that I got this "Limited Edition Steinhart" watch through this internet site called "BreitlingSource.com." What a bunch of sleezy b@stards on that site! I'll never trust the internet again!

_________________
There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness." --Dave Barry

69.6% of stats posted on the internet are wrong.

_________________
Panerai PAM212 | Panerai Diver Strap
Panerai PAM111 | Black Croc Strap
Omega Planet Ocean | SS Bracelet
Rolex Submariner | SS Bracelet (Sold, Awaiting Funds)
Breitling Navitimer Olympus | Brown Croc Strap (Arriving)

I agree completely with Mofongo. I have 3 Lings currently. All were bought second hand. 2 from eBay, one from Timezone. 3 PAM, one from ebay, 2 from Timezone, a Rolex from TRF and a UN from Ebay. All of these deals were fine.

I admit to being in the midst of a hassle from a deal on Paneristi....but it will work out in the end(I am doing a credit card chargeback).

All that said, the #1 rule remains, Buy the Seller.

What saddens me the most about Breitling's statement is that either they are lying or they are incompetent. I don't like either.

Well, as we've said on here before, your best bet if you buy online (and the watch doesn't have the manufacturer's warranty card) is never to use the dealers "warranty", and just assume that IF something goes wrong with the watch, you'll have to send it back to Breitling and bite the bullet on the bill. I always think that if you pay less for the watch by buying on-line, you should offset that cash you save against the potential of having to pay for a repair at Breitling in teh event of a prob. I'd NEVER trust some grey dealer "watchmaker" (who's probably just a random guy with a set of Bergeons sitting in their warehouse) to open or work on my watch. But that's just me.

_________________
Driver8

Site Moderator

you can get practically the same deal from the right ad that yuo can grey market

if its a case of quibbling over a hundred bucks or so buy a cheaper watch or buy grey market and dont piss and moan if u have issues down the line.

But I hear the chocolate is good!

The Breitling statement:
Isn't this just them covering themselves, as there are fakes around, we have how many fakes per day identified per day on this site alone, the only way to 100% ensure your purchase is correct is to buy from them.

But then there is no way I could afford or justify the cost of a new Navi, so it's ebay and other internet sites, and you do your research, check as far as you can, and the internet is a great tool for that, check with your BS friends, and you make the decision based on what you feel is right.

But its you that's parting with your hard earned cash so its a case of buyer beware. If you walk into an AD with cash in your pocket those questions have already been answered and the only question left is how much discount you are going to get and how many Lings are you going to walk out the door with!

My record 3 watches purchased via the ebay, 1 from a BS member, and one on the way, all great transactions and just what I expected/wanted, that's cause I did my checks and decided that the sites/person was, as far as I could tell worth taking the risk with.

Happy buying

Ian

_________________
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Navitimer World, Callistino.
Omega Speedmaster Moon, Hamilton 992B, Steinhart BS LEII #2, B&R 01-92 Heritage

I have purchased much cheaper watches on ebay and jomashop.com, they were always legit. I could gamble with $700, but I wasn't willing to gamble thousands buying a new Ling.

I was less concerned about authenticity and more concerned with potential problems, or receiving a watch that was already returned.

_________________
Chronomat Evo (White, Arabics)
Avenger Seawolf (Black, Batons) INCOMING?