The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Here are some latest news 3 days before Baselworld 2010 opens.

The tendency is the return to more sober lines, purified design, catering of the entry range and price reduction. More than 100'00 visitors are expected.

Price reduction is a tendency seen at all watchmakers. You cannot sell a watch over $50'000 as easy as in the past. At that price range (or above) you must either justify its movement (in-house or not) or its extraordinary design. Collectors now compare much more than they used to.

January and February 2010 saw a slight 3% rise in sales compared to 2009. However, this is mainly due to watches priced under $3'000. They account for a 20% increase of those sales, compared to a 7% decrease for watches above that price range. However, this is a very positive sign because watches under the $3'000 range are hit hard in times of crisis but they are also the ones that recover first.

The general consensus is that Nicolas Hayek made everyone a favor by threatening to limit (or stop altogether in the future) delivery of ETA movements. These will be reserved for the Swatch Group makes. "Autonomy" is what everyone thinks.

Tag Heuer produced its new in-house movement, the 1887, which will be shown for the first time in a Carrera.

Delaloye watches , present in Japan, Hong Kong and the USA, are situated at the upper end with prices starting at $30'000. They used to provide movements for Franck Muller. Now, they developed their own, called ND 01, with a 72 h power reserve.

Schwartz Etienne used to provide movements for Dunhill or Channel. Founded in 1902, they, too, produce their own in-house movement, the BSE 1325, since 2009 and it is used for their "City" range, Barcelona, Roma, New York, Olympia and, of course, La Chaux-de-Fonds.

Atlantic, a practically unknown by the large public watchmaker, based in Bienne and selling mainly to the ex-east bloc countries, expects a great deal from Asian buyers like Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia or Indonesia.

Zenith reduced its references to 170, down from more than 800. They count a lot on the new Elite collection, priced from $4'000 or about $2'000 less than their usual price range.

Tissot, which is one of the few makes to have stayed in black in 2009, are very hopefull that recovery of the markets is not far. Even though the Swatch group does not publish figures anymore, Tissot is present in 160 countries with 16'000 POS, 68 of them devoted solely to Tissot. The latest new shop will be opened in May in Paris at the Champs-Elysées.

Buying power has diminished but everyone still wants an affordable luxury that a Swiss-made watch represents.

One of the clues for staying in the business is the right price. People do want good quality Swiss made watches, but not at any price, not anymore. Another is having an in-house movement. That is the only way to stay independent and control from A to Z, along with proper manufacturing and proper assembly.

Among the watches to look for at Baselworld are:

- Louis Erard 1931, mechanic, ETA 2824, $ 2'500
- Ulysse Nardin El Toro GMT, automatic, $ 57'000
- Concorde C1 Code, mechanic, $ 12'000 to $24'000
- Franc Vila Woman, automatic with 91 diamonds, $ 24'000 to $ 60'000
- Christian Jacques Chronograph Virtus, automatic, $2'200 to $ 3'500
- Ball Watch Engineer and its illuminated turning bezel, $ 3'000
- Epos 3400 GMT Limited Edition, two independent mechanical movements, $ 2'500
- Victorinox Dive Master 500 Black Ice Chrono, quartz, $ 1'800
- Oris La Col Moschlin, tested by the Italian Special Forces, titanium case, 1'000m, $ 4'500
- Hublot Big Bang Maradona, limited to 250 pieces, black ceramic case, 55 rubis, $ 17'000
- SwisSpace Spaceman (like the '70s Spaceman, oval shaped), quartz, $ 300

and last but not least:
- Louis Monet Time Explorator, with a dial that has fragments of a 130-million year dinosaur. Price on request.

Sorry no news for the moment from Breitling.

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

Most of those watches have already been announced.

And the Louis Moinet is actually called the Jurassic Tourbillon. Time Explorator is the name of the series that this is the first part of.

Admin posted about it in the blog last week - http://blog.breitlingsource.com/2010/03 ... saur-bone/

Been to my AD today, so some Breitling news anyhow:

There will be at least two novelties: a magnificent SO with a new TT dial (black and yellow) and a Colt GMT with a new dial, new numbers and a new black Diver Pro bracelet that looks exactly like the steel one.

He even showed me some pictures on his computer but said these were not the "official" pictures.

But no Navi B01.

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

Maybe your AD reads BreitlingSource - viewtopic.php?f=1&t=17555

Could be. However, he was sent the picture I saw from Breitling HQ in Granges as we were talking.

Your post proves something else though: BreitlingSource is better informed than the ADs.

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

I've found that also. There's a local AD with a real sharp salesman but most are clueless compared to most on this website.
I keep entertained here because I always learn something. I get bored speaking with most salesmen because it's already the basic sh*t everyone knows.

Sounds like an articulated rubber bracelet a la JLC MC Diving Series?

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-RJ

Exactly the same

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