The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Well I'm truly shocked to see that mfserge has taken another chance for a personal attack at me (really Sergio, what I have done to you???). Oh and last time I checked I'm not the leader, fearless or otherwise. Please grow up, it's getting tiresome and I'm fairly certain that many other people have had enough too!

Well I'm truly shocked to see that mfserge has taken another chance for a personal attack at me (really Sergio, what I have done to you???). Oh and last time I checked I'm not the leader, fearless or otherwise. Please grow up, it's getting tiresome and I'm fairly certain that many other people have had enough too!





I think that the money is tight - why wouldn't it be after the economic problems - we need to wait for COSC numbers, but Breitling production was likely down 20 - 25% in 2009. What I'm not sure of is whether that impacts design directly or rather production. If the company is producing new watches then they need to produce all kinds of new parts, and that has to be an exercise in reprogamming CNC machines, retooling, potentially working with suppliers on new parts etc.

I suspect that may be one of the reasons why we haven't seen anything else with an inhouse movement - I doubt that we will see the movement 'dropped' into an existing watch (and even that would require modifications). I made it clear in my 10,000th post that I think that Breitling needs an influx of capital one way or another, but I'm not sure whether the design is suffering for a lack of investment - I think that it's a conscious effort.

Also remember the effort that has gone into moving production in house - not just in house movements but in house production of ETA / Valjoux movement parts to offset the impact of Swatch Group's cessation of the supply of ebauches. That has meant a considerable ramp up in machinery, training, staffing, etc, and there will be ongoing support and financing costs associated with that work that will reduce the money available for investment elsewhere. I also suspect that Breitling saw some considerable tightening of their credit in the last couple of years.

The company is going the wrong way. I like the B01 - this debate is not about the B01 or its design, its simply a frustration that the watch brand that I coveted to buy a watch of since I was a kid is making these types of design and watch development choices such as sticking diamonds on B01 bezels or sticking B01 bezels on other lower cost models.

The owners of the company should consider whats happening, when I start to see people saying they cant wear or dont want to wear their B01 anymore because of whats come after its introduction, then the situation is getting out of hand. The company should consider ways of getting more capital into the business- at least we may see Breitling getting back to a few basics, in terms of improving the functionality choices in its watches and maybe sticking the B01 movement into some of the iconic watches of the brand.

Who says, Breitling have had financial problems? Their sales went down in the US in 2009, but they went up (and go up dramatically) in other fast growing markets. Their new bezel style is the new urban look of the Breitling Windrider line - as another poster said - they gradually equal the style in each line. The main reason why the new inhouse movement isn't put in other models yet is a quantity issue. The new B01 simply doesn't sell as well as the older Evo (yet) and the quantities are not high enough (yet). There's a risk to canibalize some present hot sellers (like the Navitimer) with a new upgraded inhouse model. They simply wait and observe the market direction. In the meanwhile they equal the styles (or at least they try to) based on serious market studies (they certainly don't throw a random design on the market and look what happens). They are not necessary going the wrong way (from an economical point of view of course - globally spoken).

V.

P.S. Oh yes, and every luxury watch brand has some blingy-diamond busters of their best sellers in their range - maybe not all communicate it, but if you pay you simply can get anything.

If you look back, Breitling always had their distinctive designs, but not too different inside a model range. All Navitimers and Montbrillants look alike, except for maybe the Chrono-Matic. All Windrider models used to share the same bezel design (made of bare steel, with rider tabs and etched indexes), but otherwise Windrider chrono models looked quite similar, with the Cockpit being a bit different (mostly due to not being a chrono). Before the born of the SOH, watches in the Aeromarine range used to be quite similar, with the rider tab bezel and chronos looking like other chronos, non-chronos looking just like other non-chronos in the same range, etc. etc.

Now it seems like Breitling is working on:

1) New bezel (B01) for the whole Windrider range. When they revamp the Blackbird (probably next year) and discontinue the Chronomat Evo (I hope not), it will be pretty much completed.

2/a) New bezel (new SO) for the whole Aeromarine range

2/b) New bezel (new SO) for the diver's watches in the Aeromarine range. If this is the case, then I'm not sure what would happen to the non-diver watches (e.g. Colt GMT), but the new Colt GMT+ may just give a hint on a 3rd new bezel design variant.

3) Navitimer range should stay as is, with probably a late introduction of the B01 movement in a new "Navi B01" model sometime in the 22nd century

4) Professional range is still cloudy, especially since if you don't count the Ravens, now it is made up of the Aerospace (untouched so far), a huuuuge design mix of other watches (new Chronospace), and the Emergency, and ........ that's it. If there's a range where Breitling has a lot of work to do, IMO it's the Professional range.

2/a.....?Which one is this? Pic?

Roff. I'm behind you. Don't know why someone just wouldn't stop his personal attack on you!

Personal attack? Wow you guys need some thicker skin. BTW the love-fest is sickening

What I meant to say is: now that the Windrider range pretty much got the same bezel design (B01), there's a chance that the Aeromarine range would also get a new, unified bezel design. That design could be based on either the B01 bezel (I hope not), or on the bezel of the New Wave SuperOcean (pictures: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=19347 ), or on the bezel of the new Colt GMT+, or something completely different.

To me it would be logical to have a fancy, shiny bezel with modern fonts on the Windrider models, while the Aeromarine range (or only the diver's watches) would get the new SO bezel either with rubber coating or with aluminum or ceramic bezel insert.

And please allow me a subjective comment: I have a sneaking suspicion that Breitling is doing an experiment on the Aeromarine range lately. Previously all models shared the same bezel and same design language, but now there're quite a few new design initiatives: first the SOH with the black aluminum bezel; then the Colt GMT+ with the sort of modernized rider tabs design; then the New Wave SO with the rubber coated black bezel and colorful rehaut. Maybe Breitling will see which design sells the most, and they will use that as the unified "21st century design language" on the Aeromarine range.

Whats the big deal about the diamond B01? Anybody who has followed the brand for years is probably aware that diamond bezels and diamondworks models have been around. Why is it such a surprise that theyve continued the trend? First off, they are very low production, so its a specialty piece at best. Ive only seen one diamondworks model in my life (flying B at 175k). The breitling pdf even specifically calls it a "jewelry" version. This doesnt even take into account that these pieces are without a doubt the most high profit margin pieces that they sell. We dont know the financial state of breitling, and these high value pieces might be all thats separating them from going under or being swallowed up by one of the conglomerates. Ive always seen breitling as 75% tool, 25% jewelry, and I see nothing wrong with that. You want a big, ugly, 100% tool mechanical watch? Buy a Marathon or something...Breitling, Rolex, Chopard, Cartier, Omega, JLC etc. are probably not for you.