The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello Everyone,

I would like to thank you all for getting together on this site, and spending the time to post your knowledge and valued opinions. I have wanted a Montbrillant Datora for about four years now, and my girlfriend would never let me get one. My excuse for not getting engaged was related to capital. I always said i want to be engaged, but i want to buy a house. So spending money on a ring would be counter productive (but i love you).

Anyhow, i finally got her an engagement ring. I got the ring from a jeweler i have known for a few years, and have bought a few pieces of jewelry from. I have trusted him on all jewelry i have ever bought, and he gave me the best price on the diamond amongst all other dealers. Since i had the ring, technically i was allowed to buy the watch. I was so excited and just jumped, i sold him an old bracelet i got from him years ago. He gave me the watch for $5,300 new (almost the price i could have gotten it from at little Switzerland), and gave me $2,000 for my bracelet. I have always had trust in him, but i had never purchased anything over $6,000 from him.

The diamond was double the highest purchase i had ever made. For some reason (which i hope a few people can relate with) i just started to feel scared (i think it was the money). I felt i didn't know enough about diamonds or Breitlings to spend that much money in one shot. The diamond came with a GIA report, and laser etched the serial number on the diamond. It is a microscopic number which you cant see with the loop. So i had to just trust the diamond he gave me matched the one on the report. I feel a little calmer now, because it is a beautiful diamond, and met the criteria i asked for. He has also been in business for 20 years, and has four stores. That is something i always calmed myself with because i know GIA takes fraud very seriously, and i do not think he would risk his business for my transaction (as big as it was to me).

Sorry for the rant, now on to the Breitling:

I spent sometime with a Datora in St. Thomas, modeled in front of the mirror, and walked around with it. I remember specifically thinking, wow the bracelet on this feels really really light. I asked the salesperson she said its surgical grade steal so it is lighter then most bands on other watches, but that is the feel of it. In all of the pictures on the internet, the face looks a bright white. My memory is not great enough to remember whether that was the case when i had the watch in person. Mine is off white, but when i take pictures of it is white like in the pictures. that is one of my concerns but i'm not sure if that is how they look. this link shows the color of my face perfectly;

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 1426wt_905

The watch came with all paperwork, warranty, chronometer certification, and the little chronometer pendant. The packaging was defiantly from Breitling. The first thing that worried me was the color of the face. Its not brilliant white as it is on the Breitling page or on other posters pictures. Then as i looked through the paperwork, i noticed the warranty booklet, had everything correct, but the perforated stamp from the retailer name was for a store in Chile. The sale date written into the booklet was 1/11/2010, which was not when i purchased the watch (i got it 11/18/10). My jeweler told me that he buys them from all over the world and that is why he is able to sell them below retail, but assured me that my warranty would be valid. I read on the booklet that you would need the left side of the booklet to be signed by the sales person and the address of the dealer written to be validated. Mine is not signed nor is the address written on the left side of the book. I called breitling in Connecticut, and they told me that it was fine all i needed was a receipt from the retailer. This where i got really worried, i went to the jeweler and he said he can write me a receipt, but it would most likely serve no purpose if i sent it to Breitling. He swore they would honor my warranty even though the retailer is in chile, and i did not get it from them directly. I have read on forums for the past 2 days, and i am terrified. Some of the fakes look so real (case backings, screws on the ban, even serial numbers) i looked at some admitted fakes, and they even come with paperwork like the real ones. I am really scared, but i felt this way about the diamond until it was all verified for me. From what i read, no fakes have the insides of the watched adorned like a real breitling, but i am even more terrified of opening it then finding out it is fake.

I looked at all the other minor details and it all checks out so i was starting to feel good. I really was able to sleep when i put the watch on for a bit, and felt it vibrating. When i learned what it was, i was confident in the fact that it was real because it is something breitlings share. Then this morning i read that the Chinese fakes have replicated the same movement, and even that can seem genuin.

Can you guys please help me. My worries are mainly the fact that mine looks real, feels real, and sounds real but so do all the fakes from what i have read. I have attached a few crappy pictures i took with my phone. I will try to get better ones. One shows the off white tint i mentioned, and the other one looks more like the pictures.

sorry for the redicululously long post. I hope you guys take the time to read it and can help me. ****i tried uploading pictures (jpg) and it keeps telling me they are invalid format. can someone help me. thank you****

It sounds like a real watch bought from a grey market dealer. If you have the warranty then you should be OK, but Breitling in general and BUSA in particular are starting to clamp down, especially if you send a non BUSA watch to BUSA for warranty work. You have a valid warranty so ultimately they should honour it, especially as the warranty is dated - but the warranty will only run to January 2012, not November.

To upload pictures directly the jpg files need to be less than 250k, larger than that the instructions are here - viewtopic.php?f=5&t=453

I'm also going to split this into a new topic as it's not directly related to the watch in this thread.

thank you, and sorry for the goofs. just a quick question though, does the watch face have an off white color in person? or is it brilliantly white like in the pictures?

I don't recall the colour from memory, but others will advise.

The watch you got came with all possible indicia of authenticity. If you have all the original packaging and papers, including both an original warranty card and the COSC certificate, and the numbers all match, odds are it is real. However, the only way to be positive is to send it in for a verification and/or servicing. I can't remember if Breitling charges for verification or not; if they do, I don't think it is very much, although you will also be out the shipping costs. It might be worth the time and cost for some peace of mind, though. And if you do find out it's fake, you'd be better off finding out now, so you can take it up with the seller if need be. I would guess it is real, though, based on your description. As Roff said, it sounds like a legit grey market watch, rather than a fake.

[Edited to correct typos.]

I have also deleted your duplicate post, back in the original thread that I split this from - you really only need to post once.

sorry i was having a hard time understanding how to post.

Watch on the photo is real.

so the face on these watches is not a bright white as it seems from the Breitling pictures? That was one of my main concerns. That link was the only picture i found with a face the color of mine.

Does anyone know if the faces on this model is as vibrant white as it is in the pictures?