The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I was watching one of the old James Bond movies (Thunderball) last night, and I noticed one of the guys was wearing a Navitimer, and Bond actually had an old Breitling Top Time on (with the optional geiger-counter complication). It got me wondering what those watches would have cost back in 1965.

Based on the consumer price index, a $7,200 Navitimer today would have cost $1,070 back in 1965. Going off census data, the median household income in 1965 was about $7,000 a year. It doesn't take much to realize people weren't spending $1,000 on watches back then which begs the question: What did Breitlings retail for back in the day?

I haven't had any luck finding the answer, but I would figure about $20-30. Hopefully someone will be able to sort me out on that one. Even if they cost $200-300, they still would have been a relative bargain.

I also think it's interesting what a premium society has placed on branding. I think we all agree that these are fantastic watches, but I also think it's widely accepted that there is not $7,200 worth of material and labor on our wrists. I'm not saying I regret paying that much for any of my watches; they are worth the price to me, and I guess that's all that matters, but I wouldn't mind living in a world where we didn't have that marketing-induced premium markup!

Disclaimer for the inevitable detail-oriented replies: *The $7,200 is just a ballpark estimate I came up with for a B01 Navitimer. I understand there are plenty of cheaper Breitlings, just as there are plenty of Breitlings that cost more*

*Copied from Don Indiano's History of the Chronomat.

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-RJ

Assuming that ad is from the mid 1960's, a $170 solid gold Navitimer would run us just north of $1,100 today!


So bear with me while I try to make sense of this....

$180 spent in 1965 on an asset that maintained its value would be worth $1,100 today. An 18k gold Navitimer costs about $12,000 today which means if someone could unload their vintage 18k gold Navitimer at or about $12,000, they would have an annualized return of about 13% on their original $180 investment back in 1965.

So if I buy a $12,000 gold Navitimer today with a 13% annualized return, it would be worth $783,000 in 45 years.

Having done that math, it only makes sense to buy as many Breitlings as your finances can bear! Don't think of it as buying a nice watch, think of it as securing your future financial wellbeing. It would almost be irresponsible NOT to load up!

My wife is going to have a difficult time arguing against THAT logic!!!!

I'll post pictures of my new "investment portfolio" once I've cashed out of my stock holdings.

The 1969 Catalog here:
http://www.breitlingsource.com/books_1969.shtml
has prices. The Navi's are on page 3.

This picture is too awesome. Theyd probably get in trouble for doing that these days.

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-RJ

Yeah I like that picture aswell for some reason

But why the hell would they get in trouble for it if I may ask?

Politically correct USA. It would probably be construed as chauvinistic. Interest groups would be crying that the man is taking advantage of the poor, naive woman and claim that woman are strong and independent. LOL...or something like that.

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-RJ

Haha... Awesome!

Ohmygoodness... look at those prices...

two words...

time machine...

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

I never knew how true to the original the SOH was. That thing is awesome, except for the bezel being off line

She's just checking out the size of his cockpit whilst he's slipping that $20 bill out of her pocket................................

Stef

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DOn't be silly - the Cockpit wasn't introduced until about 4 years ago - that's a Navitimer

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Actually, for an obvious reason, I prefer this one:

http://www.breitlingsource.com/images/l ... age_20.jpg

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