The Breitling Watch Source Forums

We can rant and rave all we want about or dislike or like over the slew of new and "different" models that Breitling introduced for 2011.

But one thing has intrigued me the most - the watches are in the stores and I have seen but a handful of BS members purchase and post pics or reviews.

So is the skewed BS population staying away in droves? Or is everyone too busy to snap a wrist shot?

I wonder..........................

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SHARKMAN

I've heard 3 ADs tell me that the new models are selling like crazy, yet their cases are full of new models. I personally think the ADs are full of $h!t.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

ive been to 3 ad so far looking for a new soc blue or yellow ( dont know yet ) but no one has received any yet

I've tried on several in an attempt to give them a fair crack, and while the TO Chrono is the standout for me there is nothing that I want to spend any money on beyond the Navitimer 01 LE that I already have.

Here are some models I've seen in ADs - Chronomat 41, SO44, Chronomat GMT, SOH42, Navi 01, new CSO, Transocean Chrono and 3 hand (non-LE), Galactics Chrono II, Montbrillant 01, Flying Fish, and SO GMT.

I wonder who all the buyers are?

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SHARKMAN

I was just looking at a couple other forums and it never ceases to amaze me the level of freedom we have here on BS. One thread was simply about why breitling discontinues all the good models. The responses ranged from nostalgic lamenting over models lost to praise for Breitling's courage to push the design envelope. Then the thread was locked as "unproductive."

Jeepers! Kudos again to Admin and the mods for keeping an open forum on BS. Elsewhere a comment like, "Breitling has lost it's way, has no direction, and has lost me as a customer" would be considered bad form and lead to a locked thread. How can you have a forum without allowing open dissent??? That's not a forum, it's a cheerleading routine.

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SHARKMAN

Agreed. We have a good group here, both members and mods. Forgive me if that's another form of cheerleading.

Well said!

I used to frequent a forum just like that, at worst the 'moderators' were bigoted bullies and at best just drones.

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Al

“Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"

So what did you think of the Flying Fish? Despite the stupid name, and yes I know where it comes from, that's the only Breitling left that I'd like to own.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

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"Leave the gun, take the cannoli."

up in the north of england wacthes are not moving at all, there are 2 local breitling AD's and everytime I have been in over the last 2 months they still have the same watches - blackbirds, steelfishes etc, but its not just the breitlings all the rolex's and omegas are still there

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Brietling SO SF - Blue Dial

I know this is off-topic, but your comment reminds me of a run-in I once had with a forum owner, who was also the chief moderator of his site. Years ago, I was a member of an electric-shaver forum for a very brief period. It quickly became apparent to me that the site owner was just as you described - a bully and a dictator - so I deleted all my posts and considered myself no longer a member. Fast forward about six months: I was a member on a wet shaving forum, and made a comment about the electric shaver forum, noting how people could get so into their electric razors. The owner of the electric shaver forum somehow got wind of my comment, and actually signed up as a member on the wet shaving forum solely for the purpose of coming into the thread and berating me, calling me names, and declaring me banned from his site. It didn't seem to matter to him that I hadn't so much a posted a punctuation mark on his site in months; he was going to exercise his "authoritah" no matter what. All he did was affirm why I had left in the first place.

I thought the Flying Fish could be a possibility for me. But once I saw it, realized it is nothing more than a brushed Chronomat 01 head on a rubber strap. Breitling is playing a bit fast and looose on the website suggesting slightly different diameters for the two models - they are identical. The chronomat 01 is a couple MMs longer - lug end to lug end - than the Evo or Steelfish, so my wrist size doesn't admit of wearing that watch. Or the FF. I will admit sitting next to all those polished Chronomat 01s and Galctics it looked ok.

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SHARKMAN

To be fair and remaining off topic, the forum I referred to wasn't the one I know Alan refers to(I can't really hide my loathing for that place), where the mods will berate, delete, and ban you for the most polite disagreement with them. I'm talking about a better site, at least I thought it was, where a mainstream thread was politely locked with a brief explanation. Still, it was locked and examples were given of comments from other forums like "To buy new jets" and "they have lost me as a customer forever!!". Hmmm..sound familiar anyone?? Civility is a good thing, but not an end in itself. Pre-emptive civility is just odd.

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SHARKMAN

The longer I have been a member here the more I appreciate the forum for allowing open discussions, good & bad, on Breitling and many other brands. I also appreciate that most everyone here isn't just a Breitling Robot, but watch fans of all brands. Sorry to go off topic, the only thing I'd like to see changed is the constant public schilling for sponsored AD's such as:

I just tried on that timepiece at Sharkman Jewelers.....They have that same timepiece at Sharkman Jewelers in their pre-owned case....I love Sharkman Jewelers because they send me a freakin baseball hat as a Thank You gift. I don't know why but it's really starting to annoy me. Aside from that this is a pretty awesome place to talk about watches.

Back on topic...aside from the Navi B01 and the new SO 44mm, I haven't seen many wrist shots of the new models. What's even more surprising is the number of people who have purchased the B01 LE and have already sold it on here or who are thinking about selling them. I can name 6 members on here who have either sold or are thinking about selling it...one guy had two and sold em both! Kinda surprised since everyone wanted an in-house Navi for quite some time.

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"I don't own any watches, I just lease them"

I've still yet to see either a TO, a non-LE Navi 01 or a Flying Fish at any AD near me. And yet (and back to Sharky's original point) their Breitling stock seems to be turning over very VERY slowly at the moment. I'm starting to wonder if some AD's aren't buying in stock of new models for fear of not being able to sell them like the one's they've got.......

One AD I have often used doesn't appear to have sold a new model Breitling in months : they've had the same stock of Chronomat 01's (including an LE) for ages. In fact that Chronomat 01 LE has been there literally since they first came out. Obviously it's understandable that most AD's will claim they are selling like hot-cakes, but I'm not so sure at the moment.....

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Driver8

Site Moderator