The Breitling Watch Source Forums

A bit of an update:

I'm test-wearing the Yachtmaster. Dial in sunlight sparkles, liking that. But it does have the old bracelet, the severity of the taper is noticeable. Still, it has that extra bit of heft I was missing on the GMT, and the brushed/stainless combo on the bracelet is a huge plus.

Number 5 is off the board. I looked again after work yesterday, still love the Cousteau, but as part of a multi-watch combination. Not right now.

However, something I can get for a pretty favorable price just went on the board, Number 7 I guess:



Not a great pic, but it's a JCL GMT model. Much more subtle than the chrono or geographic, which to me is preferable in a two watch rotation. The size and heft are spot-on for me. Only issue is strap, and bracelets are 1)expensive and 2) last time I saw one, not that great-looking. Local AD doesn't even carry them. I'm letting it sink in, but the watch has that quality look and feel like my Breguet, and it's a true black dial. Question is, what to pair with it. The Yacht would surely work, but too expensive put together. Maybe the Tudor, I think the Steelfish paired with it is too sporty. I still have my Navi, but that's pushing the price point up again. Thinking about it.

Anyway, will try on a GMT-C today, walking in with the Yacht on the wrist. Should be interesting. Many thanks to all who have commented and shared thoughts. Keep 'em coming.

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Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

For Pete sake! One day on jury duty and I completely missed this one.

I know exactly how you feel about the Breguet – it is amazing in almost every way. So amazing it allows you to look past the one area where it stumbles – the color of the dial. It does change and in some lighting conditions is a charcoal, but in the end its BROWN damn it. And that’s why I let it go. Otherwise, that watch would be a perfect ONE watch and can be changed from bracelet to strap for variety. But it’s brown.

My vote – pick up the GMT Master IIc and keep the Headwind. The Headwind was a terrific find and much more worthy than the paltry price you paid for it. Having seen it in person, it’s the friggin’ bomb dude.

The GMT Master IIc gives you added functionality and it’s so good looking on the wrist. I’ve had people come up to me and say things like, “I never say anything to you about your watches, but that one is sharp.” That simple time zone adjustment comes in very handy, as it will in a couple weeks when I visit my daughter at college in NYC. I can wear it for a week straight and not get bored with it. For me, that's saying a lot.

Of course this comes from a guy who just sold everything and kept the GMT IIc and the Headwind’s little brother – the Cockpit (partly because your wife's comment gave me pause when I had it on the chopping block. Thank her for me!!).

If you REALLY want a chrono, then it changes the calculus.

Just my HUMBLE opinion and a little personal experience.

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SHARKMAN

Saturday update-- The Yachtmaster is growing on me. I like the look and for some reason the applied crown on the fold-over clasp for the bracelet really gets me--just finishes it so beautifully. Switched it back to back with a GMT-C at a store today. The new case and bracelet on the GMT are compelling but, after so many years having my old GMT on black bezel it just looked a bit too familiar. I was in short sleeves so I'm going to a mall store tomorrow wearing a dress shirt. Just want to make sure, because I nearly crossed off the GMT today. Wearing the Headwind tonight after all day with the Yacht, it may also have something to do with my cooling on the GMT.

That, and there's that other GMT, the JCL I found yesterday. It would be a little more than the Rolex, but not that much more, and the look and feel of it have me going right now. Tried it on again today. It, too, has a problem though, in that it's really a strap watch. I don't think it would look good on bracelet based on trying on other JLC bracelet models, but the subdial set-up kind of fulfills the need for a chronograph look.

Also went to the Omega boutique. If you like the GMT-C green accents, check out the new AT Golf watch. Slightly brighter green, a bit more of it, no polish on the bracelet, but it's a very interesting comparison piece. Doesn't fit into my plans now, but worth a look.

If you asked me right now what two watches I want, it would be the Yacht and the JLC. But that's well over my self-imposed limit and I'm still trying to explain to myself why I'd ever want to sell the Headwind. JLC, Headwind and Tudor? Still over, but significantly less. At that point, however, I might just as easily go JLC and keep the Navi. Or, from the original list, Yacht and Headwind. Enough for now, my brain is mush.

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

Better discount on the JLC though.

This is fun - Diary of a Mad Watchman.

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SHARKMAN

Sunday Update:

Looked at the new Rolexes for the second day in a row, walking in wearing the borrowed Yachtmaster. The GMT is off my list, great in so many ways but the bezel just looked so busy. I looked long and hard at the Sub--the bezel there was far more attractive to me and the bezel rotation mechanism was so buttery, but I don't think I want an all-brushed bracelet on my nicer-of-2 watches. Between the three, I like the Yachtmaster. Still kinda thin but with 20 more grams of weight, well-balanced because a lot of that weight is solid links, it has a nice feel on the wrist.

So, that means options 3,4 and 5 are off the board, as I wrote off the Cousteau earlier. I'll exchange the borrowed Yachtmaster for my Breguet tomorrow, so I suspect I'll decide then whether to keep it or not. I'm still trying to decide whether I want two three-hand watches, which is the present option posted with the Yacht and the Headwind. If I went chrono, I could add the Tudor, but I'd rather not have two Rolex products. Still mulling that one over.

And then there's still number 7, the JLC. Really like it and as Shark would tell you, our local JLC guy is fantastic, the kind of guy you want to pay money to, a watch nut just like most of us here. But there's a pre-owned I found. Goodness, not another dilemma.

Perhaps this is an appropriate time to consider the musings of a great deep and dark thinker, Edgar Allan Poe. Take it away, Ed....

"That pleasure which is at once the most pure, the most elevating and the most intense, is derived, I maintain, from the contemplation of the beautiful." (Okay, that makes me feel a bit better)
"Men have called me mad, but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest of intelligence..." (That's what I was afraid of)

So here's where I am. Lead watch is either the Breguet, the Yachtmaster, or the JLC GMT. Beyond that, it's almost more complicated than before, ergo the Poe quotations. The OP is revamped accordingly. Tomorrow is another day.

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

This is better than a movie. Gone with the (Head)wind! Bravewrist!

Monday Update:

A certain calm has come over me. It's the passing of an internal storm of sorts which has raged since the decision was made to downsize the collection about ten days ago. At the center of the storm sat my Breguet, a pinnacle watch for me, one of the "big boy" brands, and simply gorgeous. Whether to keep it or not has been a big issue. After a full week on my wrist, it spent the weekend in my watch guy's safe while I was trying out a Yachtmaster. In a way, it was also a trial separation.

Today, I made my decision; I was okay with letting go. I'm selling the Breguet. As soon as I get hands on a good camera (my wife is on a business trip in China with ours) I will put it up for sale. Maybe it's a mistake, but life here has taught me that practically any watch you want, including some you never knew existed, can be found and purchased. Maybe again someday, but for now I will fondly remember my "Breguet Spring".

So where does that leave me?

1. Yachtmaster/Headwind

2. JLC GMT/ Different silver dial watch---WHA??? What now? Have I no self-control or spine? Simple, really, after wearing the Yacht with its solid link bracelet, I tried on the Tudor Tiger again today and realized how ridiculous the old Rolex Oyster bracelet was. Maybe as a third watch, but it's not working out this time. So there's a 2a and 2b, with possible bonus:

2a. JLC GMT/ Navi Heritage--A good look, but a lot of shine for my only bracelet watch
2b. JLC GMT/IWC GST Chrono--my long-time watch guy had this a few weeks ago, I liked it, but it didn't fit then:




(photo credit to a guy who was selling an identical one a few weeks ago on Timezone. Again, sorry for the pilfer, but this is serious research)

Also cheaper than the value of the Navi, and I could possibly justify keeping the Headwind as a third watch. NOW you see why I'm looking at this?

I'll know by tomorrow how much the JLC would cost. That may go a long way to making a final decision. But like death, taxes and political commercials, it's getting closer.....

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

Tuesday...and the game is afoot.

It is just such classic me to spend money to save it. The pre-owned JLC GMT I found a couple days ago was on that awful place rhyming with "wee-bray" but from a very reputable seller with a one-year warranty and 7-day return policy. So, the auction ended a couple hours ago. The price was right, less than I have seen MCs go for anywhere else. She's bought and paid for, and hopefully here ASAP.

Watch number one is bought, just after I got the cash from sale number one. Bring that camera home, honey, I've got watch pictures to take.

Now I find myself wondering if I put the brakes on things a bit. I moved tonight because the price was right, and pre-owneds of that model just don't show up. I think that before I commit further, I want to spend a little time with the JLC. I'll go full-speed ahead selling the Breguet. I'd like to keep the Headwind, but to do that I'd need to go to a lesser white/silver dial watch. That IWC I'm test-wearing is growing on me a lot. I could keep the Navi, but fiscally I think it makes more sense to put it up for sale upon return from BUSA without even taking the plastic off. In my heart of hearts, I want most to end up with the JLC and the Yacht. But that busts the budget. Do I wait a while, a few months or so, and see if I can pull it off? I'm temped, but even then I'd have to sell everything else, including the Headwind. And I've never had more bang for the buck from a nice watch. I should have known that trying to put a two-watch plan together would never work. I suspect there is a DSM-IV diagnosis for this, but my present medicinal treatment is a small glass of Scottish mind-clearing fluid. Tonight's decision was stressful.

For the 27th time, my watch guy is wonderful. We've been down this road for nearly ten years and nearly ten watches. He knows how I deliberate, I'll buy when I can and when it's right from him and we have talked this out extensively. I'll probably return the IWC tomorrow and let this cool a little, then see where to go. He's got the Yacht, and he knows it's what I'd rather have, but he knows I have a plan. He was on the Yacht/Headwind bandwagon along with FEAR, but for some reason that JLC has a 'gravitas' that reminds me of the Breguet, something I need right now, something even my new favorite Rolex doesn't quite have, though it's prettier. If he sells it in the meantime, I have word of another out there. We'll see what tomorrow brings, but move number 1 has now been made.

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

A brief summary of last night:

Thanks to the iMac photo software, I'm flipping pages of a book, on one page pictures of the Yachtmaster and Headwind, on the other, the JLC, IWC GST and in a corner of the page, the Headwind. Flicking back and forth, like Glenn Close with her light switch in Fatal Attraction. This goes on , on and off, for the hour and a half prior to the auction ending on the JLC. Do I want this, do I not? Am I going to do this? My daughter had a music concert starting at the end of the auction, so with 25 minutes to go, time ticking down, go or no go, I committed, put in my max bid, and ran off. As the lights dimmed, I hit the phone one last time to see that I won. Oh, and I only checked about 15 times earlier in the day and checked My Pictures on the office computer about 3 other times.

The JLC arrives tomorrow by noon. And I found a used rubber strap, significant because the lugs are 21mm. Things seem to be coming together. I didn't even look at Elite Deal Seeker once today!! Baby steps. And now I'm tired, calling it a night.

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

I never read Homer's The Odyssey in school, but don't think it could hold a candle to this.

_________________
SHARKMAN

When does your wife come home? It sounds like you need her back..

I am enjoying watching the saga unfold

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--
sco
Breitling Chrono Superocean
Omega Aqua Terra 8500
Rolex Submariner Date Ceramic

She's back on Saturday. In the meantime, something came in the mail.







It is pre-owned, a couple of nicks, and one scrape you can see at certain angles above 8 o'clock at the bezel ( saw a little of it on the pics but with a liberal return policy I went for it) but I think this can work out just fine. I think a cape cod cloth can take care of it. Pic below shows it.







....and the price was definitely right. As I remembered it, the most "dressy" MC I have seen and the band appears brand new. Also, the rubber strap I found should get here some time early next week. Still toying with the GMT hand a bit, but this has enough of a complication that I don't mind no chronograph. Great weighting, good wrist presence, and there's nothing quite like opening up that box. After several days of turmoil, a good day, a very good day. And now, once my wife is home with the good camera, one more for sale.

_________________
Scott

AP Royal Oak 15400, silver
Zenith Chronomaster El Primero Classic Cars
Vintage gold Corum
Rolex DJ 36 TT, oyster dial, oyster/smooth
Baume & Mercier Riviera 200m, silver dial/aquamarine bezel
Breitling Superocean 57, rose/stainless

I really like the style, and pretty much everything about that watch. Enjoy it..

_________________
--
sco
Breitling Chrono Superocean
Omega Aqua Terra 8500
Rolex Submariner Date Ceramic

Good for you Scott! Enjoy it.

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SHARKMAN

Yeah, that's one classy watch. Mind you, after all the hullabaloo I'm expecting it to make coffee and launch ICBMs.