The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi, just wondering,is there a easy way to tell if a Breitling vintage has been polished before? I know some watch brands have bevel edges etc, as also by condition of lugs to judge if has been polished or has been polished professionally. What does one look at in Breitlings to judge whether a watch has been polished/never polished/professionally polished or if has been ovepolished?

If you know the Navitimer well enough you can always see on the lugs if they have been polished, or alternatively use your common sense, as if the dial & sliderule shows patina, and the case shines as if it had left production yesterday, then you know.

The first picture shows an unpolished lug with very crispy & sharp edges, the second one shows a restored case that has been brought back to factory finish, but I only know 1 person that can do that, the 3rd picture shows a polished case.


Kurt B

Thanks Kurt, that's very informative with the pictures. Don't Breitling service offer the option of a professional polishing when a Breitling is sent in for servicing like the other brands do?

Wtih very few exceptions (BUK springs to mind), Breitling don't service vintage pieces. Remember that it is a totally different company to the one that produced them.

Thanks. When you say different company am assuming they were totally killed off at some point and then resurrected much later somewhat like say LIP of France, if so guessing was to do with the Japanese quartz onslaught. Wondering why they didn't survive the quartz revolution like Rolex, Omega, etc. especially since they were quite revolutionary with their aviation watches, was it because they were too small, bad management, etc? Think I will need to search for some some Breitling company history now:)

Assets were sold off in 1978 because of the quartz revolution. Many, many companies failed then and as a relateively small independent they didn't have the strength to survive.

Thanks for the info, is quite difficult to find info about Breitlings bankruptcy on the net.