The Breitling Watch Source Forums

For many years i have wanted a "proper" watch. There i was thinking for nearly a decade "one day i'm gonna get a Rolex." A few weeks ago i realised the time had arrived. So my search began, I spent hour upon hour poring over pictures and reviews until i decided it was either an Explorer I or an Air King that i would go and try. Then a friend of mine asked me, why i had come to that final choice? I wasn't exactly sure! How did i get to that point? I thought about it for awhile and was stunned to realise the answer was; they were the two i liked the most, or was it they were the two i disliked the least. That was it! Had i been wrong all these years and didnt really want(need) a quality timepiece? Quality timepiece. Quality timepiece. Thats where the answer really lay and my real search begins. I have now probably looked at more pictures of watches than anyone within a hundred miles, and thats how i ended up here. I now know for definite that Breitling is the brand for me. Galactic 41 has lit my fire, we'll see if it turns into an inferno. So, wish me luck as i head out this afternoon to try but not buy my first Quality timepiece. Will let you know how it goes.......

gimme
gimme
gimme

Welcome to BreitlingSource and have fun trying on your first Breitling.

Thankyou for the warm welcome.
Watches of Switzerland was my first, and i expected to be my only port of call. They didn't have a Galactic 41
they have ordered one in for me to look at next week, nice as the assistant was, she wasn't the oracle of watches i had expected. When i asked the price she had to phone up to find out.
Next was Ernest Jones, likewise they were without the watch i was looking for, they too offered to get one in for me but i explained that one was already arranged, however, they offered me a seat, were clearly knowledgable and allowed me to try on some fabulous watches, one was very similar in style and another the same size as a 41. I asked the price and was told without the skip of a heartbeat the price i had been quoted in Watches of Sw. Impressive. I WANT ONE!!!!! (NEED) they also made me aware that the prices are going up on 1st of June by about 7% on this model, not something i had been told elsewhere.
So, here's a question or two to the experienced owners out there, any advice greatly appreciated and will be taken on board.
1) I have seen quoted many times on this site: "buy the seller" should this ring true for high street stores aswell?
2) Am i a mug to buy my first proper watch in the high street?
3) If i promise to say my prayers, brush my teeth twice a day, maybe help an old lady across the street and generally be a good person are they likely to give me a discount?
4) Is it a watch worth buying? i would hate to proudly sport my new Breitling only to read on here all the experts stating only a fool would blow his hard earned on such an etc. etc. watch.

anyone got any views?
Cheers

Thanks in advance for any replies i may recieve

1) Yes and you should buy from Andrew Michaels or Banks Lyon - links at the top of this page, check the feedback section for references
2) No, you would be a mug not to
3) Yes, tell aforementioned ADs that you found them through BreitlingSource and wait for magic things to happen
4) That's personal choice. It's a Breitling so it's Breitling quality, it's COSC certified, etc - only you know if it's the right one for you.

OK on all 4 answers, Thanks. Will let you know how it goes.

Emailed Banks&Lyon for a price, hopefully get to try the watch at Watches of Sw. this week>

Enjoy your time here!

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For more information on identifying Breitling replicas, please visit my web site
http://f4buz.com/watches/breitling/fakes/fakes.html

No call yet from watches of sw to say its in, and no reply from Banks&Lyon yet. Maybe tomorrow.

Spoke to Aziza at Banks&Lyon, and got a call from watches of sw. its in!!!! going now to take a look. I told my daughter the cost and she wants to come with me when she gets up off the floor.
Wish me luck

Does anyone know why the windrider range is that bit more expensive than alot of the others?

Specifically relative to the Aeromarine range a lot of the difference is in the way that the cases are consturcted - a lot more modular construction that tends to lead to a little more refinement and easier (cheaper) repair / maintenance. Pilot bracelet is also more complex than the Pro II.

Great choice in watch and AD's there Cheesesalad. AM's will give you first class service all the way and the price should be good too even if you're a first time buyer. I got a great deal from them this time last year for my Legende and then another good deal last week for my Navii World.

Can't wait to see the pics WHEN you buy.

Cheers and welcome here.

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Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

All that glitters is not gold.....

The G41 didnt quite do it for me which amazed me as i totally fell in love with it in pictures. Here's why-
The Font on tha bezel- it looked good on the G36 i had seen in Ernest Jones and i thought it was cool and quirky, space 1999 like, but in a bigger font on the 41 it lost its charm after 5 minutes of it being on my wrist i started to fall out of love with it and realised that in 5 days or 5 weeks, it was gonna bother me.
Dial colour- Tomcat grey looked amazing in the pictures but in the flesh it is very dark, almost black at most angles and kind of dark blue at others. The box in the middle is a bit too small to be a strong feature so is kind of wasted.
Heres a strange thing i didnt like- The hands seem too close to the glass, like there was no sense of depth to the business area of the watch.
It was incredibly shiny, which is not a negative but it is bloody shiny and i felt too shiny for me.

The plus'-
fabulously shiny
The domed glass is so incredibly clear
The weight is reassuringly noticable but not shoulder breaking
The whole thing is well proportioned
The bracelet is a thing of absolute beauty

So the outcome of the trip was that i am yet to find "my" perfect Breitling, however my day was not wasted and i apologise in advance to the Breitling afficionados, see my original post for details as to how it happened

How wrong i was....twice
Still need a Breitling though
How much is that transocean heritage
Thanks to all

Its been nearly a year since i walked out of Watches of Switzerland with my shiny new Rolex, and i still love it so much, but the Breitling thing has been knawing at me for a few months.....I'm ready.
Now here is the problem.. I really like the Colt 44, am thinking blue dial, blue leather strap and folding clasp, BUT, its Quartz! No wonder its cheap!
Am i being a snob? I feel if its not autmatic, then its not worth putting on your wrist! Am i being a snob? I really like the way it looks tho. So am looking at a Avenger Seawolf in the same blue specs. Now my conscience kicks in...How can i get to compare them when i live nowhere near Banks&Lyon, in fact i appear to live as far as possible from Lancaster as is possible in England! Should i bullshit the local Ernest Jones or Watches of Sw. and see if they can go to the trouble of getting them in for me(provided its free) to look at? What do you guys think? Any help gratefully accepted.

On the quartz thing, each to his own. You'll get lots of different opinions on here: some consider anything with a battery as soulless, heretical etc; some think that those who repudiate a technology which is incomparably more accurate than an auto at doing what a watch is supposed to do are Luddites; some (I'm one) appreciate both. I positively wanted a Breitling quartz as it's no ordinary quartz, and I love the notion of a thermocompensated SQ (with a battery life of 8 years) which loses less than a second a month. Though by the same token I wouldn't have paid two grand for one - that's auto money. I went for one of the discontinued old quartzes at a price which was acceptable.

On the buying thing, as I say elsewhere in a recent post, goods bought sight-unseen are (in the UK) covered by distance selling regs which give you a seven-day cooling off period as long as goods are returned as received etc. That's how I bought my B/ling - over the phone, and asking, since I hadn't seen one in the flesh, and couldn't, as it was discont/d, whether I could return it for a full refund. The two ADs I spoke to were perfectly comfortable with that, and gave me a week. It was posted, I gawped at it in various lights, and kept it!