The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Ironic though it is, that a fish's demise is bemoaned by a shark.

With you on the Skyracer thing though.

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Cheers from Switzerland,

Fred

For me, the 806 absolutely IS an iconic classic for what it represents, and I voted for it in the previous round because I like it more than what it was up against in it's previous match-up. However, do I personally want to own an 806? No, not particularly. The 'fish is one of my personal all time favourite Breitlings, so even without anywhere near the same level of history as the 806, this time the 'fish gets my vote.

The fact that two great watches can be matched against one another is one of the shortcomings of randomly selected head-to-heads like this....... But then again it's all a bit of fun, so no big deal.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Some absolutely brutal choices there.; ridiculously difficult.

I seem to be leaning towards some more vintage choices from time to time also, which don't seem to be as popular in general.

Thanks again for talking the time to put this together Roff. It's a lot of fun and a great exercise indeed! No doubt the next round will be even tougher but the cream is certainly rising to the top in my opinion.

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Happines is Good Health and a Bad Memory.
"Ingrid Bergman"

And the cosmonaute pulls back into the lead!!!

I love my SOSF. I doubt I'll ever sell it (I'm wearing it now!). But in the end i voted for the 806. The fact that all those other Navis have been produced it testament to its greatness. It's the godfather.

How can i choose between the Serie Speciale and the BB Big Date? In the end i went with the Cossie because of the history. I seem to keep choosing the vintage pieces.

Some interesting trends developing here, and (if Breitling did market research) they could use this to see what a group of fanatics like us actually like -

- It seems we like in-house pieces, provided they are tastefully done - hence the Navi 01 and TOC are still there.
- We also apparently really like Navitimers.
- We seem to like complications given the number of 1461 pieces still there.
- It also seems we still prefer the Windrider style from the '90's/2000's. (Rider tabs!)

Two that are really surprising me in their showings so far though are the Emergency and the Chrono Avenger. For a bunch of people who's tastes as a collective group clearly seem skewed towards mechnical pieces, I'm quite surprised the E is making some a great showing. And the CA's popularity still surprises me as it's been out of production for years (not seen many people posting pics of one here for a while either), and it's made of titanium which is usually something of a polariser.

Interesting stuff.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I'm not surprised either but rejoice in the fact that the younger generation aren't much into the classics which makes most of them still affordable. I have to admit I did try a Steelfish once. It probably had the shortest stay with me of any contemporary Breitling. Imho it just sort of seemed anonymous without any real identitiy.

I doubt we can draw comparisons between vintage and modern, both cater to different tastes. If vintage, which is mostly what interests me, I would go 806, 809 or the Datora 785 everytime. Then there are the recreations of the classics like the Navitimer and Cosmo LE with the Inhouse movement which are cherished by Navitimer/Cosmo fans who don't want the trouble of dealing with vintages but who still appreciate the history behind what the classic 806 and 809 represent. Then there are the others In the modern Breitling stable which might be technically superior but have no history associated with them and draw attention to a different class of wearer who goes by modern looks and features. To each their own!

True enough, but also many people will look at the models how they appear today, not how they would've looked when they were new.

Many people just don't like vintage (i.e. worn/used) looking pieces. If Breitling released a new version of the 806 (think, Omega's Ploprof 1200) then I reckon many people (including myself) would buy one. A lot of people can't stand *ahem* "patina", and other signs of use (especially if those signs of use were caused by someone else), so things like darkened lume, scratch-happy plexiglass crystals, uncrisp edges to the case due to wear, etc - just won't appeal to a lot of people these days.

As with anything in life it's horses for courses I guess.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

You just described me (and I'm sure many others) perfectly. I appreciate the historical significance of vintage models but have zero interest in strapping one onto my wrist. However, a modern version of the 806 might be very appealing — so long as it's not 46mm.

i hope the emergency goes far, it's such a singular watch. I'm also biased towards that one.

Personally I also love the titanium watches, I have a few of those as well. The CA is my daily and it's just a workhorse.

I think that the Emergency is going to be in tough when it faces some stiffer competition, but if any quartz deserves to go far that's the one.

I think the Emergency might do well for a few rounds given that it is unique amongst the other contenders... Super quartz, emergency transmitter, analog and digital displays and Bear Grylls adventure association.

A winner? No, but still unique.

Just finished my round 2 vote. It will be interesting to see if it will be a Chronomat derivitive or a Navitimer derivitive that wins.

This is fun - thank you for all the effort.

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Chronomat Vitesse
Navitimer
Montbrilliant Olympus
Crosswind

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