The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi all,

I've just happened across this site, a real wealth of information especially to the uninitiated like me.......

I've been thinking for a while about buying myself a nice (well nice to me!) vintage Breitling watch as a little present to myself but have no idea what I should be buying on my somewhat limited budget of around 1k.

I fancied an automatic movement but happened across the link below on ebay and loved the look of this watch but I have no idea if it is good, bad or indifferent (I know this one is a manual movement)

Would anyone be so kind as to give me their opinions on it, would it be a good buy or is there a lot better out there within my price range?

Many thanks to anyone who can help or steer me in the right direction

Regards

Mike

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Breit ... 27d3e5b9e5

The dial is a pretty sloppy redo. The case appears original and dates to 1950. The movement is Venus 188 and mostly correct but I've never seen one with WOG on the balance cock an no name on the bridge so it's not completely original.

Welcome to the forum !
Actually a sad example, there's an authentic ref. 1189 from 1950 below that horrifically refinished dial; even the logo si totally wrong. avoid.

Welcome, do check here before you buy any vintage Breitling, there are lots of con men out there!

Movement is likely just a bridge replacement - WOG obviously implies original Breitling balance cock and it looks to be the uncommon 'Breitling-choc' shock absorption system.

Dial is brand new and not very good as others have said - a real shame.

Wow, thanks all for those quick responses, I'll quickly cross that one off as an option, so glad I found this forum....

I have somewhat of a 'girly' wrist(!), so i'm looking for something on the smaller side of things, does anyone have any thoughts on particular models or indeed ones they have seen for sale that would be something I should have a look at?

Anyway, thanks again, no doubt I'll be posting again to get some opinions on anything I see in the future

Mike

Spend some time looking through the threads here and find the models that you like - virtually all vintage pieces are small by modern standards so they will likely work for you. Just be sure to check with us before committing to buy anything.

you might look for the Premier ref. 787 and 789, very pretty and good quality movements and cases , but quite small - so often sell at relatively low prices.

True but it's just as easy to replace the balance cock as the bridge so no telling what happened for sure. My guess is they added the balance cock because why would they remove the correct bridge?

If you replaced the balance cock then you also needed to replace the balance complete because no one other than Breitling used Breitling-choc - possible, but less likely. The bridge may simply have been damaged and been a legitimate service replacement.

Thanks WatchFred for the tip about looking for the 787 & 789.................do you think a good one would be in my price range of around 1K if I look long and hard enough?

Is ebay the best bet or is there somewhere else that UK buyers should be looking?

Thanks again

Mike

yes on both questions, you might even snag an 18k 789 at that price - patience, they are very nice.

here's an 18k 789, quite small (32.5mm) but nice, Venus 150 column wheel. need to clean my desk

That looks lovely!

Thanks for your help, very much appreciated.

Mike