The Breitling Watch Source Forums

So due to some changes in my life, I am thinning out my watch collection as I really can’t justify the money I have tied up in watches right now. I’ve had a great time collecting these pieces and had a reason why I bought each and every one. There are attributes I really love about each watch which is making it hard to decide where to cut. Hopefully in the future I’ll be re-acquiring a few of these that I let go now. I’m finding that deciding which ones to move and which ones to keep is extremely hard. I’m writing this post to put my thoughts on paper and help myself decide. Any advice or reasons why I should change my mind on the must stay/must go and which direction the ones on the fence should go would be greatly appreciated! So here goes:

The watches I sold so far:

Breitling Navitimer 01 LE – I'm a big fan of this watch and this is one watch that I'm definitely going to pick up again down the road. I had the LE but I think others have a stronger draw towards the LE version of this than I do so I let this one go. In the future I’ll go for a non-LE because I prefer the black date wheel.



Breitling Montbrillant 01 – This watch fit my wrist perfectly due to my small wrists and it's 40mm case size. I think it’s a really beautiful watch, but after owning it I prefer the stick markers over the Arabic numbers so if this one is ever re-acquired it will be without the Arabics.



Baume Mercier Capeland Flyback – Beautiful dial, but this was a pure impulse purchase and it never worked its way into my rotation. It was collecting dust so off it went.



Breitling chronomat 44 – Bought this because I wanted the new in-house movement and hoped the new bezel font would grow on me. The font grew on me a bit, but I never loved it so it was sold.



The must keeps:

Breitling Blackbird Blackeye Blue – This is a no brainer and a must keep for me. It was a wedding present from my wife and I absolutely love everything about this watch. Love the blue dial with black subs, the more muted brushed finish and the faceted bracelet is the best bracelet of any watch I've ever seen.



Omega Speedmaster Speediorite – It’s the only Omega I own and I love that the dial is made from an actual piece of a meteorite. Seems fitting for a space themed watch. I like the manual wind and the 42mm size fits my wrist perfectly. Can’t find any faults with this watch.



Glashutte Original Panoinverse XL – I’m a big fan of open faced/skeletonized dials and this one is beautiful and unique in my opinion. The detail and the fit and finish of this GO is really top notch.



Post continued below......

Watches on the fence:

Zenith Chronomaster Open – I love the El Primero movement and being able to see that high beat. The silver faced dial is beautiful in my opinion and I like the blue strap I have the watch on as it matches the blued hand and screws. The only reason this one is potentially on the fence is because of the GO and I’m not sure I should have 2 opens in my thinning collection.



Breitling Bentley GT Racing – Love the brushed finish on the casing and this is one of the few Breitling Bentleys that actually fit my wrist. I like this one because it has a bit of flash, has a solid wrist presence and has a day/date. I was unsure about the patterned face when I got this but I have grown to love that bit of detail and it is more muted in real world than it is in some pics.



Breitling Avenger Code Yellow LE – Love the yellow accents as they represent Breitling’s color and I obviously like Breitlings. This is a solid watch that can go anywhere. These don’t come up for sale all the time so it might be a little harder to replace down the road and I’m not sure I can get enough for this one to make it worth selling. But it’s a tad big on my wrist so that’s the main reason it’s on the fence.



Breitling Blackbird Blacksteel – This is my favorite blacksteel watch that has been released. Love the black and red and the big date complication. Only reason this one is on the fence is because it seems odd to me to have 2 blackbirds and as I mentioned above, the blackeye blue version is a must keep.



Definitely Going:

Breitling Montbrillant Datora – Love the Havana dial on this one. Looks great in the light and am a big fan of the Navitimer bracelet which is one of the best in the business and I like the busy dial. However, I think this is easily replaceable down the road as I see these popping up used a descent amount and that is the main reason this is a definitely go.



Maurice Lacroix Squelette – Bought it because I love skeleton watches and nice skeletons in this price range are slim pickings. It’s a really beautiful watch and the decoration and detail are excellent, but this one also never really worked its way into my rotation.



Sorry, for the very long post, but cutting watches is a really tough decision and I’m really hoping I’m not kicking myself later!!

Thanks,

Nate

All the Lings you sold should have stayed

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Breitling Chronomat 01 Limited Edition
Breitling Navitimer 01 46mm

Haha thanks. I had my reasons for each of them. I want a regular Navi 01 and will get that one again sometime. I got the Montbrillant with the Arabics since I had the Navi with the sticks, but it turns out I much prefer the sticks. The Chronomat I just never fell in love with and it was a bit big on my wrist so I don't regret that one. I could see myself with a Navi 01 and Montbrillant 01 in the future though.....

I'd sell the Zenith since you have the GO. I'd also sell the Bentley and the Blacksteel Blackbird. I'd keep the Code yellow and wear it on rubber as a sport watch. I think even if you decide to sell the Code Yellow down the road, the value of it won't go down too much since it was a limited edition that actually sold well.

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Justin
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That ML skeleton is absolutely sublime. Great great looking watch. But maybe if you keep the GO then this one can go?

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

That's exactly what I was thinking. The ML skeleton really is a beautiful watch. There is a lot of detail in the dial. But having 2 grey skeleton/open watches in a smaller collection seems a bit redundant. And since I prefer the GO, that leaves the ML unfortunately on the chopping block.

I'd sell all of the ones on the fence, and sell me the navitimer bracelet from the datora for a good price

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Breitling navitimer super constellation LE
Omega Ploprof 1200m
Bremont supermarine
Rolex milgauss GV
Olivant and Botsford 40mm Gold edition

i agree with everything you have done. out of the 3 on the chopping block i would sell the black steel bb, because you can get a good $$ for it and as much as i like black watches i know myself i would never wear it. im to afraid to mess it up. so it would be a safe queen.

just because im more into sports watches i would keep your code yellow. it is different enough from the 3 you are keeping to make it worth it.

Thanks for the suggestion. I really do like the code yellow, but my wrists are tiny, like 6.25 or 6.5 and it just wears a bit big on me unfortunately so that might actually be the first one of the watches on the fence to go.....

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Good point. I am a strong advocate of "proper " wrist sizing with watches. I have 8" flat wrists and have a problem with makin some watches look tiny. But I hate seeing super avengers on small wrists. Looks ridiculous imo

Id keep the code yellow and blacksteel.

Nice collection! I would sell the Zenith, Bentley, Speedy (if it was made of a moon rock, maybe I'd keep it, but not meteorite...I prefer the original moon watch to their fluffed up versions), Black steel BB (that black will wear off and look nasty...I hate plated watches whether it's gold or black), Havana Datora (the dial seems unbalanced with nothing at the 3 o'clock marker), and the ML skeleton. The GO, btw, looks awesome.

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18k Rolex Datejust / Breitling Crosswind Special / Patek SS Nautilus / Bvlgari Diagono Chrono / Bvlgari Scuba / Omega Speedmaster Professional / 60s Omega Constellation

Sell the Blackbird Blackeye Blue.

The fact that I'm looking for one is totally unrelated.

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life's too short and you only live once

IMO whatever gets no wrist time is not a keeper.