The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I guess it really comes down to what attracts you to vintage watches? For me, its the story of the watch, the "soul" of the watch... the way it has developed over time and the patina which makes its unique from every other piece. In my belief system, the dial is the heart of the watch, and the lume is the heart of the dial...

The lume is the most sensitive part of the dial and has the capability to age beautifully or not so nicely, and because of this, a watch with a nice dial and beautiful lume will always be valued higher than a watch with a nice dial and a relume. A relumed dial is a dime a dozen, find me any vintage watch and a good relume artist and I can make you a nice relumed watch, but a beautifully patinated and perfectly aged dial may be one in a hundred. This is why, the value is so different, and for me, a relumed dial ruins the watch. Now I realize sometimes we have to sacrifice, as these are old watches and they can't always be 100% original and perfect... but the dial is where my personal line is drawn.

Now, some people do not have as much of an emotional attachment to the watches they buy. They buy a watch for the vintage look, rather than the story. For them, a relumed dial just makes it look the way they want it to look. For others, it overwrites the story book which is why they would purchase the watch in the first place.

So, in my very humble opinion, that's what's wrong with a relume. With that said, if you choose to redo the non-original lume on there now, send it to Kent and give him a month or two, and it will be back to you looking like it should.

So, just to summarise ....

A watch has a soul
The soul is in the lume
If the lume is lost the watch no longer has a soul
If it has no soul it is scrap

What are you on? Please share it as it seems to be good stuff.

You pretty much nailed it :-p

Except I never said your watch was scrap. I just said I wouldn't purchase it based on personal preference.


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