The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Well, as many of you know I have been trying to decide what else to acquire, and I've been in a bit of a funk because the planned Zenith acquisitions turned out to be a lot more expensive than they should have been. With the weakness of the Canadian dollar vs the US dollar the prices just went up 25%, and I object to paying an arbitrary 25% more in the current economic conditions - it just makes no sense.

So, I fell back to a Breitling LE that I have been aware of for a few months. Driver8 first brought it to my attention in September (a huge thank you to him) and the fact that it was still available now seemed to be saying something. I also owe a big thank you to swiftnick who gave me a name to drop during the negotiations.

I ended up paying too much for the watch, but that's a decision you have to make sometimes to get a piece that you want, and this is not a watch that comes on to the market very often - I can't find another example of it in the last 2 or 3 years.

I know that you are all going to tell me that this thread is worthless without pictures, but you'll have to wait because it's being shipped internationally and then I will have to give the Canadian government an arm and most of a leg before they'll actually let me have it.

Oh, and I suppose you want to know what it is.

Well...........







It's a Breitling Bentley Le Mans










In Bronze

Whoa Roff! Congratulations! Really looking forward to the pictures.

(My deal I was "hinting" about yesterday will be postponed until January, but it will be worth the wait)

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Blue Baton Super Avenger
Black Avenger Seawolf

Yeeeeeah, go Roff, go Roff!

Congratulations! And dare I say about time too! I've been hugely surprised that it's stayed available for the last 3 or 4 months, but there we go..... times are hard so great pieces just aren't selling.

But anyway as I said in my PM the other day, it's great to see another Le Mans going to a good home!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I was surprised too, but as you know it was expensive, and that doubtless kept potential buyers away, especially given the reluctance to discount until very recently.

Thats awesome, but I SEE NO PICS!

I would definately like to snag one of those, but I would guess the bronze commands a premium over the white and blue.

Scott

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Breitling Steelfish(black)
Breitling Steelfish(silver)
Panerai PAM 312
Bell & Ross BR03-92 Phantom
Steinhart BreitlingSource LE #5/15

Great news, congrats on your new acquisition. Looking forward to see your much improved photo skills.

Bizarrely enough, it actually appears not to be the case. The same guy who sold Roff his, also had a black dial one that was actually more expensive...... and it was also a year older!

I think the bronze dial is of more of interest to us "collector types" just because you see less about, but I think a "layman" buying just one watch may always tend to go for the black as it's more conservative.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Predictable I know

Congrats, it is indeed a beautiful piece!

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Congrats Roff. REally looking ofrward to thte pics!

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Chronomat, Steel/Gold, MOP Dial, 2-tone band (2008)
Super Avenger Black Baton Dial (2009)
Bentley B04 GMT Silver Dial (2013)
Avenger Blacksteel Baton Dial (2014)

True enough, but the blue one at Bonhams sold for GBP2,460

I'll freely admit that I paid too much, but I really wanted the bronze (which isn't really bronze) colour and there just isn't a lot of choice out there for those.

I'll do my best with the pics when it arrives - but don't hold your breath with my skills!

The problem with any auction, (and especially non-online auctions) is that it all depends who's in the room on the day. To be honest I guarantee that if a couple of us guys had been in the Bonhams room, any one of us would've paid more than £2460 for a Le Mans. I'm mean, you can't even by a used STANDARD Motors for that! Hell, I'd have bought it for more than that..... and I've already got one!

Mind you, that £2460 was subject to the 15% premium as well, so the actual cost was nearer £3000...... which bizarrely is actually what I paid for my Le Mans, but then I freely admit I got a FANTASTIC deal on it.

From a personal perspective, I'd much rather have a bronze Le Mans than a black one purely because you don't see as many, but my point is I bet the average Joe Public buyer would probably take a black one because non-watch people are inherantly more conservative. Hence why the guy I found was pricing the black one higher. Just surmising me.

But anyway - black, white, blue or bronze it doesn't really matter - the Le Mans is without a doubt my favourite Breitling, so congrats Roff on the purchase!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I guess it also depends on what you currently have in the watch box as well. Because my SA is white, I will likely choose a different dial color for the next one to mix it up a bit

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Congratulations Roffensian, I'm happy for you!

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Collection: http://s540.photobucket.com/albums/gg32 ... mview=grid

Thanks aleister!

Driver8, GBP3,000 was a good deal (make me feel worse why don't you ), but you're right, the Le Mans is an amazing piece, and the value that I will personally get out of it was worth the cost.

Of course the problem is that it's not even here yet and I'm already thinking about what's next.

It really is a disease isn't it!