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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:32 pm 
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http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t= ... sg_4580942


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:37 pm 
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Here as well.
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-for-2009-Breitl ... 7C294%3A50


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PostPosted: Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:06 pm 
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blimey..that e-bay buy it now price is just over £3000,..how cheap is that!!,if the BO1 was 45mm,id buy that,that was the reason i sold my blackbird :( ,43.7mm,for some reason it just felt to small,i reckon breitling should have done with the BO1 what they did with the SOH....2 sizes...and the avenger and super avenger,same watch basically,just 2 sizes..just my 2 pennies worth!!...lol

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 2:24 am 
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And a different one here -

http://www.chrono24.com/en/search/index ... mresults=1

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 4:39 am 
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I think that the market is voting with their feet on this one - will be interesting to see what they do actually sell for.

I have heard from a couple of different sources in the last week or so that the B01 is not meeting sales expectations, and I also heard a suggestion that the fact that there may not be any B01 releases at next year's Basel is becasue Breitling are reviewing their design direction after the reaction to the Chronomate B01.

I'm not sure that I 100% trust the source that told me that, and I'm not sure that it makes sense given that a Navitimer B01 has to be one of the next ones, but there do seem to be issues.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:04 am 
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There are several factors as to why the B01 may not be meeting sales goals. Mainly the global economy is still craptacular and in a recession luxury purchases tend to be the first things cut from peoples' budgets. Also, the B01 carries a huge premium ($1300ish in the US for steel on steel I think?) over the Chronomat. Finally, and likely most importantly, there does seem to be a generally poor reaction to the B01's styling.

When I saw the pictures I thought it was hideous but I reserved judgment until I was able to go see it in person. Sadly this was one case where, for me, the pictures did do justice to the item. I do very much appreciate the detail and quality look of the dial (to me it's like the difference between standard TV and HDTV, the B01 dial just pops beautifully) but the subdial layout, date window location, roman numeral design, recessed square in the center of the dial, and the bezel font just look hideous to me. I really wouldn't buy one at any price just because I would never wear it.

That said, I do like some of what they did in addition to the dial "prettiness," mainly the use of the black date window and the blue dial/black subdial combo, so I am hopeful for future Chronomat B01 applications.

While I have absolutely no insider info I could easily see Breitling pushing production back a year on new models in order to review the designs of whatever other B01 models they had planned for next year. If they are planning to take their product line in a new direction, and the public seems not to like that direction, it would make a lot of sense to revise and refine everything before releasing them. In the interim there are plenty of classically beautiful Breitlings for everyone to choose from!

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 5:59 am 
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There's been a lot of discussion over the styling merits (or otherwise) of the Chronomat B01, but I'd be the first to admit that the critique that watch fans like us will give a watch is far more detailed than what the general public would tend to do.

In general I'd say that the Chronomat B01 is suffering from the simple fact that it's just not pretty enough as a whole. The bezel is incredibly polarising in terms of opinions (although the VAST majority of Breitling fans seem to hate it), and the use of multiple fonts and surfaces on the dial just doesn't seem to gel together that well.

I think it suffers from a lack of a UNIVERSALLY appealing unique selling point. Yes the bezel is unique, but it divides opinion like no other Breitling product. Yes it has what is (hopefully) an excellent in-house movement, but that fact is lost on Joe-Public as from the outside it looks EXACTLY THE SAME as the B23 in terms of layout.

A universally appealing USP might've been a display back, or making it a little bigger than the outgoing model (say 45 or 46mm), or maybe a more subtle updating of the rider-tabs without going as far as they have on the Chronomat B01. All of these things would probably have resulted in a broader appeal..... and thus more sales.

When you look at it compared to the older Chronomat, it's not as pretty, it's not as traditionally "Breitling" in terms of looks, it offers nothing unique in terms of subdial layout, and yet costs a CONSIDERABLE amount more. Sure it has the movement, but as I say, apart from serious watch fanatics like us, that won't mean much to the man on the street looking to buy one prestige watch. I don't envy a salesman trying to convince the average buyer to part with several thousand more for the Chronomat B01 over the older Chronomat.

Let's all be honest here, would we have devoted quite so much time to discussing the Chronomat B01 on here if it DIDN'T have the B01 movement inside? Of course we wouldn't. It would've been consigned to the discussion-bin weeks ago, simply because most Breitling fans don't find it a very aesthetically appealing watch.

The quicker the B01 makes it into something like a Navi World case, the better in my opinion.

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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:05 am 
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Driver8 wrote:
A universally appealing USP might've been a display back, or making it a little bigger than the outgoing model (say 45 or 46mm), or maybe a more subtle updating of the rider-tabs without going as far as they have on the Chronomat B01. All of these things would probably have resulted in a broader appeal..... and thus more sales.


Good point. A display back would fit well with wanting to show off the new movement.

A lot of people refuse to buy a new car in the first year or two of a new model. You're probably seeing some of that as well.


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 Post subject: How About This
PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:49 am 
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Reissue the crosswind in 43.7mm or a bit bigger, using the old crosswind design schemes plus the new movement-and also, don't change the freakin' bracelet design!

I have a feeling that even if priced at the same levels as B01, this would sell tremendously. Breitling made its modern day bones off of the crosswind and I never understood why they scrapped it as opposed to simply tweaking the design.

I for one would have loved the Crosswind to become Breitling's version of the Submariner-the watch everyone thinks of when they hear 'Rolex'.

If Breitling reads these boards, I would encourage them to take this stuff seriously as we are all paying customers. Something tells me that the guts of the B01 design decisions (minus the movement) were made in an vaccum.


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 Post subject: Also
PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 7:51 am 
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Or what about polishing the Chronomat (Evo) bezel+dropping in the new movement? I think this would also sell quite well and serve as an excellent 15 to 20 year flagship.


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PostPosted: Sat Jul 25, 2009 1:18 pm 
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They cost too much. Period.

$3500 - $4200 after AD discount is what will move these watches.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:46 am 
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Driver8 wrote:
A universally appealing USP might've been a display back, or making it a little bigger than the outgoing model (say 45 or 46mm), or maybe a more subtle updating of the rider-tabs without going as far as they have on the Chronomat B01. All of these things would probably have resulted in a broader appeal..... and thus more sales.


I agree with mostly all points in your post, but - honestly - I cannot fully understand above argument. Size? Even bigger? 45 or 46 mm? In my opinion, sales would be even worse if the Chronomat B01 would measure 46 mm. Why not offering two sizes, one with 41 mm, the other with 45 mm. I would consider the smaller version as my next Breitling purchase - regardless of the much criticized design aspects.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 2:26 am 
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vorollo wrote:
Driver8 wrote:
A universally appealing USP might've been a display back, or making it a little bigger than the outgoing model (say 45 or 46mm), or maybe a more subtle updating of the rider-tabs without going as far as they have on the Chronomat B01. All of these things would probably have resulted in a broader appeal..... and thus more sales.


I agree with mostly all points in your post, but - honestly - I cannot fully understand above argument. Size? Even bigger? 45 or 46 mm? In my opinion, sales would be even worse if the Chronomat B01 would measure 46 mm. Why not offering two sizes, one with 41 mm, the other with 45 mm. I would consider the smaller version as my next Breitling purchase - regardless of the much criticized design aspects.

V.

Yeah well size is always going to be a personal thing, so I don't expect everyone to agree with my statement. I was just saying that making it slightly bigger would've given it a visually unique selling point that would make it stand out a little, without going down the route of comedy bezel fonts. And while I hate to talk about "trends towards bigger watches", the facts are that watches are generally a bit bigger these days than in recent years which would indicate that something fractionally larger would sell pretty well. You only need to look at the SA to see that big is (currently at least) popular. Besides, 45 or 46mm is not taking it into Bentley or SA territory.

My personal thoughts when I tried a B01 were, "God, it's small". But as I say, that's just a personal thing.

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 7:55 am 
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after reading over and over, i'll postpone get B01 tomorrow,thanks guys for the opinion :bow:

it's hard to choose which Ling it is :idontgetit:

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 26, 2009 12:45 pm 
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PinotNoir wrote:
after reading over and over, i'll postpone get B01 tomorrow,thanks guys for the opinion :bow:

it's hard to choose which Ling it is :idontgetit:

If you're after a first hand review, here's mine from a few weeks ago when I had a chance to check the B01 out for the first time. (Post at the bottom of the first page) Admittedly it's my review and opinion, and as you can probably guess I'm not a huge fan of this watch, but it might be vaguely helpful to you.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=10592

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