The Resurgence of Breitling

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BacoNoir
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The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BacoNoir » Wed May 24, 2023 12:11 pm

Here is a good write up on Breitling that includes some early history, the quartz crisis, confusion of brand identity, and the recent restructuring/resurgence of the brand that helped it rise into the top 10 brands by sales in 2022.

https://www.thewatchmuse.com/blog/breit ... resurgence

I’m a fan and have 3 in my current collection. Any other Breitling fans here?
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Last edited by BacoNoir on Wed May 24, 2023 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by r.palace » Wed May 24, 2023 12:29 pm

The chunky steel pieces of the Schneider era have always had a spot in my heart and they remind me of when I got into this hobby.

I’ve owned countless Breitling’s over the years, they’re the only brand I repeatedly come back to. At the moment, I only own a white tuxedo dial Aerospace Avantage but as sure as it’s always happened, I’ll own another sooner or later.

While I don’t like a lot of the design cues of recent Breitling’s and I still do believe they’re dealing with a bit of an identity crisis, there’s no denying Kern has been passionate during his tenure there and determined to bring Breitling back into the spotlight.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Ryeguy » Wed May 24, 2023 12:42 pm

I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Chocodove » Wed May 24, 2023 12:44 pm

Ryeguy wrote:I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.
Same. Happened to take a look recently and couldn’t believe the current msrp. I vaguely recall them around being $5k back in the day?
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Ryeguy
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Ryeguy » Wed May 24, 2023 12:48 pm

Chocodove wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:44 pm
Ryeguy wrote:I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.
Same. Happened to take a look recently and couldn’t believe the current msrp. I vaguely recall them around being $5k back in the day?
Yes, I think that was about the price.

I saw one on ebay for about $4.5K, but I'm not certain an EPIRB is something I'd want to buy second hand.

It is such a cool idea though, and if I had the $, I would probably wear one.

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The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BacoNoir » Wed May 24, 2023 1:00 pm

I’ve picked up 2 of my 3 from Grey Dealers BNIB with warranty card for about 40% off MSRP. Granted the last one was about 2 years ago, so not sure what the current discounts are.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by jswing » Wed May 24, 2023 1:11 pm

The Navitimer was the first watch I ever actually noticed, and I swore I'd have one some day. I did get one, and I wish I still had it. Also had a Chronomat Evolution way back when, as well as a SuperOcean I think. Definitely a fan, although I haven't had one for years.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by jimyritz » Wed May 24, 2023 1:15 pm

I would agree, but find their models with that inhouse movement to be wildly overpriced. They have messed up the design of the Superocean. I’m not sure what they are trying to be…

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by djh1201 » Wed May 24, 2023 1:52 pm

jimyritz wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 1:15 pm
I would agree, but find their models with that inhouse movement to be wildly overpriced. They have messed up the design of the Superocean. I’m not sure what they are trying to be…
Agreed, I like the previous generation SuperOcean's, but the current one's IMO are fugly.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Joeprez » Wed May 24, 2023 2:34 pm

The only new Breitling I would buy:

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Omega / Tudor / Rolex / Sinn / Doxa / Seiko

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BacoNoir » Wed May 24, 2023 3:57 pm

jimyritz wrote:I would agree, but find their models with that inhouse movement to be wildly overpriced. They have messed up the design of the Superocean. I’m not sure what they are trying to be…
Yeah, I don’t like the new SO. I do love the previous version, my yellow dial in particular.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by djh1201 » Wed May 24, 2023 3:59 pm

BacoNoir wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 3:57 pm
jimyritz wrote:I would agree, but find their models with that inhouse movement to be wildly overpriced. They have messed up the design of the Superocean. I’m not sure what they are trying to be…
Yeah, I don’t like the new SO. I do love the previous version, my yellow dial in particular.
I've been debating picking one of these up actually. Understand the bezel diameter is closer to 42mm, i.e. it wears small?

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Wario406 » Wed May 24, 2023 6:33 pm

This one wears AWESOME at 43mm

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by toxicavenger » Wed May 24, 2023 7:29 pm

Wario406 wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 6:33 pm
This one wears AWESOME at 43mm

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Dang! Congrats Mike! :thumbsup:

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by r.palace » Wed May 24, 2023 7:46 pm

Wario406 wrote:This one wears AWESOME at 43mm

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Fawk yeah
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Wario406 » Wed May 24, 2023 10:30 pm

Thanks guys. It got some travel wrist time this week and it wears REALLY WELL.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BramleyGreg » Thu May 25, 2023 2:16 am

Resurgence?


With respect to Breitling, I wouldn't have said that the desurged.

I have owned one, and I would always say that they are a great brand. :thumbsup:


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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by jimyritz » Thu May 25, 2023 3:50 am

Wario406 wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 6:33 pm
This one wears AWESOME at 43mm

Image
That’s nice! Congrats!

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Morethan1 » Thu May 25, 2023 6:44 am

I'd love it if they re-issued this one
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by dnslater » Thu May 25, 2023 7:04 am

Ryeguy wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:48 pm
Chocodove wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:44 pm
Ryeguy wrote:I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.
Same. Happened to take a look recently and couldn’t believe the current msrp. I vaguely recall them around being $5k back in the day?
Yes, I think that was about the price.

I saw one on ebay for about $4.5K, but I'm not certain an EPIRB is something I'd want to buy second hand.

It is such a cool idea though, and if I had the $, I would probably wear one.
It is novel, but it is a $16k quartz watch. You can by an emergency transmitter for like $350 separate if you need one. Feels like your paying a $10k premium for the novelty of having it part of the watch.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by Ryeguy » Thu May 25, 2023 7:35 am

dnslater wrote:
Thu May 25, 2023 7:04 am
Ryeguy wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:48 pm
Chocodove wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:44 pm
Ryeguy wrote:I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.
Same. Happened to take a look recently and couldn’t believe the current msrp. I vaguely recall them around being $5k back in the day?
Yes, I think that was about the price.

I saw one on ebay for about $4.5K, but I'm not certain an EPIRB is something I'd want to buy second hand.

It is such a cool idea though, and if I had the $, I would probably wear one.
It is novel, but it is a $16k quartz watch. You can by an emergency transmitter for like $350 separate if you need one. Feels like your paying a $10k premium for the novelty of having it part of the watch.
Yes, exactly the reason I don't own one. They don't make much sense from a practical standpoint. That said, I still think they are cool.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BacoNoir » Thu May 25, 2023 7:47 am

Ryeguy wrote:
dnslater wrote:
Thu May 25, 2023 7:04 am
Ryeguy wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:48 pm
Chocodove wrote:
Wed May 24, 2023 12:44 pm
Ryeguy wrote:I've always loved the Breitling Emergency model, especially the yellow dial variant from a few years ago.

I just thought it was kind of cool to have a watch that doubled as an EPIRB.

Kind of hard to justify at the almost $16K retail though, especially when I can get a decent EPIRB for well under $1K.
Same. Happened to take a look recently and couldn’t believe the current msrp. I vaguely recall them around being $5k back in the day?
Yes, I think that was about the price.

I saw one on ebay for about $4.5K, but I'm not certain an EPIRB is something I'd want to buy second hand.

It is such a cool idea though, and if I had the $, I would probably wear one.
It is novel, but it is a $16k quartz watch. You can by an emergency transmitter for like $350 separate if you need one. Feels like your paying a $10k premium for the novelty of having it part of the watch.
Yes, exactly the reason I don't own one. They don't make much sense from a practical standpoint. That said, I still think they are cool.
It’s like a lot of other luxury items - a cool toy with a high price tag. I’ve always loved the concept, but I am not spending a week in the backcountry anymore and my boating is limited to kayaking on calm lakes, so it’s not proactively for me.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by rockmastermike » Thu May 25, 2023 8:07 am

To add two data points

My brother, who is not a watch guy, likes several Breitling models and likes the overal look of the brand

My youngest, while in NYC, stumbled into a Breitling boutique and instantly became a fan.

All that to say - Breitling is a home run and has made fans of a normie and a kid above and beyond the enthusiasts.
Last edited by rockmastermike on Thu May 25, 2023 9:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by BacoNoir » Thu May 25, 2023 9:01 am

rockmastermike wrote:To add two data points

My brother, who is not a watch guy, likes several Breitling models and likes the overal look of the brand

My youngest, while in NYC, stumbled into a Breitling boutique and instantly became a fan.

All that to say - Breitling is a home run and has made fans a normie and a kid above and beyond the enthusiasts.
Good point. I remember a former colleague who was not a watch guy who was wearing an Aerospace and when I asked him about it, he said he liked it so he bought it. He didn’t have any idea about the multiple generations of the Aerospace or anything else.
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Re: The Resurgence of Breitling

Post by unsub073 » Thu May 25, 2023 10:25 am

Love the Aerospace

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