The Breitling Watch Source Forums

members keep asking me about Craig´s work, what makes him so special, is it worth the hassle of shipping watches from Europe to the US and back, asked for examples of work he had done.

today I received a parcel from Craig; whoever had that experience before probably understands the feeling I had when ripping it open, like a child finally getting those long awaited presents ...

first, a "project" we had been working on for some time. As you know I love the 810s and found a totally wrecked SS from 1964. Gisbert Joseph had a NOS dial, donors supplied the rest.

below the before/after collages:




second, a nice GP TopTime 810 from 1968:




third, a transOcean 7102, bought from Switzerland, but the date mechanism was broken.

Sent it back to Switzerland (very friendly and helpful seller), but the Swiss watchmaker could not find the parts. Lester Harrison in the UK (a great source) had them, shipped those to Switzerland, but the watchmaker claimed (rightly, we found out) they did not fit.

So the 7102 went to the US. Let me quote Craig "7102/7740 - this was a real challenge. When I removed the movement, the date would advance but after trying it for several hours it would stop working then start again. Got the dial off and noticed that the old date advance wheel was still installed. The old one works on a concentric and I suspect that it was either worn or installed incorrectly (cal 11-15's had a similar problem with the early date advance wheel). I could not find an illustration of what the concentric looked like or how to install it on line so I tried the new replacement. Problem with the one is that it must have been for a later 7740 movement because is was too tall and the attachment screw was too short. I measured the height of the old one and sanded down the new one so it was the same height - it worked perfectly!"

After about 6 months - most of that in Switzerland while the other watchmaker was trying to figure out how to repair it - and thousands of miles, back in Vienna:



fourth, an 18k 178 from 1946, bought as "non-running" (minor problems, according to Craig, "only" a broken column wheel etc.) and knew the lower movement holder ring was missing, Craig "happened to have one and "just machined it a little" to make it fit .....



let me quote Craig again: " I do like these kinds of projects because a lot of the watches that I get in are pretty boring to work on!"
Thank you, Craig, for your wonderful work !

He's really not awful is he!

Congrats Fred on some nice additions, and congratulations as always to Craig for jobs exceedingly well done.

outstanding work !

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"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

There's really nothing Mr. Bergsma can't do... actually he told me awhile back he can't dance... (sorry Craig)

That 178 is beautiful Fred...

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

That first 810 is absolutely stunning. If you don't mind me asking what are you looking at cost wise for something like that?

Beautiful.

Cheers

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Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

Wow!!

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SHARKMAN

my oh my.

Thanks for the comments, the SS 810 really is a beautiful piece.

If you are asking about repair costs that go into such a project, I never publish those, as it is impossible to judge such prices without knowing all about the amount of work, ingenuity, parts and patience that were necessary to complete a repair or restoration project. The only thing I can say about the prices Craig charges is that I have always been pleasantly surprised.

If you are asking about the Top Time 810s, pricing varies widely. As always with vintage pieces, pricing for BIN offers for good 810s is quite high, a later panda GP 810 has been on offer for unrealistic $3,950 for some time, sold yesterday for $2,950 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-BREITLI ... 3cbcf03d1f ; a 1967 SS piece (nice condition, but with the later wide hands I like less) was listed with a (imho crazy) BIN of $5,990, now down to $4,990 - http://www.ebay.com/itm/1967-BREITLING- ... 1054434492 - will probably sooner or later go for a similar price as the GP; a very nice 810 SS is on offer from Germany for about $2,700.

Auctions are totally unpredictable, I have seen some go up to similar ranges, but if you have the patience to wait for the right piece and have somebody like Craig to help you restoring or repairing an imperfect or non-running 810 you´ll end up paying a lot less than these BIN prices.

I'm not as optimistic about the prices on the ref 810's. My experience is they generally sell in the $900-$1800 range in the US market, depending on condition of course. I sold this wonderful fully restored AOPA for $1700 last year. Repair costs are also all over the board but generally in the $200-$450 range for most models unless a complete basket case.



The 810 is a nice piece but I really prefer the ref 765 as it's rarer and sells for more but is similar in size and style and has the same movement.



Here's a very nice example. He's been trying to sell it for years for $2695 with no takers. It's been for sale at the current price for a while.

http://www.mwrforum.net/forums/showthread.php?t=45970

Beautiful! Congratulations Fred! Love the 810 in particular. I can't believe Craig was able to resurrect that movement.

Thanks for the info guys. Those are two beautiful watches aswell vintage!

Cheers

_________________

Currently:
Avenger Skyland(Black)
Super Avenger(White)

Moved on:
Montbrillant Legende(Silver)
Panerai 312
SOHC 125th Ann. LE(Silver)
Navitimer World(Pearl)
Panerai 441

Beautiful, all of them.