The Breitling Watch Source Forums

As i am new in the vintage breitling world, and do not know how it has been before, this question comes in my mind that nowadays there is a lot of vintage breitling offer, i am wondering if it has been like this always that so many vintage breitlings are being offered or is this an exceptional time for collectors?

actually there's little interesting stuff on the market besides Navitimers ?

yes indeed, i was also aiming at Navi's

and even the Navi's are mediocre IMO ?

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

True Rene, I guess the best ones are already locked up somewhere by the early birds

Hi! I'm pretty new to the world of vintage Breitling as well, but I would encourage caution at thinking there is a readily supply of great references out there.

In fact, it's been my experience that:

1. There are A LOT of franken watches out there. These are watches that have one part correct, but other parts that are not. They may have the correct dial, but the wrong case. Or a redial. Or different hands. Use caution and use this great resource here to vet your potential purchases.

2. There are only a few examples in great condition. I know "condition" can be subjective, but I would also encourage you slow down and really think about what you're looking for in a watch. For example, I recently saw a great deal for a Top Time 810. Then I looked closer and noticed the hands weren't correct. Not a big deal, the discount was so large I could live with it. Then I noticed that while the dial was perfect, it was missing some of the lume plots. Then a closer look made me see the case was polished, etc et etc.

In short, if you're just getting into collecting this great brand, take your time. Look through all the references and see what catches your interest and then look some more. See if you can go somewhere and actually try on one of these watches. You'll start asking yourself questions like "maybe a 36mm Top Time 2002 is too small. Does it make sense to pay the premium for a Top Time 810 at a larger case size at 38mm?" I know my own interest and design preferences have changed drastically as I've exposed myself to different watches.

Good luck and happy hunting.

True. I definitely use the knowlegde of great people here and hopefully will not end up with a fake all-put-together version.

Thanks to all the great forum people here who spend a lot of time helping new comers out in this frenzy vintage watch world