The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello bsource fam. Happy new year and hope everyone is well.

Do you guys think that Breitling will ever return to its former glory it once had in the early 2000’s. Aside from the navitimer and maybe that rainbow super ocean, I don’t see anything worth pursuing. Am I in the minority here by saying this?


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Hello and happy new year

We are waiting for new Aerospace this year, so we'll see how will that go

New aerospace will be a good start. Hopefully they keep dimensions similar


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Well, maybe it depends on how you define 'glory'. I'm not sure how sales evolved for Breitling in the last few years.
Personally I like the new Chronomat very much.

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The chronomat is a great watch. I was super happy to see it in a 40 mm gmt. This is a way more manageable size for most people. Breitling used to be a watch that people would aspire to own. Now it seems like a brand that most people settle for


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1. I dont think you are in a minority amongst a lot of people on Breitling forums. I would say many/most people in Breitling forums became fans of the brand somewhere between the late 90's to around 2010 and that's 'their' breitling, the one they fell in love with. Disenchantment with the current direction of Breitling is not uncommon with those folks.

2. If you are hoping Breitling returns to being that brand with that style and those sorts of watches - if that is your idea of the Breitling "glory years" I fear you are set for disappointment. The very era of Breitling you love is the era the current management is actively trying to forget - or at least constrain to a very limited range of watches.

Personally I feel for people that find 'their' brand is leaving them - it sucks, but otoh my first memories of Breitling are from the late 70's and late 80's and this 'new' Breitling feels much more like the Breitling I loved back then and I feel Breitling is leaving a bit of dark period and is returning to its "true" glory years before the family lost the company.

I miss the chocolates.

You're not alone, BB. I've tried to fight it and "find the love" for the new Kern-era, but I'm afraid to say I'm still a dedicated Schneider-era fan of the late 80's/early 00's.

I'm the first to admit that the newer models are (generally speaking) way better than the odd period we went through immediately before Kern took over where everything was DLC and odd fonts, etc, but it seems there's always something I'm not a fan of on the new models.

For example, I really wanted to love the new Navitimer (and I did for the fact that the date aperture was moved from the hideous 4:30 position to 6 ), but the 'dumbing down' of the slide-rule is something I can't unsee. Another example would be the Premier Chrono 40 - lovely design, but the weirdest choice of dial colours. A simple black, or white, or blue, or silver would be superb on the SS model, but no we just get pistachio green or a wine-coloured LE. The new SO is a "polarising" design, and the hideously overpriced Sellita-based 3 handers and GMT's just aren't good value IMO. With the exception of the Aerospace models, the "Professional" range is now a riot of childish primary colours that look like mall watches IMO. And I also don't like all the sunburst dials that end up looking washed-out - give me a nice deep gloss (or matt) black dial any day of the week.

I did actually buy a Chronomat 42 a while back, but I've actually sold it now as I just couldn't get onboard with the overly shiny and strange half-graduated bezel no matter how hard I tried, plus it wore much bigger than it's dimensions would suggest.

There are two watches I've really liked in the Kern era (but even those weren't quite perfect for me). One was the 806 reissue and the other was the Navi B02 Cosmonaute LE. The 806 was absolutely perfect for what it is - a painstakingly accurate reissue - however I'd have also liked to have seen an option for sapphire crystal. That way we could've had both a faithful reissue and a 'modern-retro' version for the 21st century. (Yes I know that's heresy and totally against the re-issue ethos, but a sapphire option would make it a real daily-wear contender for me). And on the Cosmo I'd have liked it to be based on the 43mm case for purely selfish sizing reasons (although again I know that's not in keeping with the reissue ethos), but the bigger issue for me is why the hell was it just a limited edition piece?! That one was so good it should've been a permanent catalogue piece IMO (if they lost the platinum bezel of course).

Anyway, I'm sad to say I rarely take any interest in Breitling these days (and in fact I rarely log on here either), as other brands are interesting me far more. That said, I still hold out hope that one day Breitling with produce something that I love once again.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Hopefully Breitling is Watching and listens. Over the past decade l, I have done my very best to try and spark my interest in the brand, but I find it hard. If they reissued a 40 mm chronomat with the wind rider tabs, updated movement and 4 solid colours, I bet the kill it. Colours should be black, white, platinum ice, and green.


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I've long been a fan of the Aerospace and Professional line, but I do wonder what the appetite out there is for a "simple" Ana digi watch that costs thousands, in an expanding market of affordable smart connected multi sensor and customisable watches.

I'd love to see another evolution of the Aerospace Evo (Evo II perhaps?) using the same design language but please Breitling, please don't dumb it down or bling it up. The bling won't appeal to traditional Aerospace fans nor (I guess) would it appeal to a new market of fashionistas as its not that kind of watch. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree....

I'm hoping the Aerospace keeps to similar dimensions too;
I loved the look of the Cockpit B50 and bought one. But the frequent charging, excessive bulk (for what it offered) and ultimately the price that I couldn't justify leaving in the watch box depreciating, forced me to sell it.

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Oyster Date '78, Blackbird chrono DLC '10, Blackbird chrono' 02, Navitimer Fighters '02, Aerospace Evo , Seamaster Chrono Diver 300' 02, Carrera cbm2110

From what I understand Breitling is listening very carefully but I fear not to the people that want them to return to the late 90's/2000's in forums and the like. Breitlings new direction/return to pre 80's is going great for them and people are buying watches in droves - but very different people to before and Breitling is listening to the new (apparently much larger) crowd.

Oh I totally agree. Since the CVC takeover, Breitling has headed down a far more commercial route than it ever did under the previous owners….which is obviously superb from a business perspective - i.e. selling watches and making money. But personally I liked the fact it was always a very niche aerospace orientated brand. The old Chronologs were all about aviation and awash with jet fighters and other flight-based stuff, with nary a surfer, cyclist or movie star in sight….and I personally loved that.

Don’t get me wrong, Breitling are making some good stuff these days, and Fred and other have done some truly superb work bringing things like the 806 back to life, even if, as I said above, there always seems to be SOMETHING about the new models I don’t like. There are some models that are very close - but the sad fact is there is nothing in the current catalogue I really want.

So these days I just keep a “watching brief” on Breitling and if something ever comes along that I like, then I’ll buy one, but for now I’m not going to “shout at the hurricane”, and I just concentrate on the brands that ARE making things I like.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

I understand I'm sounding like a broken record here but cant help myself - but this statement "it was always a very niche aerospace orientated brand" is just factually wrong. It has been an aerospace oriented brand for a very short period of the life of the brand.

Driver I feel like you and I would really get along great in the real world. I echo your sentiments. As you stated, im sure the brand is doing great, I guess I am just not really part of its core audience anymore. To management and the people driving the brand, I wish you guys all the success. Just seems like I have moved on from a brand that was responsible for kicking off my watch craze.


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Yes I’m quite aware of Breitling’s broader history, and I’m afraid I’d disagree with you to a certain extent as aviation has been a constant thread throughout Breitling’s history - sometimes taking centre stage, and sometimes taking more of a backseat. Yes, Breitling became very niche in the Schneider era, but their close ties with aviation stretch way back to the days of Leon Breitling himself.

On this thread I thought we were talking about our personal feelings towards the brand at the moment, which is obviously coloured by how and when we came to the brand in the first place.

Perhaps for clarity I should’ve said, “I like the fact it was always a very niche aerospace brand during the period I originally found them, and since it was that element that drew me to the brand in the first place, it’s the transition away from that aspect in favour of a more “lifestyle” image that I now lament”.

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Driver8

Site Moderator