The Breitling Watch Source Forums

After Altair's epic SOTC post , I started thinking that I should do my own collection inspection and set some 2019 goals. It took me a fraction of the time it took Altair to inspect my collection, but here is my humble collection.

Rolex Sub: I acquired this after a 10-day wait (what SS shortage? ) in September 2018 to commemorate my 10th wedding anniversary. It gets the most wrist time these days. The proportions are great and fits nicely under my shirt cuffs. The fit and finish quality is second to none.
SOH46: First love. I got this on my wedding day in 2008. Its huge, but the sentimental value is unbeatable. I wear it mostly on mesh or the rubber, but I also have an OEM leather strap and OEM canvas strap.
Swatch x H Sistem51: I picked this up when it was released in 2017. I had always wanted a swatch (I know, its odd) and then when this became available I decided to pick it up on a whim. It was one of the last ones at the Time Square swatch boutique. Its fun and it nice to have something like this to give to my 5 year-old son to wear around.
SRP773: I wear this boating and swimming. It's on the chopping block.
SKX Mod: I installed a sapphire crystal and "homage" yachtmaster bezel. It turned out OK, but its on the chopping block too.


(How do I lose the PB watermark?)

2019 Goals:

The other day my son (he's 5) asked me what watch I was going to wear when I die. Somewhat stunned, I asked him why he would ask that. His response: "Well, I like your watches, so I don't want you to take them with you when you die." Me: "Oh, so you want them for yourself." Him: "Yes, dad." True WIS, I guess...

While hilarious, this interaction got me thinking about the watches I wear and which they'll remember me by. Critiquing my collection, I think its a bit bland. It needs some diversity. The Sub and SOH46 are sentimental staples I am keeping forever. The Seikos are not that exciting. The Swatch is whatever.

For 2019, I want to pick up a new "Kern era" Breitling with some color. I thinking a chrono with a pop of color would help diversify my collection a bit. I am leaning toward the premier, but I am going to wait until the Basel dust settles. Also, another goal for 2019 is to only buy one watch. Last year, I picked up a Pelagos, but flipped it to help fund the Sub. I wanted to Sub all along, but settled because I resisted the Rolex plunge. With my wife's insistence, I got over it and pulled the trigger on the Sub.

So, I'll flip it to you. What's the state of your collection and what are you 2019 watch goals?

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Current collection: Breitling Superocean Heritage I 46, Rolex Submariner, Swatch X ****** Sistem51

Here's my collection in the order in which they were acquired.

Colt GMT - My first high end watch which I treated myself for finishing my MBA. It's a watch I'll never sell since it reminds me of all the work that I put in during that time and still brings a smile to my face almost 11 years after first putting it on.



Datejust 2 - The only watch I own that I really consider a dress watch, but I've worn it with everything including shorts and a T shirt. It's just one that is so comfortable and the 2 different colors of lume look amazing.



SubC - This watch was bought when my son was born in 2009. Everything is dated from the receipt to warranty card on the exact day he was born. This was back in the day when you could easily find a Sub. While the DJ2 is comfortable, this one is by far the easiest watch to wear given the adjustable clasp and the very comfortable oyster bracelet. The only problem I have with this watch is that I had planned to give it to my son one day, but that may be difficult since I don't want to pay the prices to replace it.



Chronomat Airborne - This is one watch that I knew I wanted as soon as I saw it was released. I love everything about this watch from the ivory dial to the full polished pilot bracelet.



Colt Skyracer - I've been intrigued by the idea of an all black watch and this fit the bill based on the very appealing price tag. I wanted something quartz to mix in at times and this is the perfect weekend/beater watch.



Superocean Heritage Chrono II - My latest and favorite new release from Breitling. I really started to look at the Heritage series after seeing the 3 hand version last year in blue with the ceramic bezel. The mesh bracelet was a big question for me but after trying it on in Naples in November, I was sold. I'm also really glad that I added the blue rubber and am looking forward to trying that out this summer.



My plans for 2019 are to sit tight with what I have. I think 6 is my maximum amount without feeling guilty of having some watches sit around. I can't see selling anything in order to make room for a new addition. I'll never say never, but I'm fairly certain nothing new will be added. I'm more than happy to visit the forum and watch everyone else pick up the new collectors pieces or updated 765s (assuming that happens).

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Justin
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nice collections guys

Nice collection. I really like Seiko divers! Fantastic watches!

I am with you on the Premier, the panda dial is a truly great watch! That said, I would diversify if I where in your shoes. Maybe go for a used JLC, something like the master calendar would really round out your collection.

Happy collecting!

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Certified watch nut.

My collection is in the midst of a major transitional period which started in 2018 and will influence my collection into 2019. I made the decision that I had too many watches that were just sitting around getting no wrist time so I started making the move towards a major consolidation. Recently I’ve sold off 16 watches and I have 2 or 3 more to go before I’m done with the selling. In the last year or so I’ve sold the Breitling Transocean Panamerican Bronze, Breitling Transocean 1915 Silver, Breitling Transocean 1461 Silver, Breitling Superocean Steelfish Blue, Breitling Crosswind Black (twice), Breitling Bentley GT Bronze, Breitling Bentley GT Racing Silver Dial, Breitling Chronomat Airborne Black, Omega Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz Meteorite, Omega Speedmaster 50th Anniversary, Omega Planet Ocean Orange Bezel, Montblanc Timewalker Dual Carbon, Glashutte Original Panoinverse, Zenith Chronomaster Open Power Reserve Silver, and the Zenith Ceramic Bullitt.

That will leave me with the following:

Breitling Blackbird Blackeye Blue – I won’t ever sell this watch. It’s my favorite Breitling with the symmetrical big date, beautiful blue dial and the brushed faceted bracelet. It was also a wedding present from my wife so it has sentimental value.



Breitling Navitimer 01 – The classic quintessential Breitling. I’ve always loved the Navitimer since before I ever bought my first expensive watch.



Breitling Montbrillant 01 Blue and Limited – I have 2 Montbrillants and 1 will ultimately go in this consolidation. The 40mm smaller size fits my wrist perfectly. I haven’t decided which one will stay or go yet.





Glashutte Original Senator Observor – I think this is one of the most beautiful dials ever made. Love the font and the balance of the running seconds hand, the power reserve and the big date. The lume is amazing on this one as well.



Zenith Chronomaster 1969 Open – Zenith does the open escapement better than anyone. This one could still possibly be moved as I have my eye on a different open dial watch.



Perrelet Retrograde Regulator – I think this is just a fun watch with a unique way of telling the time. It’s also my only titanium watch. I didn’t pay much for this since resale on Perrelet suck so this is a keeper simply because I think it’s fun and it’s not worth selling



Perrelet Rattrapante Skeleton – Another fun watch that I picked up relatively cheap that isn’t worth reselling. It’s my only black watch, like how the subdials rotate and it’s shockingly legible due to the large white lumed hands.



This year after I finish selling off my last 2 or 3 more watches I want to pick up no more than 4 watches. I don’t want the collection to get out of hand huge ever again. I am going to take a look at some more upscale watches since I will have quite a bit of proceeds from all those sales. The only watch that I’m fairly certain that I want is the JLC Polaris Chrono in Blue. It’s a nice size for my small wrists at 42mm and the dial is beautiful!!



One thing I’ve really been loving the look of is Rose Gold. I don’t have a specific rose gold watch that I want but something that won’t completely break the bank. Ideally I would love a JLC Duometre but I don’t feel comfortable extending to that level.



Besides that I might take a look at an AP Royal Oak (not sure which model) and I would like a ceramic watch. Haven’t looked too closely at anything yet and won’t really start exploring the purchases until I finish selling everything first.

Nice collection, natesen. I think that you and I have some similar tastes.

As far as which Montbrillant to keep, I've always loved that blue dial version. Just a classic, in my book.

Love the GO Senator Observer. Such a nice piece.

Also love the JLC Polaris Chronograph -- that seems like a worthy addition.

I can't believe you had the fortitude to offload so many great pieces from your collection! I admire it -- but, I think I'm a ways off from having the courage to slim things down to that extent!

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Cheers,
Jim

Thanks Jim! And I agree that we may have some similar tastes as I'm always admiring your posts. Love the multiple GO watches you have, the JLC meteorite and world timer. And you even have a nice rose gold omega which looks amazing. You have an amazing collection and I imagine it would be very difficult to part with your watches.

I honestly thought it would be a lot harder to part with the watches as I liked them all enough at one point to purchase them. But I can say that the only 1 I might actually miss a little is the GO panoinverse because the engraved swan neck being visible is just beautiful. And I do miss the Transocean line as those were honestly some of my favs... But I can't fight it if they don't fit right.

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Well, first off, thanks so much for your kind words about my collection — very much appreciated!

I understand about the TOC’s not fitting. To date, the only watch I have offloaded was a TOC Unitime. Loved the watch, loved the blue dial — but, at 46mm, it felt enormous, and I realized that I wasn’t wearing it as a result. I traded it in toward the JLC Geophysic Universal Time — so, it all worked out.

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Cheers,
Jim

That duometre is on my list too. It’s amazing on the wrist and I especially love the movement and the texture on the dial.

The collection is looking great, Justin. That colt gmt is one of my all time favorite breitlings. It’s sharp. How much wrist time does it get?

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Current collection: Breitling Superocean Heritage I 46, Rolex Submariner, Swatch X ****** Sistem51

natesen, what a nice, diverse collection you have. When you do decide on which Mont to depart with, do let me know.

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Current collection: Breitling Superocean Heritage I 46, Rolex Submariner, Swatch X ****** Sistem51

Will do, that's next decision so I'll be deciding on that shortly. If I had decided sooner I could have met you in Philly today looks like u had a nice visit even though the weather didn't fully cooperate.

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Great collection, and fantastic future watches to spire to. The Duometre is a work of art! Have you seen it in person? I would before you commit. The reason I ask is that you might want to shoot for the regular dial over the semi-open dial. It might be just mebut the way they cut out the inserts the whole dial looks like a sniling clown. Might be just me being silly.

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Certified watch nut.

i agree re the standard dial i preferred it when i tried them on. it doesn't need the cut outs IMO

I did get a chance to try it on and I have mixed feelings on the open vs. closed dial. I actually prefer the open dial and I think I would personally wear it more. The closed dial looks much dressier to me and I almost never dress up. If the watch looks too dressy I have a fear that I wouldn't wear it very much which would completely defeat the point of owning it.

Open dial I feel dresses it down a bit and makes it look a little less formal which fits my personal style a bit more. But I also don't need more open watches which is why I hesitate with the open one even though I prefer it. If I didn't have any other open-faced watches, I think I would lean heavily towards the open. But since I do, it makes me hesitate and think about it not just in terms of which one I prefer, but which one fits into my collection better and which one I would wear more.



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