Chronomat01LE wrote:
boogiebot wrote:
here is a post that would not make me jump on your for. and to be honest i think its a valid question here.
in the case that you provided with the 2 rolex's there might be a few different reasons why the younger sub was more expensive. For example if you look at the 16610 LV and if you get a random serial number in this version they tend to sell for a premium. alot of it has to do with internet hype as to people speculating that its more rare.
i think that there are some rare instances of Breitlings that would grow in value. take the Breitling avenger Rattrapante for example
http://www.breitlingsource.com/watch_de ... d_188.html its an LE of 25 pieces. I have never seen one in the metal or in the wild and never seen one for sale. If this was to come up somehow from a collector that owns it, I suspect it would command a premium.
For my experience with the 2 Subs I believe the higher premium was simply due to the age of the watch. Disregarding the condition of the watches, consumers in general definitely prefer a newer or "younger" piece.
Didn't know about the Sub C serial number case.... Oh btw I notice that Rolex has never offer limited editions before? Maybe they are trying to make some of their pieces "limited" in this way... Wow the things that they do are always so different and yet effective.
It's a little saddening to see that Breitling has not been able to provide a classic standardized image in their range. Maybe that's why their potential value is bad, except for a few rare models as mentioned. I understand that the only model Breitling managed to maintain for a long time is Navitimer. But however IMO there is no common "Breitling identity" among all the models. I mean there seems nothing in common between Navitimers, Chronomats, SO, SA, Bentley ranges, etc, that tells you that these are Breitlings. All these models have their own distinct features to identify their range but nothing in common as an overall brand. That's why there was a thread discussing on which Breitling watch most shouts "Breitling". I think I will be laughed at if I were to start a similar thread discussing which most shouts "Rolex", because all of them does! Look at brands that have better values(PP, PAM, Rolex), even though they have different ranges and models, all their watches always have a "distinct classic image in common" that identifies their brand. I think that is very important to a luxury brand that u need to have that "identity" in all your products, whether new or old...I think that greatly affects the future value of the brand's products. IMO Breitling is simply trying to increase market share by attracting different types of consumers with different ranges and designs, and they do not bother about the resale values of their watches since it doesn't concern them? But actually it should concern them because many take potential resale value into consideration when buying luxury watches.
All in all I don't understand how the myth of "buying watches as an investment" came about. And also the thread that I started a few mths back on the myth about people rushing to buy watches in Switzerland because it is the only place where you can get a 100% Swiss Made watch there. For all you know it is the tour guides who started all these myth! I do sincerely wish that all these myth will come true one day because as mentioned it is always nice to know that something you own has increased in value.
Lastly I have this question about the price of a luxury watch that is it true that the list price of the watch will increase every year when it is still in production? Cos I have not really researched on other watches' list prices. I think Sub C has increased in list price, not sure about overall luxury watches as I want to verify what the sales staff told me is true about the "pre Basel World" price adjustment. Or it depends?
your sentiments are the exact reason why I started to get disillusioned with Breitling. When I first go into watches Breitling was the pinnacle of desire for me. Part of it had to do with size of the watches, a bit to do with pricing and the other part is I just felt overall they were a really cool brand. Like Jlee5050 I have only been into this watch scene for the past 4 years, so my knowledge on movements as well as history is very limited. So most of my choices for purchase are based on aesthetics as well as continuity of the brand.
This was one of the reasons that made me fall out of love with Breitling. I just kept getting the feeling that they were trying to be everything to everybody. There were a couple years of bad designs and let downs from them. Things like stupid rubber bezels, font changes etc.... But what really hammered the nail into the coffin for me is that I could not see myself owning most of these models and wearing them when i was 50. Things like the Super Avenger of B4B Motors T are great watches now in my early 30's. Yes they are a tad to big for me, but since I am younger I could probably get away with it. Not so much when im 50 and sitting around in a cardigan and slacks, at that time it would just look out of place. This was what drew me to brands like Rolex.
For the record I still like Breitling i think that they have some great pieces. The Navitimer is a great example as well as the chronomat evo that seem to scream Breitling and appeal to a ton of people myself included.
in terms of the pricing, the trend seems to be pricing will just keep going up. When I first for the 116610 LN list price was around 8000 its now 8500 and when i first got the 116610 LV list price was around 8900 its now 9500 (i think). Keep in mind these are CAD prices.
edit - i should also say that pricing for all brands seem to be trending up. not just Rolex.