vintage breitling: did i goof?

[ducatigirl]

hi guys!

on a recent bus trip to milan, i was passing by a window shop and saw about 15 - 20 vintage high end watches 50 + yrs old... including Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Ulysse Nardin, Breitling, Omega, etc

the shop was in a 'non touristy' part of town, in a pretty quiet section of town actually...

i was intrigued...

i went inside to discover that it was actually a service center (therefore, not primarily sales oriented) and the technician there, would buy old watches from his customers and resell

well.... despite not knowing much (i am new to the watch fixation...) ... i took the chance and bought one...

he told me it is a breitling self winding chrongraph from year 1960- also, gave me a 1 yr guarantee of his own

i thought it was beautiful it is much nicer than the pics i'm attaching (not very talented with the camera )

i paid 1200 euro for it (not at all an insignificant amount, for me)

it was totally an impulsive buy

should i regret it? does it look fake? not worth the money i paid? any thoughts???

also, the watch is not keeping time correctly (discovered this when i got back) ... i'm planning to stop by the breitling service center to see what they say... but this has only made me more anxious about the purchase...

thx!

v

[timebroker]

A service center that sells a watch which is not keeping time?
Strange.
Somebody will be around shortly for the authentication process

[Mrdi]

Beautiful watch.
Get it serviced and you'll have something that will keep you smiling for a long time,
especially since you found it in an obscure place.

[Letsgodiving]

Great looking watch. Why would 2002 be on the caseback?

It may be worthwhile to try a Breitling forum if you have no luck here. Good luck!

[steve-o]

Yours:


A real one:


See any differences?

[roadcarver]

Go to www.breitlingsource.com and there are a couple of guys there that specializes in vintages. They'll give you their comments.

BTW, Ducatigirl, been a while since we last saw you post. Welcome back.

How's your winder now? Still causing your watches to fall off?

[Mrdi]

Keep us posted

[ducatigirl]

Originally Posted by roadcarver

How's your winder now? Still causing your watches to fall off?

i 'fixed' the winder by putting a cleaning cloth (the kind we clean our sunglasses with) between the pillow of the winder and the slot the pillow fits in. in other words, i made it more snug in there, so the pillow won't be catapulted out - and it has worked just fine for several months now.

in any case, it was a nice surprise (i guess expected) to see that despite being sent tumbling to the marble floor beneath, at least 5 times, absolutely nothing happened to my rolex.

in contrast, my friend dropped his panerai twice in 3 months, and both times it stopped working... the bill to fix it was 350 euro ... both times!

i also posted on the breitling forum you recommended.

thx all for your help - i will keep you posted

[ducatigirl]

Originally Posted by steve-o

Yours:


A real one:


See any differences?

actually, i was thinking more along the lines of this one (which is real too; pic taken from a book about vintage breitlings):

as you can see it is very similar (at least in my novice eyes)to the one i bought- though the breitling experts on the other forum, told me the one i bought is not an original

[Letsgodiving]

Sorry to hear that but it is still a beautiful watch.

[Mrdi]

Did they say it is not original or not an original dial?
It may be Brietling with a redone dial?

[watchloverdave]

I think we would all love to hear what the Breitling service center had to say about this watch. It is a lovely watch with a vintage look despite the 2002 on the back (that really bothers me). Do the pushers all work? Does it reset crisply to zero (12 o'clock)? If it's not keeping time accurately now, it may just need a cleaning and oiling; however, if the pushers don't work, and it doesn't reset properly, it may need more work.

Keep up informed. I think we can all learn something from your Breitling journey.

[ducatigirl]

pls see quoted text...

Originally Posted by watchloverdave

I think we would all love to hear what the Breitling service center had to say about this watch. It is a lovely watch with a vintage look despite the 2002 on the back (that really bothers me). Do the pushers all work? yes Does it reset crisply to zero (12 o'clock)? yes If it's not keeping time accurately now, it may just need a cleaning and oiling; yeaphowever, if the pushers don't work, and it doesn't reset properly, it may need more work.

Keep up informed. I think we can all learn something from your Breitling journey.

i took it first off to a local guy that deals with vintage watches and is a friend of a friend with a good reputation here in athens (although he has a bad attitude). he said it would cost 70 euro to fix. i told him to go ahead and fix it - i spoke to his asst on the phone so he will fill me in on what the actual servicing on it involved. I didn't bother talking to him about the authenticity of the watch, becs he doesn't have a very good attidude and don't even want to bother with this guy.

(it was keeping time, for 1 or 2 or 3 hours and then the second hand would stop moving. if i tapped the crystal of the watch, it would start up again. everything else was working.)

after i get it back from the service, i will take it to breitling for an appraisal.

also, i sent the same pics i posted here to a very well reputed vintage dealer in the states, and they replied they would be interested to buy betwn $700 - $1200, but would have to inspect it first, live. it was interesting that they didn't 'shoot it down' so to speak, right off the bat, although maybe this was just them trying to give a 'polite reply'...

i will keep ya posted. thanks for your advice and interest. really appreciate it!

best,

v

[nodnarb757]

If its real, its a beauty! If it isn't, you really do have a nice replica!

[frostie]

It is a great looking watch. I would wear it and i have to agree with what nobnarb757 said. If itsn't real you have a nice replica

[SLRdude]

More than likely, it is an original watch with a not so accurate redial job. Very common on the vintage market. While it does hurt the value of the watch some, if you like it... who cares?

[frostie]

Just like chip said if you like it who cares

[Mrdi]

Exactly
A redialed Brietling is still a Brietling.

[Paulie]

They redid the pushers then too if it's authentic. All the other pics show square pushers even with the case. The crown also has a bevel under it, not square.

[beemreatr]

Didn't look at how old this thread was...sorry