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Breitling acquires Universal Geneve

Pastorbottle
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sonicosa sonicosa
I stopped in a Breitling boutique today, mostly to see if the SAs had the UG acquisition on their radar. I wasn’t very surprised that they had no idea what I was talking about.
They wouldn’t know their arses from their armpits without 1st having a sniff!
 
aap
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septentrio septentrio
Let’s all be positive and constructive 😀 I believe and hope the first release, within a few years, will be a 35mm/36mm revamped Polerouter with new automatic microrotor cal., gilt dial, ánd on a vintage GF inspired steel bracelet. I would be happy to find 7-8k to fund that purchase.

Although I’m not sure it could ever live upto this…

BVaL2wl.jpg

ooh, those dial scratches are nasty....I'm willing to take that headache away from you 😉
 
Larry S
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Pastorbottle Pastorbottle
They wouldn’t know their arses from their armpits without 1st having a sniff!
It’s very possible that the dealers will not be involved until the brand is well established.
 
spacemission
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aap aap
Good for you! And wow, thanks for sharing that UG connoisseurs should never use UG. That means several UG sub-forum stalwarts are not "connoisseurs" 👎

By the way, to clarify: abberviating the names of watches isn't allowed, but not capitalizing their first letters is? What other rules should I know?

That's what you think.

To clarify. The U on the dial has a meaning. If you don't know where to use UG, that is that.
 
spacemission
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bgrisso bgrisso
Not that it really matters, but UG has been the norm on this forum as long as I can remember. Not sure if that’s the case elsewhere or not, but you are swimming against the tide on this one

Ok, it's not my battle.
 
Scooterino36
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spacemission spacemission
We are talking about universal geneve. Do you have anything to say about this?

Other than that policing/gatekeeping is bad for this hobby, no.
 
Mark020
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Come on guys: let’s stick to the subject
 
L
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sonicosa sonicosa
I stopped in a Breitling boutique today, mostly to see if the SAs had the UG acquisition on their radar. I wasn’t very surprised that they had no idea what I was talking about.

Same here, visited them wearing my NOS Microtor, the manager knows the news but he had zero understanding on why this is a big thing. After some chit chat, he understands it and said might invite me for future events as they have a new big brother now.
 
Fallout Boy
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"The deal to acquire has been in the works for 2 years
New UG watches will be positioned above Breitling.
New movements will be made so Selitas etc looks like they will not feature.
No exact reissues of vintage watches, but the product names will stay (Polerouter, Compax etc...) and new models will be inspired by old models.
10 year plan is in place for the brand with releases every 6 months.....no eta on the first release though."

Amen! ::rimshot::

(ablogtowatch podcast)
 
Verdi
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For a vintage WIS like me and a fan of the brand.....this is my take:

First and foremost, it is good to see the brand being resurrected. Bretiling is a major player and they have the means to do it right.
Having said that, I would not be interested in the new models of UG, same as I am not interested in the new Omegas.
The feeling I get from an old Tri-Compax or a Polerouter is unique and cannot be replaced by a new model.
Same goes with vintage Connies and Seamasters vs the new ones.

Impact on price.
Certain models of vintage UG hyped a while ago, right now the prices seem to have gone down (that is across the whole watch market at the moment). I hope that vintage pieces are not going to become more expensive. UG is a niche brand, I think it will stay the same. My guess is that once new models become available, it is going to be less demand for the vintage. (this would be good news for me and it involves a bit of wishful thinking).

I think Bretiling shall put together a new team in charge of UG. One of the biggest jobs is to build new in-house micro-rotor movements to power Polerouters and other models. A new Polerouter without micro-rotor would be a disappointment. I might consider a modern Polerouter if it is done according to the vintage specs. I would hate to see a 39-40mm Polerouter.
Edited:
 
fizz
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I think you raise a great point. For us vintage loves, it's rare for us to be interested in the modern equivalent. As a die-hard Omega fan, I tried out the modern 321 this week on the wrist of a work colleague and compared it with the vintage Ed White that I was wearing at the time.

I appreciated the craft and the precision of the newer model but at that price point and all things considered, I would never trade my Ed White for the newer thing. I suspect it's going to be the same with UG .
 
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