I am looking for some information on this vintage Breitling (year, reference, movement). Can someone shed some light? Original dial or refinished? Thanks Peire06
Post pictures of the movement, inside case back and any information stamped on the automatic movement so we can help you.
I’d say 80%+ of vintage Breitling watches on eBay are fakes with a similar percentage of Ulysse Nardin. The reason for this is that those brands in particular are far better known today than they were 60 years ago. Back then, both companies were more assemblers of watches than true in-house manufacturers. By assemblers, I mean that they purchased base movements and tweaked them to their own specifications. This made service and spare parts a lot easier and this is still done today. Unfortunately, it also makes “upgrading” a generic watch (which likely had a very similar movement) by repainting a dial and replacing a few parts very easy to do. My advice would be not to buy Breitling vintage watches on eBay unless you know what you are looking for in precise detail. gatorcpa
I second this comment. Too many beginner collectors are focused on the brand name (Breitling/UG/Omega) and not nearly enough on identifying whether the actual watch actually exists. When I look at Breitling, I think beginners go for these frankens due to the fact that more well known examples (Chonomats, Navitimers, Top Times) go for such high sums of money, well into $3-4K for a proper example. As a result, these lower priced examples don't look bad and hey, maybe there's a trickle down effect. But in reality it's almost impossible to find details on verifying some of these little known references. Instead, I suggest you stick to the references that are known and instead teach yourself how to identify an excellent example vs. one that's just mediocre. That kind of knowledge will pay dividends far more than trying to see if this $500 random watch is actually worth anything.