I don't think I've come across any mention of Breitling in the WRUW thread-- or anywhere on OF. No love here? I really like the iconic Navitimer and will likely add one my set in the future.
Are there Breitling forums out there? The only guy on my team into watches had a Breitling, and also a new pilot watch from Oris.
It's interesting, I did notice quite a few chronograph collectors are posting Breitlings on Instagram while they're hardly seen around here. Made me wonder whether they're making a come back or whether this forum is just a bunch of purists.
I have a Breitling Chrono Cockpit and you'll see it in the WRUW thread. I think most ΩF members are tired of their autocorrect changing the name to Breathing all the time, so they don't bother to mention any Breitlings that they own.
I've had my Navitimer 816 since new and in all those years my appreciation of it has waxed and waned. As a young man I wore it with some arrogance as watches that big weren't so common. Nowadays you'd consider it pretty normal for a chronometer dimensions-wise. In my forties, as I experienced the usual deterioration of eyesight and started needing reading glasses, I wore my Navi less as I couldn't, with naked eye, make out the time on that busy dial! I also found more and more that the size and weight made for discomfort on the wrist. More recently I've found it nice to wear occasionally, clearly to some degree on nostalgia grounds. But I do think that if you look at the Navi alongside a Speedy, you more acutely appreciate the cleverness of the latter's basic dial layout. I also think that the association outside the look and feel of the watch itself in regard to Omega and the Apollo programme is much more charismatic that that between Breitling and aviation in a generalised sense. Still makes a good pic though:
I was never attracted to Brietlings, vintage or new, though I do own one. Never gets any wrist time though, for obvious reasons.
I have owned more, now down to just these two - which still don’t get a lot of wrist time. I’m undecided about the brand’s new direction, but my initial thoughts are it’s a bit of a wasted opportunity
i have really tried, over time, to appreciate breitling. they just don't grab me. any of them. to each his own. . .
She's quite the vintage jewellery hunter. So doesn't mind watches are my thing at all. Even has a few vintage seamasters ( though would sell them to fund vintage emeralds )
I was infatuated with the Navitimer when I was a teenager and in my early 20's. Of course I could never afford one at the time. The more I started learning about other brands (Omega) and their legacy, especially vintage, I completely lost interest in Breitling. I got my first Speedy, a '69, for my 30th birthday and after spending some time with it, when I looked at the Navitimer and really most other non-vintage Breitlings, they just look gaudy and contrived. I don't think they have the same cache as Omega, even comparing new to new. I think the Bently ones are very off-putting. Way too busy on the dial. The design in general isn't as timeless, IMO, as a brand like Omega, or, dare I say, Rolex. I must say, @Traveler has some pretty good looking ones though.
The Navitimer 806, particular with the AOPA logo, is a classics IMNSHO. Also the most undervalued chrono on the market
Let’s be honest the current Breitling have nothing to do with the original. Heck they are not even allowed to do make the original Navitimer anymore. They went bankrupt in 1978 all they have control of is the names. I think there is a fair bit of love for the vintage pieces here. Classic Navitimers and the rest of the line are a bit of a minefield to hunt, with many great looking pieces. The current pieces and just announced pieces are not exactly lust worthy. Here’s a picture of the actual current Navitimer by the company that owns the rights but not the name. Any chance to post it You can see the current 01 has nothing to do with the original 806 and the Sinn is exactly as they purchased the rights in 78.
