Another beneficiary of the Swatch Group’s departure from Baselworld is Replica Breitling. While you used to enter the main hall (Hall 1) and see a big red Omega logo at the end of the aisle, this year you’ll see a huge screen (even bigger than last year) showing Brad Pit, Charlize Theron and Kelly Slater advertise the Breitling innovations for 2019. And of course the yellow and white Breitling logo. Since the Omega stand is missing this year, there is a clear view of the previously “hidden” stand of the pilot’s watch brand. Or to put it another way: For anyone who visited Baselworld 2019, the Breitling stand was omnipresent. Definitely a big plus in terms of on-site attention (see also).
But a large stand and a widely visible presence are not everything – as a (luxury) watch brand, you should of course also have some beautiful models up your sleeve. And that was the case with Breitling – at least for my taste. Die-hard Breitling fans are still struggling with the company’s realignment under Georges Kern. Wrongfully so, in my opinion.
BREITLING – NEW MODELS 2019
The following watches show quite well how Breitling wants to free itself from its slightly outdated image from the 90s with oversized bombast watches. It starts with the very successful new edition of a classic from 1959:
RE-EDITION: NAVITIMER REF. 806 1959
You can see: you can hardly distinguish the original (right) from the new edition (left). And that’s how it was intended. In collaboration with Breitling expert Fred Mandelbaum (Instagram: @Watchfred), Breitling designed this new edition to be as historically accurate as possible. And I can tell you: I was pretty shocked when I put it on at Baselword:
Neither Breitling nor the Navitimer are among my favorites so far. It must be because there was a lot of attention to vintage detail here. It even goes so far that the case back itself, typical of a vintage watch, has been given a completely plain finish:
Sounds strange, but for a vintage fan like me, something like this makes the heart soar. You can simply tell that the work (or case back) was made by someone who is a vintage fan himself and attaches great importance to such details. Speaking of the movement: The in-house caliber B01 was used here, the automatic function was removed and converted to a hand-wound mechanism that was true to the original. This is technically a downgrade – but for purist vintage fans it’s simply consistent. And the size or the case diameter of 41 mm certainly plays a role in why I liked the watch straight away.
The only downside: As always, it’s the price that really hurts with Breitling – the watch costs 7,700 euros.
That’s not all – it is also limited to 1959 pieces. So if you have (or have) enough money or can spare it, you should take it. If you don’t have it, you can – like me – simply enjoy the fact that there are watch manufacturers who revive their own history so beautifully and in collaboration with external vintage lovers. I love projects like this!
And: If the watch is too expensive for you or perhaps you can no longer get one, you can look for the Breitling 806 as an (ebay partner link/advertising*). However, please do your research beforehand and be familiar with this model before purchasing.