Watchlords

Breitling is a brand that we recently featured as one of our top buys for collectors in our Vintage Market Update – The Chronographs. I mentioned that there’s a broad back catalog of pieces worthy of consideration due to their looks and innovative features. When I published the article, though, I stepped back and realized that while I did the brand some service by surfacing the topic, an opportunity existed to give collectors a better sense of the brand. Of course, we’ve touched on the brand in a couple #TBT articles where we featured the Top Time 814 and, more recently, the 765 CP. Still, how could Fratello Watches best cover the brand and begin to make some of the vintage Breitling lines more of a household name?

Well, today’s Special Feature is the culmination of that idea, but as you’ll see, I’ve relied on others in creating what we think will be an invaluable resource for collectors. We have published this Breitling expert interview before (in 2015), but with the new ownership and new CEO (Georges Kern), we thought it would be nice to bring it to your attention again.

I’d advise that you not try to digest this article with your smartphone while transiting to work, as there’s a ton of content here, but, rather, enjoy it on a bigger screen, hopefully during your holidays. Grab your favorite ice-cold beverage, relax, and take in some serious knowledge sharing, as it is high time to shed some light on an underserved brand. It’s vintage Breitling time.

The Experts

When we talk about a subject such as vintage Heuer, Jeff Stein’s name surfaces almost immediately as the foremost authority on the brand. Jeff would almost surely comment that he’s not alone as an authority by any means, but his creation of OnTheDash has been such a great resource to collectors and fans that it has earned him the title. Today, we will introduce, on a wider scale at least, two contemporaries of Jeff’s (everyone knows each other, by the way) who are really the undisputed authorities on Vintage Breitling. Unlike Jeff, they prefer to remain somewhat more enigmatic, which we respect, but we thank them immensely for their participation in this interview.

https://www.fratellowatches.com/vintage ... nterviews/

Aaaargghhh, Fred interviewed by - who else - his buddy, Stockton. I remember the time I've criticized (on WUS) one of Stockton's articles about the vintage watch market. Fred was there immediately, with a comment that was essentially growling something about Stockton being his friend. Well and good, but I don't quite fucking care if Stockton is Fred's buddy or the Tsar of All the Russias, if he writes a load of bollocks, I'm going to point it out as such.

Though frankly, while he's not exactly the most likeable person, Fred's one of the very, very few who can be trusted with authenticating a vintage Breitling.