A brief pictorial history of my Breitlings...

[JohnR]

Here are some of the Breitling's I've owned over the years.

My first Breitling - a SOP. The 2nd two taken at Studio Holbrook.




Crosswind Special. I saw this on a Breitling rep and knew I had to have one.


A little car and watch shot.


A little shoe and watch shot for John Holbrook. He hates these shoes. That CWS is quite the versatile watch isn't it?


My first foray into the Navitimer line. The color wasn't quite all I'd hoped and more after I had it for awhile.



The white Nav eventually got replaced by its ebony brother.



I liked the black Nav, but was hankering for something just a little more complicated if thats possible, which led to this Olympus.



I was briefly and accidentally in possession of its ivory dialed sister.


The SOP was eventually replaced by its larger more complicated brother - the Chrono Avenger.




And finally, a little Breitling wallpaper I made.

[BruceS]

Absolutely fantastical John

Great pics and great watches. So, I take it the white Navitimer was hard to read in bright light?

Thanks so much for posting, and please be a regular on this forum!!
Bruce

[sb127]

Wow those are some great pics....thanks for sharing!

[JohnR]

BruceS said:

Absolutely fantastical John

Great pics and great watches. So, I take it the white Navitimer was hard to read in bright light?

Thanks so much for posting, and please be a regular on this forum!!
Bruce

The white nav was just sort of drab looking. THe dial is actually a silver color. It looks white in almost every pic, but in reality its silver. When you couple a silver dial with a silver bracelet, there just isn't much distinction and it looks like a big blob of silver on your wrist. I decided I also liked the stick markers a little better than the arabics as well.

[BruceS]

I had the same experience with a Sinn 303. Silver guilloche dial, ss bracelet. It just didn't do it for me.

Man I want a Navitimer, but that would mean one of the Rollies would have to go

[JohnR]

How many rollies do you have? How many does a man need? You'll certainly stand out a little more in the crowd with a Navitimer on. I have my SS Sub to represent Rolex in my collection, but I think the Breitling's win out in the end. Sure, almost no non-WIS has ever heard of Breitling, but that's ok. I think they are a little more distinctive and interesting looking. Heck, I still can't figure out that darned slide rule past multiplying two simple numbers. Sometimes you look at your watch for reasons other than to figure out what time it is ;D.

[BruceS]

I have 3 Rollies now and my wife has one. I've got the GMT II, Exp II, and ss Sub date. 3 is probably too many for me, and I may well get down to one eventually. Probably the GMT II.

I enjoy variety of styles and brands, but I sometimes tend to go overboard with a single brand/style.

Rolex dials are pretty boring, but they were never meant to be works of art. Just simple tools, and I think they do that very well.

I tried to learn the slide rule bezel on my B1 and never got past the multiplication. You really need Chuck Yeager's eyes to read the thing anyway!

But, Breitling dials are so attractive. I love that about the Navitimer. Whether you actually use it or not doesn't really matter. It's just good looking!

[JohnR]

I agree with you on the Rolex dials. They are simple but effective for their purpose. I've toyed with the idea of getting a pepsi bezel GMT Master II, but can't justify another black dialed sub looking watch just for the colorful bezel. And the small crown doesn't thrill me once you get used to the Sub's larger crown.

[BruceS]

I've always said if I could only have one, it would be the ss Sub. I'll likely stick to that. I like having the timezone function, but I can add 'n subtract.

Wow...I think I'm talking myself into selling a couple of Rollies. Hmmmm......

[martynjc]

BruceS said:

I tried to learn the slide rule bezel on my B1 and never got past the multiplication. You really need Chuck Yeager's eyes to read the thing anyway!

Hi there Bruce! (FANTATISTICS pics on this thread btw ;D)

I was on the train to work this morning and was amusing myself by trying to calculate the trains speed using the slide-rule and stop watch.. needless to say I got a few strange looks from fellow passengers as I now have to take OFF my glasses to read the slide-rule!

I calculated the train was going at 729mph - did I get it wrong???

... as it usually takes 45mins to get into London which is only 50miles away from my home - guess it's back to the drawing board..

Hours of fun ;D ;D ;D

Cheers Marty.

[BruceS]

Oh man. That's brilliant

[kehac]

John
Great pics. I think I remember you showing me the white face Navitimer. It is a beautiful watch and I really loved the bracelet on it.

Karl

[JohnR]

kehac said:

John
Great pics. I think I remember you showing me the white face Navitimer. It is a beautiful watch and I really loved the bracelet on it.

Karl

Karl,
Actually, that night we went out I had the black dialed version. I don't know what ever happened to that group shot we did of our watches.

[kehac]

John
I guess I must have sometimers. I believe that the group shot is probably in the early pages of the General forum.

Karl

[JohnR]

Well, I went back and searched for the WTF dinner gathering shot at Chipotlé, but it was to no avail. Maybe John has it somewhere on his computer and can post it. John doesn't seem to think he can post on this forum since he is Breitlingless. I've tried to rectify that situation, but haven't had much luck there either.