Rolex or Breitling - Page 3

You are the same as me, It must have taken 2 years for me to decide

The Seadweller was one of my choices ( but a bit out of my reach at the time ). Not sure about the new model !!!!!!.

One day it was Brietling, the next omega and the next Brietling again.

I eventually went for the Omega " Moonwatch ", a real classic.

Save yourself some money and get one of these:



Just thought I would muddy the waters a bit. The watches you are looking at are both excellent. I had a Rolex for a long time and ended up selling it. It was a great watch but I realized there are some smaller company watches, Swiss Made, that offered a lot more for the money and weren't the same watches everyone else is wearing.

Rolex is the brand watch snobs love to hate. They are very reliable, however.

The old Daytona used a Zenith El Primero movement, but in the last 5 years or so customers have wised up to the fact many companies just slap a pretty case on a generic movement and jack up the price. Customers are increasingly demanding manufacture (in-house) movements for authenticity's sake.

When customers find out their watch just has generic ETA/Lemania/Valjoux movements with no added value, a company's brand equity takes a hit or can even be destroyed completely (as Patek Philippe and Chopard's almost were), so most companies are taking movement manufacture back in-house. That's why Rolex made the Daytona in-house again. The El Primero is an excellent movement, and Daytonas with that movement are highly sought after by collectors. The back-in-house movement (pun intended) is purely for marketing reasons and not necessarily a good thing, as most watchmakers simply don't have the full set of skills and the result can be worse than a tweaked standard movement.

My impression is that Breitling and Panerai are among the brands that just slap a case on a movement (Breitling's gimmick is the rotary slide rule, Panerai's is the oversize case with dive-style crown lock). Rolex is a serious, if unimaginative watch company. I would recommend IWC, Jaeger-Lecoultre or Zenith if you care more about the mechanical heritage than about bling, or Bréguet if you want a pedigree, but they are usually far more expensive. An IWC Pilot's watch or chronograph is roughly the same price, far more subtle and very accurate - mine hardly gains more than a second or two a day. Omegas are also excellent value and very reliable timepieces.

I agree with your comments about Rolex. I really like them a lot. Especially that Daytona Chrono. The Daytona Chrono is so simple and elegant. I've read a number of articles detailing its construction and it is clearly well designed. More "beautiful" movements like F. Piguet and Vacheron are prettier, but not necessarily more durable. The F. Piguet in my Blancpain Triple Calendar is extremely temperamental.

I must say, however, that Panerai is making great strides with their 8 and 10 day in-house movements. Yes a lot of them use ETA, but the in-house movements look really impressive.

Interesting last few comments and I must say that when I went through the same process a few years ago, after extensive research I went with the Zenith El Primero and never regretted it. I really liked the Sea Dweller but at the end of the day in my opinion the Rolex is too much like a badge of rank and is not individual enough. My second choice was an IWC Portugieser.

I would take a Rolex over a Breitling.
But if I had the option of choosing from more vendors would have picked a Panerai.

Correct

To be honest out of the two I would choose Breitling.

Then again all I have is an Omega Seamaster I bought last year with my own money and a Baume & Mercier my dad gave me because he no longer wanted it, said he needed the extra room on his dresser?

No, most IWCs use modified ETA/Valjoux movements as ebauches, albeit highly improved. My Valjoux 7750 based Fliegerchrono is far more accurate than my manufacture Portuguese Reserve de Marche. Only the higher end models like the Portuguese F. A. Jones, Regulateur and Reserve de Marche, the tourbillons and the more exotic complications all the way to Il Destriero Scafusi have proper in-house movements.

The Aquatimer uses a modified ETA 2892.

That's because they were not allowed to sell int he US for a long time due to a trademark dispute with Zenith TVs. Like Jaeger-LeCoultre, they were a true manufacture (100% in-house) long before it became fashionable to be so. They used to be a bargain, but sadly no longer. The watch designs are not very handsome, unfortunately, but that's a matter of personal taste.

The Zenith El Primero movement runs at 10 beats per second, twice as fast as most mechanical watches, for enhanced accuracy, and is very well regarded, specially in the Chronomaster version that is adjusted in 5 positions.

I would say your Omega is a superior watch to the Breitling in all respects.

You don't know what you're talking about.. perhaps you run with a crowd of bling infested posers.

What you wrote does not happen. Merely a myth perpetuated by persons who wish they had a Rolex, I suppose.

Cheers,
Mike

I would pick Sea Dweller because its movement has been proven to be reliable, but keep in mind it can go wrong as well. Beside that, it will be replaced by Deep Sea soon and it will probably retain its value given the fact that it will be out of production soon. It's a nice looking watch, simple to read and it has that timeless appeal. Have you ever tried one on your wrist ? Being comfortable to wear is important too. I'm biased here because I don't know much about Breitling.