dieselpower Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Hello Breitling fans. I am dipping into your area to ask for help. I have an uncle who is a bit of an AH. He bought a few reps in the Middle East and then got all snobby about them and said that he would not wear reps any more and only the real thing was good enough for him. He then appeared with a new gold Navitimer which he bragged was a gen and I asked to look at it. Now you must understand I know absolutely nothing about Breitlings - I thought the watch was gen and I had no reason to doubt it, the man can afford these things. I started the stop watch to look at the tick of the second hand and it was all very nice until I noticed that it did a strange sort of hesitant stutter at about the 4 o'clock position. I have no idea if this is a thing one would expect or accept from a genuine expensive watch like this but it most definitely is a fault (albeit quite difficult to spot). I have seen a similar thing on asian 7750 movements and was wondering if this AH had bought a quality rep and was trying to pass it off as gen to impress the family. Here's the question - is there a sure fire easy way for an admittedly ignorant Breitling person to spot weather this watch is a fake or not? Like I say the overall feel of the watch is one of great quality and the dial printing is superb etc etc but I would love to be able to call it out if it is indeed a rep. PS If it is gen I am not very impressed with the above mentioned ticking issue - should he take it to an AD to have the movement looked at? Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahchard Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 i am no expert but if u do a search i think the navitimer has a few very obvious flaws... mainly the ticker markings by the date window. i think the gen does not have them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Easiest way to tell is the lack or AR. If it has a very heavy AR like the gen Breitlings do, it wil have a very very obvious blue hue across the crystal in certain light. The next tell is the date font. The gen date font fills up the date window completely, and is completely different from the Asian, and the Swiss 7750 date fonts, see the picture below, If it is that layout then these are the two obvious flaws. If it is the other dial layout,(3 6 9) look out for a sunken date wheel (as in it doesn't sit flush with the dial because of the modified movement) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWP Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 The hands on the subdials give it away to. Read By-Tor's review. Exceptional. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted April 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Thanks for the tips. Just one thing to note, the watch is gold. I have been reading up and somewhere it says that a gold Navi is not made yet. I presume this is not true? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Yes there are all gold Navis, but I have not seen an all gold rep as of yet, though I have the feeling that we may see them soon. Now you don't specify if this is a 3-6-9 or a 6-9-12 configuration, so its hard to zero in on what flaws to look for. I would look for the flaw that is common to all navi reps. Look at the numbers on the slide rule insert. If its gen, the numbers on the insert will come very close to the crystal. On the rep, the numbers are much further from the glass. Take a look at a couple of pics of bothe rep & gen, and you will soon be able to tell the difference quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TWP Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Andrew is the expert with this watch....listen closely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pugwash Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 On the rep, the numbers are much further from the glass. Take a look at a couple of pics of bothe rep & gen, and you will soon be able to tell the difference quite easily. Here is a recessed date: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted April 15, 2007 Report Share Posted April 15, 2007 Recessed date is the easy tell on the 3-6-9 version, but we're not sure which navi he's talking about. Welcome back btw Pug! Let me know how your move went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dieselpower Posted April 19, 2007 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 Thanks to all for the invaluble help. Truth is I can't remember what the subdial configuration is! I'm sure I can catch him out armed with these clues though. Now the big question is weather to call him out around the dinner table in front of everybody or to quietly have a look in private and tell him he may fool everybody else but not me! I think the second option is best, then he will forever be wondering if I decide to 'go public' with my discovery of his secret! Ha ha I wish you knew him - he is a total [censored]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andreww Posted April 19, 2007 Report Share Posted April 19, 2007 I'm pretty sure you will find that it is a genuine. As I said, the all gold Navi hasn't been repped yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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