My Watch Storey - Breguet Transatlantique Type XXI
Discussion
I’ve got a lot out of the PH watch forum for many years so feel it’s time I put a bit back in. I thought I would cover some topics that usually crop up;
My watch history
Rolex v’s ????
Would you sell your collection for just one watch?
Are my arms hairier that Chris Harris’?
About 8 years ago, thanks to comments and pictures on here I bought a Sinn 556. It done me well as a daily beater and traveled the world backpacking with me. It performed faultlessly and didn't draw any unwanted attention. About 4 years ago I dropped it and never got round to repairing it and it was never replaced.
A few years later my daughter was born and I quickly realised (being a modern father) a watch was need to keep track of feeds, medicine times etc and bought a cheap Seiko Chrono Alarm. While hunting all the sites which cheap watch to buy, I got the bug and started buying further watches, usually sub £500. Again PH guided me in the direction of some of these like C. Ward, Steinhart, Stowa. I dare not venture to a dedicated watch forum for fear of spending far too much. At the same time I was buying watches with various complications such as Atomic radio watches, manual wind, and perpetual calendars. I slowly amassed nearly 20 watches which I rotated regularly. My favourites however were my Laco pilot watches.
For Christmas last year, the wife and I were abroad at the in-laws and we decided we wouldn’t buy each other presents for the first time. Knowing I would be in trouble if I didn’t I bought her a small purse and she bought be two watch books detailing the history of watches and various brands. Big mistake! I had these read in a day and planted the seed for the next big purchase.
I looked through hundreds of sites, and hundreds of brands. I narrowed my list and went to try on the watches. Not to difficult in London. Some were discounted straight away because of their size on my wrist or the feel. One thing I had learnt from my collection is what I like. The watch needed to be waterproof, have a date function, a good lume and suitable for office wear. A chronograph plus bracelet option would be nice but not essential.
My initial budget was up to £6k which covered a lot of Rolex watches but I did consider watches costing up to £15k. Among my top runners were JLC Master, Glashutte Panoreserve, VC Overseas Chrono, Blancpain Bathyscaphe. This would be my grail watch and therefore I didn’t want to have any regrets. That said, my head said to go with Rolex in case I ever changed my mind. I did like the look of the Rolex sports watches and it had always been my aspiration to buy one. In the end, I went with the Breguet XXI. It was love at first sight but I did have some reservations. It is now a 10 year old design so has a steel bezel instead of more modern ceramic/liquid metal and a clear caseback would have been nice. The titanium XXI was a lot lighter and solved my bezel concerns but to me changed the appearance to more sports look than office look, and had a black face which is nowhere near as nice as the rhodium face which always appears to change colour.
So ebay it was for all my watches. After each sale I had many regrets but I had my Breguet which gets worn Monday to Friday, and just my Sinn (since repaired), Seiko and G-Shock remain.
Would I recommend selling a collection for one watch? Yes only if you buy the right watch to replace them with. I find myself looking at a Tudor Pelagos now to cover the weekends and a Sistem51 should be with me by the end of the week. The Breguet however will remain my main watch as far as I can see.
The breguet itself is a very thick and very heavy watch. It so far has been taking the knocks well. It keeps good time, but doesn’t have a hacking second hand so I couldn’t say exactly. This is good as it helps keep the OCD at bay. Saying that, if you have OCD you probably wouldn’t have bought this watch, no two dials or hands are the same. It is refreshing too that I’ve only seen one other person wearing one while watch spotting on the train and I imagine it will be a long time before I see another one, or even someone who knows what I am wearing.
My watch history
Rolex v’s ????
Would you sell your collection for just one watch?
Are my arms hairier that Chris Harris’?
About 8 years ago, thanks to comments and pictures on here I bought a Sinn 556. It done me well as a daily beater and traveled the world backpacking with me. It performed faultlessly and didn't draw any unwanted attention. About 4 years ago I dropped it and never got round to repairing it and it was never replaced.
A few years later my daughter was born and I quickly realised (being a modern father) a watch was need to keep track of feeds, medicine times etc and bought a cheap Seiko Chrono Alarm. While hunting all the sites which cheap watch to buy, I got the bug and started buying further watches, usually sub £500. Again PH guided me in the direction of some of these like C. Ward, Steinhart, Stowa. I dare not venture to a dedicated watch forum for fear of spending far too much. At the same time I was buying watches with various complications such as Atomic radio watches, manual wind, and perpetual calendars. I slowly amassed nearly 20 watches which I rotated regularly. My favourites however were my Laco pilot watches.
For Christmas last year, the wife and I were abroad at the in-laws and we decided we wouldn’t buy each other presents for the first time. Knowing I would be in trouble if I didn’t I bought her a small purse and she bought be two watch books detailing the history of watches and various brands. Big mistake! I had these read in a day and planted the seed for the next big purchase.
I looked through hundreds of sites, and hundreds of brands. I narrowed my list and went to try on the watches. Not to difficult in London. Some were discounted straight away because of their size on my wrist or the feel. One thing I had learnt from my collection is what I like. The watch needed to be waterproof, have a date function, a good lume and suitable for office wear. A chronograph plus bracelet option would be nice but not essential.
My initial budget was up to £6k which covered a lot of Rolex watches but I did consider watches costing up to £15k. Among my top runners were JLC Master, Glashutte Panoreserve, VC Overseas Chrono, Blancpain Bathyscaphe. This would be my grail watch and therefore I didn’t want to have any regrets. That said, my head said to go with Rolex in case I ever changed my mind. I did like the look of the Rolex sports watches and it had always been my aspiration to buy one. In the end, I went with the Breguet XXI. It was love at first sight but I did have some reservations. It is now a 10 year old design so has a steel bezel instead of more modern ceramic/liquid metal and a clear caseback would have been nice. The titanium XXI was a lot lighter and solved my bezel concerns but to me changed the appearance to more sports look than office look, and had a black face which is nowhere near as nice as the rhodium face which always appears to change colour.
So ebay it was for all my watches. After each sale I had many regrets but I had my Breguet which gets worn Monday to Friday, and just my Sinn (since repaired), Seiko and G-Shock remain.
Would I recommend selling a collection for one watch? Yes only if you buy the right watch to replace them with. I find myself looking at a Tudor Pelagos now to cover the weekends and a Sistem51 should be with me by the end of the week. The Breguet however will remain my main watch as far as I can see.
The breguet itself is a very thick and very heavy watch. It so far has been taking the knocks well. It keeps good time, but doesn’t have a hacking second hand so I couldn’t say exactly. This is good as it helps keep the OCD at bay. Saying that, if you have OCD you probably wouldn’t have bought this watch, no two dials or hands are the same. It is refreshing too that I’ve only seen one other person wearing one while watch spotting on the train and I imagine it will be a long time before I see another one, or even someone who knows what I am wearing.
Edited by volks10 on Sunday 10th August 18:54
Edited by volks10 on Sunday 10th August 18:57
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