Horological Meandering

Breitling Super Ocean under judgement...

Here is a Breitling Super Ocean I saw today.

The game was to see the flaws and the qualties of this Watch.

First the pics, then the comments.

Flaws first:

- The hands, whiich are of course not correct, and awfuk, to say the least.

- The bezel insert, which was redone in an unsatisactory way: No numbers, at 15, 30 and 45 minutes, just baton indexes.

Most of the Superocean inserts were redone, as they aged very badly, by the way.

Here is a redone ( repainted ) insert, but in a correct way:

- The Inside part of the case back, which was loudly polished, even if the writings and engravings are still visible Under a certain angle and light.

- The crown, which should be signed, and which is not, in this specimen.

The pros:

- The movement, which is in superb condition.

- All the other parts are correct.

- The dial is in great shape, which is quite rare for a Superocean.

Without forgetting that finding a Superocean is a tough mission...

Best,

Nicolas

This message has been edited by amanico on 2013-10-09 05:44:18

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I'd kill for that dial, Nicolas, but the rest ..... [nt]

By: WatchFred : October 9th, 2013-06:27

That is why I thought it was important to discuss it.

By: amanico : October 9th, 2013-06:58

As we rarely see one... ;) Best, Fred, and thanks for giving your opinion! Nicolas.

I don't collect vintage

By: senort75 : October 9th, 2013-08:46

Rolex because I'm not a specialist and wouldn't want to pay top dollar for a Frankenvintage, but I'd probably buy the Breitling just because it looks nice. In this case, I'd hope to find it at a flea market for short money. I'd smile whenever it would be ...

Short money and this Breitling don't work together.

By: amanico : October 9th, 2013-08:54

it is one of the most sought after Vintage Breitling, and quite difficult to find... Hence my answer... Best, Nicolas.

Thanks for this post

By: Spellbound : October 9th, 2013-17:16

Thanks for the lesson my friend. These are indeed extremely hard to find. I may very we'll make my first acquisition into Breitling very shortly with a more common vintage Navitimer 806. But I will certainly keep an open eye for the elusive Super Ocean. D...

That was the purpose of this post, Dean.

By: amanico : October 9th, 2013-20:17

We sometimes fall on watches we are running after for a long time, and they oftn come with some imperfections. The first thing is to notice thse imperfections, the second thing is to know the limits of the acceptable. Which is not easy... Best, Nicolas

Be interesting to see a movement pic!

By: Ubik : October 10th, 2013-10:13

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but have the underside of the lugs had work done to them. Looks like they've been soldered?

I saw the movement, it is the correct one, in very good shape.

By: amanico : October 10th, 2013-10:32

As for the lugs, I wondered the same thing, but couldn't tell if there were soldered or just dirty... Best, my friend. Nicolas

as you quite rightly say Nico..

By: G99 : October 12th, 2013-09:27

when it comes to a vintage watch nothing will be perfect, but its the level of acceptable imperfections which is important. a difficult to find watch such as this would perhaps allow more imperfections than a common watch, but not this many. i would have ...

This is the border between the acceptable and the unacceptable

By: amanico : October 12th, 2013-09:32

Which is interesting to discuss, through, for example, this Watch. Thanks for your input, my friend. Nicolas

over that border for me, I'm afraid ....

By: WatchFred : October 13th, 2013-08:26

as said before, the dial is truly exceptional on this piece - but case overpolished, twin plane gone, crown wrong, all this I could live with for that dial; the incorrectly refinished insert could be corrected - but the hands are impossible to replace, to...

Excellent point of view, Fred. Thanks!

By: amanico : October 13th, 2013-10:27