Jump to content
Sign in to follow this  
webbo2005

Breitling Navitimer 01 (A7750) review

Recommended Posts

webbo2005

One day when I was aimlessly walking around my local city centre, killing time while my car was being serviced, I ended up sat in a Breitling AD showroom being offered champagne and a catalogue. Don't ask how it happened, but the next thing I know, I had a choice of a few Breitling's laid out in front of me, all sparkling under the halogen bulbs and there it was, the "Navitimer 01, 43mm Chronograph" - it just struck me as being a beautiful looking watch, with great features; from the stunning bracelet to the slide rule on the bezel....

 

The GEN;

 

J2dE7OD.png

 

I was pretty new to Breitlings and I didn't know the price but I had made up my mind that it was for me, I was having it, job done - so I enquired on the price...

 

"You'll be happy to hear, It's currently on offer today at £6,695 sir" (that's approximately $1 million USD).

:vomit:

 

I nervously humoured them for a while, then as beads of sweat began to form on my nutsack, I made my excuses and left. A couple of weeks passed, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I began wondering if there would be any homage watches out there (aka Seiko's) that were equally as impressive without the high price tag. After some serious Googling I stumbled across RWG and found TD Robbie (Aoobuy) - then after doing copious amounts of research for a couple of months, I placed my order for the relatively newly-replicated (it was fate!) "Breitling Navitimer 01 1:1" with both the bracelet and the leather strap, because why not?

 

On to the photos (apologies, they're only phone pics)....

 

yOxd9Cq.jpg

 

 

I'm amazed at how close to gen it feels, both the weight and the bracelet/strap feel absolutely spot on. I just love that bracelet too!

  • 19th March - purchased
  • 23rd March - Robbie sent me tracking number
  • 25th March - Postman knocked (I know, I know, how the hell!?)

I couldn't believe how quickly it arrived, but alas, some of you may remember me posting in General Discussion that it arrived partly DOA; the large minute/hour hands would not budge of their own accord, which obviously sucked as it rendered the timekeeping aspect useless - but I was more than aware that A7750 movements were problematic. I didn't mention it at the time, but the rotor was very loud too - like seriously audible from a good distance. To his credit, Robbie (who is great to deal with btw, I'll leave a quick review in his section too) offered me an exchange, but I didn't fancy sending it back to China without proper tracking the whole way unless I used Parcelfarce; hence asking the membership for some advice.

 

I was encouraged to send it to members here, either SSTEEL, ROLIE or wait for "UK Watch Services" to have some free time. I emailed all three, asking about time-scales and if they had any idea of cost to repair etc, trying to weigh up whether sending it back to China was a good idea or not. I ended up reluctantly sending it to SSTEEL in Finland (this was literally just before shit went down and he was banned), to cut a long story short, he took a look and wasn't sure how the movement could possibly come out of the case and didn't feel confident in fixing it, so it was returned to me - fair play, but slightly annoying that it took approx 1 month to get me back to square one. I then sent it to ROLIE who very quickly worked his magic and got it working for me by essentially giving it a full service and the rotor is now really quiet, how it should be. I can't thank him enough. I'm now scared to use the chronograph in case it breaks :P

 

All in all, fun experience, costly but worth it. I'm slowly saving up for the gen as of last months pay cheque (should take me about 30 years by my rough calcs)

 

I can also highly recommend ROLIE for watch servicing, he knows his stuff and gets the job done. Big thanks also to greg_r too for some great advice along the way.

 

Cheers!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
greg_r

great post - good to see the happy ending too. Enjoy it, mate! :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
webbo2005

Cheers dude - the photos don't do it justice at all either - it's a beaut! :wub:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
plankton

Pretty watch!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
BentleySharp

That's great :)

I'm glad you found a replica that you're happy with, and it sounds like all the time it's on your wrist is going to serve as inspiration to save up for the genuine.

Here's hoping you much luck on your quest for the holy grail watch.

Enjoy the forum!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
dudermania

Its a beautiful watch indeed sir. Mine says hello!

 

Breitling 2_zpsbpihj0io.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
webbo2005

Wow great photo dudermania, that's how it's done!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
dudermania

Thanks mate. Wear yours in good health!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Lenny63

gen dudermania?

 

great watch OP - I have to have one

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
shaunb84

Is this new Navitimer rep only available with 21,600bph movement? if so this is a shame I wonder with they have put a low beat movement in the new version.

Edited by shaunb84

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
GenTLe

Nice watch. I only hate the sunken date wheel on them :/

By the way you have some problem with equivalences if you think that 6.7k£ is = to 1 million $ ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
webbo2005
Is this new Navitimer rep only available with 21,600bph movement? if so this is a shame I wonder with they have put a low beat movement in the new version.

 

I'm not sure but mine is 28,800bph http://i.imgur.com/KFrQaTd.jpg

 

Nice watch. I only hate the sunken date wheel on them :/

By the way you have some problem with equivalences if you think that 6.7k£ is = to 1 million $ ;)

 

The sunken date wheel isn't that noticeable, only when you look up close with it 5 inches from your face, providing the lighting and angle is correct - face on you don't even notice.

 

The $1million is a joke, British humour that the dollar is worthless to the Pound :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Cameltotem

Got it myself! Was no other watch I wanted than this one!! :)

 

Only problem I had was that I broke the datewheel, not sure if it was wrong from the start or if I changed it at wrong time(that's a thing) so now I have to turn the hourwheel every time I change date.

 

Other than that no problems! Not even an scratch on the watch!

 

Everyone thinks it's the real deal, rolex wearer spotted my watch from a distance and congratulated me hehe.

 

3wTzxqp.jpg

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
webbo2005

Looks sweet mate, such a beautiful watch :thumbsup:

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
javi35sev

I have it on white dial because the AR crystal is not enought, then on white dial it´s like more gen crystal than on blue or black dial.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Peter0516

great watch but hope they can get rid of the sunkin date wheel in newer reps!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
JSJ
great watch but hope they can get rid of the sunkin date wheel in newer reps!

With these it's fundamental to the construction. Did you read why?

 

If you want a normal datewheel depth, the Navitimer World is the one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Ishmael

Yes indeed gorgeous watch. Had the SS for a bit and sold it… thought I'd try out some rose gold for a change...

 

0596B371-C9AC-4C77-BB00-E813D2DDB5A1_zpsf1djodxx.jpg

 

Next up, the Navi World GMT blue dial. Course I'll have to use two wrists to wear it ;)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
JSJ
Yes indeed gorgeous watch. Had the SS for a bit and sold it… thought I'd try out some rose gold for a change...

 

0596B371-C9AC-4C77-BB00-E813D2DDB5A1_zpsf1djodxx.jpg

 

Next up, the Navi World GMT blue dial. Course I'll have to use two wrists to wear it ;)

Yes yes yes Ish! The World is the one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
northantsrich

love the watch but the sunken date wheel kills it for me. \As soon as they fix that i am getting one.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  

×