[Ravager135]

Originally Posted by Brad737

I'm a pilot, and I've tried to love Breitlings. The reason so many pilots wear them is because Breitling gives HELLACIOUS discounts for very small runs with commemorative dials. The first cost me something like $900 for a $2200-ish retail watch. I've owned 3 altogether, a Navitimer, a Blue Angel, and an Aerospace.

Navitimers are for guys who want to advertise they're pilots...typically private pilots. In 24 years of professional aviation, I've NEVER seen, nor personally had to use the E6B slide rule. The important stuff, we know how to figure in our heads. The difficult stuff is done by the FMC. As for Breitling advertising the fact that Scott Carpenter wore a Breitling on his Aurora 7 Mercury mission. They never mention the fact that Carpenter fired his retrorockets 3 seconds late. He overshot the landing area by over 250 miles. NASA thought he was dead for awhile. Soooo...

The Blue Angel I had was a BEAUTFUL watch. But I found it to be a bit delicate. It seemed like if one would look at it funny, a new ding would show up. It also didn't keep very good time. When I compared it to my Rolex GMT2, or my Speedy Pro, it just didn't fare well. Too jewelry-ish, and gained about 15 seconds a day. To add further insult to injury, my 40 year-old Rolex OP Date gains 2 seconds per day.

The one I liked the best? The Aerospace. The titanium and gold looked nice, felt like wearing nothing, and was tough as nails. It also had multiple timers. I liked that watch, but sold it to a buddy for what I paid. (One of those sick discounts...)

What this all boils down to for me is that Breitlings are gorgeous, fragile, and they really aren't known for in-house movements. If you want one to tell decent time, you need to get quartz. I'll stick to Rolex and Omega.

Very true. I was a Navy flight surgeon for a few years and luckily I got a lot of stick time at the controls of an SH-60. Breitling was big on our base and I saw a lot of pilots that I took care of wear them. I had a two tone Navitimer and I definitely got it because it looked like a pilot's watch. I never once used its slide rule even when I was in API at Pensacola. It looked cool and people noticed it. As soon as I returned to civilian medicine, I sold my Navitimer to fund a Rolex Milgauss which I later flipped for an Explorer. I really did like my Navitimer aesthetically but in the end a Rolex is just a far superior watch.