Breitling watches surprised me

I wanted to write the title 'Breitling watches disappointed me', but I changed my mind. Let me tell you what happened. Today I went to town (Maribor) to check these watches in real. We have only one AD in Maribor who sells Breitlings, it's called SloWatch. I entered the shop and the security guy immediately positioned himself near the main entrance. Wow! That's his job. It was only me and another woman in there. It was fairly small and easy to get around. I was walking around first and checked few Hugo Boss and Luis Vuitton watches, some were so ridiculously expensive (like 80.000€!), that I couldn't believe my eyes. For me a 2000€ Breitling watch is really really expensive. But 80 grand? Oh boy, no way for a watch. That's like a small house in the countryside here. Anyway. I walked around and found my way to the watch brands I like: Breitling, Omega and Tag Heuer. Wow! Amazing watches! Of course my eyes were stuck on the Breitlings. And finally, there I was, standing infront of them (check the photo above and sorry for the bad quality). I managed to snap that photo with my Nokia while I was waiting for the lady to come to me and give me the chance to try on a Breitling. Well, now we come to the part where I was disappointed. As far as I've seen, most of the Breitling watches were so small in real! Especially one of my favourites, the Chrono Colt. It really wasn't bigger than my Rolex OysterPerpetual Datejust. That was shocking to me! Even the Airwolf looked so small and plain comparing to the photos I saw online. Reality is different than images on the screen! Maybe it was the bad light or the glass that made these watches look less attarctive. I don't know. But I have to say, some were even better in real! Among those were all kinds of Chronomats, the Chrono Superocean and the Superavenger. They didn't have all models, I guess, because I haven't seen any Navitimers. And the ones in leather straps looked very good. That's why I can say some surprised me in a positive and some in a negative way. The saleswoman opened up the glass cabinet, which was locked and asked me which one I like to try on. I said Chrono Colt, but I guess I said it too quietly, so I don't know if she really heard me or if she just doesn't know all the Breitling models by names. Because she was pointing her finger and asking me: This one? This one? Finally she gave me the only Chrono Colt they had, with the white dial and the Breitling professional stainless steel bracelet. It was a little too big on my wrist, but she said they fix that for you later. So there I was, with a Breitling on my wrist and it just didn't feel the way I imagined. The dial was really so small, and the subdials were tiny. I saw some Omega watches that were way bigger and more impressive. If I'm buying a Breitling watch, I want it to be big and shiny. I guess a Super Avenger would look very good on my wrist, but not the Colt Chrono. But the Super Avenger it's too expensive! I didn't see its price, but I saw prices of other Breitlings that were varying from 3000-6000€! No way I'm paying so much for a wristwatch. Two grand was my limit before, but now I'm considering to buy a watch up to 500€. It won't be the top brand, but it won't be a simple watch either. I'm thinking about Seiko or Citizen, but I'll check some other brands as well. I guess Breitling is not within my budget now. Don't get me wrong, it's a supurb watch and I'd love to have a Breitling with a SuperQuartz movement, that makes the watch almost perfectly acurate (10sec +/- a year!). Even if I save up 2000€, I think the Chrono Colt just doesn't do it for me. Looks neat and nice and everything and it's one of the best quality watches out there, but... it just didn't overwhelm me like it should. Apart from Chrono Colt, all other Breitlings are 2500€ and above and I won't ever pay so much for a watch. Well, maybe my expectations were too high. I don't know. I guess I need to check more watches in real and compare them and then decide which one to buy. I have time. I wanna buy a good watch, because I want it to last. I'm keeping my fingers crossed to find me a nice timepiece.

[Photo by MKL, 2009]