Breitling has been building chronographs in Switzerland since 1884 and put its name to the wristwatch chronograph industry that followed. The Navitimer's circular slide rule, the Chronomat's rotating pilot bezel, and the Top Time's racing pedigree are landmarks in 20th-century horology. At Almaz Jewelry in Vienna we hold a curated selection of vintage and pre-owned Breitling references — the pieces that the brand's authorised Vienna boutique on Kärntner Straße does not carry.
Why Vintage Breitling
Three reasons collectors prefer the pre-owned market for Breitling. First, the most coveted references — early-execution Navitimers, transitional Chronomats, original Cosmonaute pieces — are simply no longer in production. Second, the chronograph movements of the 1960s and 1970s, including Venus and Valjoux calibres, have aged into an audience of their own. Third, the value curve of a well-documented vintage Breitling has consistently outperformed the contemporary-production market.
What We Look For Before a Piece Joins the Case
Originality of dial, hands, and case; movement service history; matching case and case-back reference; presence of original Breitling papers and signed box where the era supports it. Every Breitling we offer has been opened, inspected, and condition-graded by our watchmaker before listing. Pieces with redials, mismatched movements, or service-replaced parts are disclosed explicitly.
Why Almaz Vienna
For the new-production Navitimer and Chronomat, the brand's Vienna boutique is the right address. For everything earlier than the current catalogue — and for the kind of in-person comparison that lets you evaluate two examples of the same reference side by side — Almaz is the practical Vienna source. Our location at Stephansplatz, since 1991, sees collectors from across Austria and the EU; appraisal and authentication are routine.
How does Almaz authenticate a vintage Breitling? Each piece is opened by our watchmaker; we verify case reference against the catalogue era, confirm movement calibre and serial alignment, and check dial-and-hand originality against period reference material before listing.
Is service available in Vienna? Standard service work — gasket, crystal, crown — is performed in-house. Movement overhaul on collector-grade pieces is routed to authorised Swiss specialists, and the watch is returned to you with the service paper.
What is the difference between estate, vintage, and pre-owned? Estate denotes provenance from a previous owner; vintage typically refers to pieces older than 25 years; pre-owned applies to any non-new piece including recent-production references. All three describe the same underlying market.
