Breitling is one of the world’s most famous watch brands. With its rich history of producing timepieces since 1884, the brand carries some exceptional expertise and experience. They have a wide range of luxury watches that can also be seen as an investment. That’s why we were curious, Do Breitling watches hold value?

Most Breitling watches do not hold their value. It always depends on the model whether a watch retains its value. Expect a value drop of about 10% to 40% after leaving the Breitling boutique for most models. Some exceptions like their odd limited edition models could hold their value.

We just gave you a general answer to the question. But we were also curious about the specific models that do retain their value and how much they retain their value. We have further researched this topic in the following paragraphs.

Why most Breitling watches do not hold value

Breitling watches are seen as one of the most luxurious and exclusive watch brands available. Although they have this luxurious status, most models still tend to lose significant amounts of their value after leaving the boutique, so how come?

The truth is that watches are not as great of investments as people might think. The watches that are good investments usually need decades to regain their value or appreciate in value. These watches are usually the most elite brands like Rolex or Patek Phillipe. The fact is that these watches usually have a lower supply compared to incredible demand.

The supply and demand of a specific model is a big indicator of whether a watch will hold its value or eventually depreciate in value. Next to the supply and demand, there are other factors like exceptional rarity, remarkable provenance, or the condition of the piece that determines the value at the time of resale.

A great example when it comes to Breitling is the Breitling Emergency Orbiter 3. This watch carries exceptional rarity with only 1999 models made. This causes the demand to be higher than the supply and therefore we see a positive trend in the price appreciation over time.

Unfortunately, most Breitling watches tend to fall under the category of depreciating over time due to there, for example, mass production rate or unnecessary provenance. Therefore, depending on the model, a value drop anywhere between 10%-40% is expected. You can expect an average value drop of about 30% when buying your Breitling watch.

Do Breitling Watches Hold Value

Which Breitling watches do hold their value

Although most Breitling watches don’t tend the appreciate over time. They actually have some models that have proven to appreciate or at least hold their value significantly compared to their competitors. We are talking about some of the following models:

  • Breitling Emergency Orbiter 3
  • Breitling Avenger II GMT
  • Breitling Transocean
  • Breitling Colt
  • Breitling Navimeter

These are just some examples of the watches that have proven over the years that they can hold their value relatively well. Although not all of these models will always appreciate over time, they do hold significant value. We researched all of these models, and why they are so popular amongst watch enthusiasts.

Breitling Emergency Orbiter 3

It’s not for nothing that we put this model at the top when we talk about potential Breitling investments. Because this model is very popular amongst watch collectors as it is known to appreciate over time pretty significantly compared to the rest of the brand’s models.

This mainly comes down to the incredible demand compared to its very low supply. In fact, it is known that there are only 1999 of these models made in the history of the Breitling Emergency Orbiter 3. You can describe this watch as an oversized analog-digital quartz watch which is interesting for watch enthusiasts due to its heritage and history in the hot air balloon industry.

For these reasons, this might be the only Breitling watch model that really tends to not only hold its value over time but also appreciates in value. So, for investors, we recommend taking a further look into this specific model.

Breitling Avenger II GMT

Although the following Breitling models are not as good investments. They have proven to hold their value relatively well over the years. One of them is the Breitling Avenger II GMT. Which is one of Breitling’s generic steel models that sets itself apart with a singular piece of laser engraved steel.

Although this model does seem to depreciate in value, it does hold its value pretty well. If we pull up the numbers, you can expect a value drop of about 15%-20%, which is a very acceptable depreciation after wearing it for a long time.

Breitling Transocean

Another popular Breitling model is the Breitling Transocean. Which is one of Breitling’s sought-after watches that are also popular for keeping significant value. It is a popular dress watch and has a great value for what you pay.

With their high quality and COSC-certified movements. You can expect longevity that is significant and will keep its quality over the years. This watch is available for around $1500 USD and will depreciate around 15%-25% of its value over the years when kept in good condition.

Breitling Colt

The Breitling Colt is a watch that is popular for its military roots and also one that will hold considerable parts of its purchase price when reselling. This model is also known to hold its value due to a higher demand than the actual supply.

These Breitling Colt watches that were bought before the 00s are likely to have increased in value by 180%. Coming from $1000 USD in the 90s demanding up to $3000 USD. Although this is only for the people that bought the model back in the day.

Modern Colt watches tend to not really depreciate in value. They might be expected to have a value drop of around 15%-20%.

Breitling Navitimer

Breitling Navitimer is the last but not the least one of the possible investments that Breitling has in their assortment. This watch is popular for being in the pilot’s industry and became famous because of it. Just because of its value retention it also became popular amongst watch enthusiasts.

With a price of around $6000 USD for a used Breitling Navitimer, it has proven to hold its value relatively well over the years compared to the other Breitling models.

How much do Breitling watches hold value

When comparing all the statistics, we can pull a conclusion out of all the numbers that you can expect an average value drop of around 30% after your Breitling watch leaves the boutique.

To clarify, this is an average. If you were to ask the question literally, do Breitling watches hold value, that would be an average answer. On average, Breitling watches do not hold their value and will depreciate around 30% over time, depending on the model. There are specific models that we talked about that could be exceptions.

Are Breitling watches considered luxury

Luxury watches could be a good indicator of possible investment for your timepiece. Luxury watches are special watches that have characteristics that separate them from normal fashion watches. If you are looking to invest in a watch or looking for a watch that holds its value, it is important that you pay attention to luxury watches.

As we mentioned, luxury watches have a few characteristics that separate them from the rest. We have done research in several of our articles to find out what exactly those characteristics are:

  • The brand name
  • Materials
  • Is it Hand made
  • Price-tag

It is very well known that Breitling offers its products with high-end materials and in-house movements. With its high brand awareness, and by using its own materials, and handmade timepieces. They not only respond to the physical aspect but also the mental aspect with their products. Its price range can also be distinguished from normal fashion watches and therefore, this watch can be considered a real luxury watch.

To check out more on this topic, we actually have an entire article on if Breitling is considered a luxury watch, and why. It could be very helpful when looking for your first luxury watch or looking for your first potential investment in a watch. You can check out the article over here.

Do Breitling watches just hold value or are they a good investment

Some people might be coming to this article to find out whether Breitling might be a nice brand to invest in so that they can get a nice resell later on. We have listed everything in this article to see whether Breitling retains its value, and which models actually do. But is Breitling a good investment?

Breitling watches are not great investments. With average depreciation percentages of about 30% in the first few years, you can expect a significant depreciation in value. However, Breitling is one of the few brands that carry a few models that could be good investments.

Whether a watch holds its value or is actually a good investment is quite different. Holding value well just means that the watch less quickly loses its value than the average watch after leaving the boutique. Good investments mean that you can actually end up with a profit for your watch.

The fact is that most watches are not great investments. This is due to the fact that it often takes a very long time before they get back to holding value or before they exceed their initial purchase value. If you are looking to invest in a watch you should be best off taking a look at the cream of the crop, Rolex or Patek Phillipe.

Furthermore, there are only very few other brands that are really a good investment. Although it is true that there are really specific models from other brands that can also be good investments. We always recommend researching a specific model for investments, and not the brand.

What kind of person wears Breitling watches

If you are looking to resell one or more of your Breitling timepieces after a few years. It could be good to know what kind of person to look for. If you have been keeping your Breitling watch for years and it has actually proven to hold its value. This could be a great question.

We usually see Breitling watches being worn by people who are hard workers and have adventurous careers where they are seen. Think about people like professional athletes, entrepreneurs, or soldiers in the army. That’s something that could be described as a tough profession.

If your watch actually held its value and you are looking for a nice resell on your watch. You can look for people with these characteristics.

Are Breitling watches still popular

When you actually found out that Breitling watches tended to hold their value over the last few years. You might want to know if this will keep happening in the coming few years. The popularity of a brand could depreciate. Because if you are looking for a Breilting that holds its value, you might need to wait several decades for it to hold value or appreciate.

The fact is that Breitling is one of the world’s most famous and prestigious watch brands. It is amongst the most popular and highest-rank watch brands in the world. With their new innovations and highest quality materials, this upward trend of popularity is not going to go down anytime soon.

Watches are not only something to tell the time but also have a mental and emotional value that people always want to experience. So, you don’t have to worry about these watches becoming less popular. But you don’t have to worry about the brand either, as it is one of the largest and most experienced in the whole industry.

If you are looking at more articles on several watch queries, you can check out our website over here. We have a lot of questions answered about the different watch queries and different watch brands like Breitling, Seiko, Rolex, Tissot, Omega, and many more.


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