Stylish, entirely original Breitling Cadette vintage watch, 1950s. VGC. GWO.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Stylish, entirely original Breitling Cadette vintage watch, 1950s. VGC. GWO. :
$385.98

BreitlingCadette, 1950s

A handsome and stylish watch

MAY18th: THIS ITEM IS RELISTED: First of all, if you had been watching this item, please accept my apologies. I ended the listing early in order to add some more information about aproblem with the watch that I had not mentioned in the original description. I did notomit this problem originally to mislead buyers. I have been running the watch all week to make sure it is OK and have come to think the problem is more of a disadvantage than I realised.I could not just add information to the listing as it already had offers and the system does not allow sellers to add information once offers have been received. The original description follows. I have added a note about the additional problem to the paragraph headed\"Problems\" at the end of the listing. Please make sure that you read this paragraph. I have also halved the start price. Once again,my apologiesif you were already watching the listing:

I know that the Breitling modelname “Cadette” is more familiarly associated with a chronograph from thisperiod but I think the name was used across a range of Breitling watches withsimilarly shaped cases. This particular example is a standard men’s wristwatch. As you can see, it is a very handsome watch indeed. I believe that the Cadetterange was made from around 1950 to 1959.

I have owned this watch forover ten years. I bought it originally at a local fleamarket as in need of repair. It was actually workingwhen I bought it but it was prone to stopping intermittently. I had themovement professionally cleaned and lubricated, and the watch has run perfectlyever since. I guess I’ve worn it no more than thirty times in the time that I havehad it.

As you can see, the watchhas an off-white dial with baton numerals and a subsidiary secondhand. The dial is pretty clean given that the watch is over 60 years old. The design of the dial is entirely of its period - this would have been avery stylish and “modern” watch when it was originally bought.The watchhas aseventeen jewel, Breitling-signed movement which is runningas it should. The watch keeps good time.

The case is gold-plated.When I bought the watch, the gold plating was peeling in a couple of places onthe bezel, so I had the whole case professionally re-plated. I can’t remembernow what thickness the gold-plating is but I remember I opted for the thickestplating that the electroplating company offered and they the company assured me that that it was a good dealthicker that the original plating. The plating is still in excellent conditionas you can see. When I wear this watch, most people who ask me about it assumethat it is gold. The snap-on case-back is stainless steel,

The watch is fitted to avery good quality, Rotary brand leather strap. The strap has lots of wear leftin it. The crystal (watch glass) does have some scratches but remains very clear.The dial has a few minor marks. When I first got the watch, I touched up two small scratches; one between the \"8\" marker and the \"9\" marker andthe otherbetween the \"6\" and the \"7\". These are not very noticeable but you should be able to make them out in the images above. Please bear in mind that the images above arevery muchlarger than life size.

PROBLEMS.

1. The watch is very difficult to wind. This is not because there is any problem with the winding mechanism or the mainspring. It is simply because the knurled edges of the winding crown have worn completely smooth and it is very difficult to grip. I have to holdthe watchto my ear so that I can hear it winding. If I don\'t do that, I don\'t know whether my fingers are just slipping round the outside of the winding crown or not. I am100% certain that this problem is caused by the wear to the winding crown only. I have a few spare winding crowns at home but unfortunately none of them fit this watch properly. One does fit well enough to experiment with however. That crown winds the watch easily. In other words, the watch just needs a new winding crown. This is ajob that takes a matter of minutesand is very inexpensive. It is just necessary to find a watchmender who has enough reclaimed crowns to find one that fits.

2. As mentioned at 1 above,apart from the problem with the worn winding crown, the watch winds perfectlybut when you pull out the crown to re-set the hands, the crown will not always stay in the “out” or “up” position.This is an intermittent fault and is not any kind of problem. It just meansthat you have to consciously hold the winding crown in the “up” position as youre-set the hands. The watch was like this when I bought it. When I had itserviced, I askedmy localwatch-mender to rectify the fault but he was not able todo so. Apparently, there is a tiny spring in the crown mechanism that is still in placebut is rather worn. He said it would have taken onlya short timeto fix but theexact spring is no longer available and unfortunately he did not have a springthat fitted in his reclaimed spares stock. This fault does not interfere with using the watch at all butit bothers you, it maywell be that your own favoured watch-mender could put it right for you quicklyand inexpensively if he happened to havethe correct size spring to hand.

As you can see the watch isa large size. It measures 40mm from lug to lug and 35mm from top to bottom(excluding the winding crown).

UKPostage and packing: £5.00

Internationalpostage and packing:Postage charges to international destinations are given below.

All postage pricesquoted (UK and international) aremaximum charges. If postage and packing costs less than theseestimates, I will refundthe difference after posting (subject to the difference being £1.00 or more.Unless otherwise indicated, the postage prices I give in the listing are for atracked and signed-for service, as required by . If however, winning buyerswould prefer cheaper options, I am always happy to help with that if I can.Please contact me for a quote.

I hope this description hasgiven you enough to go on but should you require any further information, ormore images, please do e-mail. Pleasealso look carefully at the hi-res photos – they are part of thedescription. Thanks for your interest inthis sale and good luck if you decide to offer.

Please note: I will not respond to requeststo close the sale early regardless of the value of the offer made. Ending early is contrary to both the principleand spirit of an sale. It is also unfair to other ers who may bewatching the sale intending to offer at a later time.

Vintage breitlingbrietling. Vintage wristwatch and vintage wrist watch.