Sell a Breitling Watch

No pressure to begin with

Asking commits you to nothing. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your Breitling gets you a quick indicative figure and a straight answer to any question. Whether you post anything is your call, made later.

GoldPaid has no high-street branches. It is postal-only and UK-wide, so you never have to travel.

What we buy, and why a Breitling starts with a photo

Breitling is unusual among the names on our watch pages because most of its output is steel. That changes the arithmetic. A solid gold Breitling, and they exist in every decade from the 1940s Premier and Chronomat to modern K-prefix references, is valued for its precious-metal content as well as its worth as a watch. A steel or titanium Breitling has no metal value underneath it at all, so it is assessed purely as a timepiece. Nobody can settle which route applies, or what the watch is, by eye. Send a photo of the dial, the case back and the clasp on WhatsApp before posting anything and you will get an honest steer at no cost.

• Solid gold Breitlings, vintage and modern, cased in 18ct yellow, rose or white gold
• Vintage Navitimer, Chronomat, Top Time, Premier and Datora models
• Two-tone steel-and-gold Chronomats, Crosswinds and Windriders
• Steel Navitimers, Superoceans, Avengers, Colts and Chronomats
• Titanium Aerospace and Emergency models
• Non-running, water-damaged and part-complete Breitlings
• Breitling-signed bracelets, clasps and buckles, even without the watch

Gold, two-tone, plated or steel: reading the case back

Weight and colour will not tell you what a Breitling case is made of. The markings will, and on most models made from the mid-1990s onwards the reference number itself is the quickest guide, because its first letter indicates the case metal.

The letter system is a general guide rather than a guarantee, and vintage Breitlings do not follow it at all: a 1960s Navitimer is simply reference 806, and an early Chronomat carries 769 with the patent number 217012 on the case. For those you read the case marks the old way, and a British-hallmarked gold case can be dated precisely from its marks. The gold hallmark guide shows how. The gold riders and bezel on a two-tone Chronomat are real gold, but they weigh a gram or two between them, so a two-tone Breitling is always mostly a watch, not metal.

When a Breitling is worth far more than its metal

Almost always. Even a solid 18ct Navitimer holds more value in what it is than in what it weighs, and a steel Breitling is worth whatever the second-hand watch market says and nothing as scrap. That is why every Breitling here is assessed as a watch first, and why a gold one is never quoted at melt by default. What moves the figure:

• The model and reference. A vintage Navitimer 806 or an early Chronomat sits in a different bracket from a 1990s Colt, and gold versions of either are scarce.
• An original dial. Redialled vintage Breitlings are common and worth much less. Honest ageing on an original dial is not a fault.
• The slide-rule bezel. A Navitimer bezel that turns smoothly with its beaded rim intact matters; a seized or replaced bezel shows.
• An unpolished case. Crisp lugs and original brushing carry money that polishing removes permanently.
• Box, papers and service history. Not required, but worth mentioning in your first message and worth sending together.

Where a Breitling would plainly do better with a specialist watch dealer or at auction, we say so and point you there, even though it means we do not buy it. Do not polish the case or have the dial refinished before selling. Neither can be undone.

Counterfeits, and what an XRF assay can and cannot prove

Breitling is one of the most heavily counterfeited watch brands in the world, and replicas of the Navitimer and the Bentley models are everywhere, including in good-faith inheritances. Be clear about what testing settles. An XRF assay proves what a case is made of: it can confirm a case is solid 18ct gold, or show that a "gold" Breitling is plated base metal, which answers the question by itself, since fakes are almost never precious metal. What an assay cannot do is prove a genuine-metal watch is a genuine Breitling. You will get an honest opinion from the photographs and again with the watch in hand, and if something does not look right we say so plainly and return the watch free of charge. Nobody is accused of anything.

The full process, start to finish

1. Ask, then send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with a few clear photos of your Breitling watches. Lay items flat, in daylight if you can, and include any hallmarks or carat stamps in shot. We reply with a quick indicative figure and answer anything you want to ask. There is no charge and no obligation.
2. Request the prepaid label. When you are ready, we email a free Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label, tracked and signed for. No printer is needed: ask for a QR code and the Post Office counter prints it for you.
3. Pack and post, tracked. Wrap items in any padded envelope or a small box and attach the label. Hand the parcel in over the Post Office counter so you get a receipt with the tracking number. Keep that receipt. There is no deadline.
4. We weigh, test and value. On arrival each item is weighed and tested by XRF spectrometry to confirm purity. You receive a written, itemised offer showing the weight, the purity and the figure for each item, usually on the working day your parcel arrives.
5. Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer via Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for post. The choice is entirely yours, and you do not need to give a reason.

New to posting valuables? Read the flagship guide on selling gold by post in the UK for a fuller walk-through of every step.

Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested before the written offer is prepared.

Where the figure comes from

GoldPaid buys watches as timepieces, not only for their metal, so the maker, model and condition count as well as any gold or silver in the case. Any precious-metal case is weighed and XRF-tested, and the written offer shows the figure for each watch before you decide anything.

A Breitling sold for its metal has the solid gold case weighed and XRF-assayed, with the movement, glass, dial, crown, pushers and any steel or plated parts excluded from the figure. Plated and two-tone cases hold little recoverable gold. A Breitling with standalone value as a watch, which is the usual case, is assessed against model, reference, dial originality, bezel and case condition and completeness, and where the watch is worth more than its metal that is flagged rather than absorbed.

One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Any gold or silver jewellery in it is priced on the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market, with our margin already inside the figure.

Postage, tracking and cover

Every parcel uses Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, tracked from the counter to our door and signed for on arrival. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. For anything you think is worth more, contact us first and we split it across more than one prepaid label rather than send it in one parcel. The detail sits on postage and cover and is it safe to post gold?. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.

What GoldPaid can and cannot do with a Breitling

• We can weigh and XRF-assay a solid gold case and put a written, itemised figure against the metal.
• We can assess a Breitling as a watch, steel and titanium models included, and make a no-obligation written offer.
• We can tell you plainly when a watch belongs with a specialist dealer or at auction rather than with us.
• We cannot issue an authenticity certificate. Only Breitling does that, through its own service network.
• We cannot service, repair or restore a watch, and would not advise having one serviced before selling.
• We cannot give a firm figure before inspection. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
• We cannot buy a watch without clear ownership. Photographic ID and a signed confirmation that the watch is yours to sell are required, we record the serial number of every branded watch that arrives, and where ownership cannot be established the watch is returned rather than bought.

GoldPaid is not affiliated with, authorised by or an agent of Breitling SA, and is neither a Breitling dealer nor a Breitling service centre. The Breitling name is used on this page only to describe the watches customers ask us about.

What to include when you post a Breitling

• The complete watch, movement, dial, hands, bezel, case back and crown. Do not open it and do not remove the bracelet.
• The bracelet or strap, even a worn one. A Breitling-signed clasp carries value of its own.
• Box, papers, chronometer certificate and any service records, wrapped separately from the watch.
• A note with your name, address and phone number, plus a list of the contents, so the itemised offer stays matched to your items.
• Sensible packing, the watch in soft cloth inside a small rigid box, padded within the outer parcel. No need to wind or set it.

Photograph everything before you seal the parcel. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, so tell us beforehand if you believe the watch is worth more than that.

If you decide not to sell

There is never any obligation to accept. If the offer is not for you, simply decline, and we return everything free of charge by tracked, signed-for post, with no fee and no follow-up pressure. The full return process is on what happens if I decline the offer.

The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.

Who this helps

This suits people who have come into a Breitling through an estate or a house clearance, anybody with one sitting unworn in a drawer, and people with a stopped or damaged Breitling they have assumed is worth nothing. Executors needing a written, documented figure for estate paperwork should also see probate and inheritance. The photo-first check exists so that the watch route and the metal route are weighed properly before anybody posts anything.

Being paid

If you accept, we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance, directly to your bank account. It is the last step, and a simple one.

What backs the offer up

• XRF spectrometry on every item, not a counter estimate
• A written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything
• Free tracked postage in, free tracked return out
• No countdowns, no pressure, no fabricated reviews
• An owner-run business whose founder, Rocco Clayfield, answers questions himself

Common questions