My great-grandfathers Breitling Cadette Chronograph 1185

[philhendrix]

Hi everybody,

I recently received my great-grandfathers Breitling Cadette 1185 which was gifted to him in the 1950s for his 70th birthday.

Its in pretty good shape and wears very comfortable! I do plan on changing the bracelet for a leather strap which should give the old bracelet a well deserved rest and make the watch look a bit more up to date.

The watch will at some point need some restoration, but I think it looks really modern for a 1950s watch and I love the design - what do you guys think?

Best wishes to you all!

[Rebel]

That's very nice.

[winst]

Lovely family heirloom to have.

[Shadow Play]

I think you’re 100% right. A nice leather strap and that watch will look superb. Great to have such a nice story behind it as well.

[Easy E]

Originally Posted by winst

Lovely family heirloom to have.

This

Originally Posted by Shadow Play

I think you’re 100% right. A nice leather strap and that watch will look superb. Great to have such a nice story behind it as well.

And this.

Great watch, great story.

[RW16610]

Wow, I really enjoy stories like these. Fantastic watch that I'm certain you'll cherish. Also serves as a reminder regarding the longevity of mechanical watches. Thanks for sharing!

[philhendrix]

Thank you for all the lovely comments!

Do you guys have any experience with Breitling servicing their vintage watches? I'd hate for this watch to return new but without some of its original parts? I was considering going to an independent watchmaker for this restoration.

Regards

[RW16610]

I've never had to look into Breitling servicing anything like this, however, in your shoes I would thoroughly explore independent watch makers.

One thing I always wanted was to send a watch into someone who makes YouTube videos of servicing the piece. Videos or not, an independent seems like the best bet here in my opinion but maybe there's something I don't know about Breitling's official service network and vintage watches.

[philhendrix]

Originally Posted by RW16610

I've never had to look into Breitling servicing anything like this, however, in your shoes I would thoroughly explore independent watch makers.

One thing I always wanted was to send a watch into someone who makes YouTube videos of servicing the piece. Videos or not, an independent seems like the best bet here in my opinion but maybe there's something I don't know about Breitling's official service network and vintage watches.

I changed on a light brown/greyish strap which I think really brings out the watches features.

I agree with you, I will probably go for an independent watchmaker - Breitling will no doubt do a good job at restoring the watch, but I will run the danger of having too many parts replaced and left with a different factory watch.

[jnelson3097]

You might want to reach out to WatchFred since he's probably the leading expert on vintage Breitlings and see what he recommends. I know he's on here but not very active otherwise I know he's on instagram.

[RW16610]

Originally Posted by philhendrix

I changed on a light brown/greyish strap which I think really brings out the watches features.

I agree with you, I will probably go for an independent watchmaker - Breitling will no doubt do a good job at restoring the watch, but I will run the danger of having too many parts replaced and left with a different factory watch.

Please share pictures when you can! Sounds like a nice strap combination. It'll also be great to see before and after shots once it's back from being serviced.

Good call there, and my thoughts were along those likes too. I've seen this happen for vintage watches of various brands, Omega especially. Keeping things as original as can be, especially with the sentimental value here, is well worth pursuing.

[Kinnakeet]

Originally Posted by philhendrix

Thank you for all the lovely comments!

Do you guys have any experience with Breitling servicing their vintage watches? I'd hate for this watch to return new but without some of its original parts? I was considering going to an independent watchmaker for this restoration.

Regards

I have a 1945 moon phase chrono in RG and it was sent to Breitling about a year ago. They wouldn’t work on it.

That’s a very nice watch you have. Congratulations.

[philhendrix]

Originally Posted by jnelson3097

You might want to reach out to WatchFred since he's probably the leading expert on vintage Breitlings and see what he recommends. I know he's on here but not very active otherwise I know he's on instagram.

Good idea, I will reach out to him!

I saw a couple of 1185s online, but nothing quite like the one I have here. I was thinking that its possible that Breitling made boutique editions for some jewelers they worked with. That's why they all looked a bit different.

Originally Posted by RW16610

Please share pictures when you can! Sounds like a nice strap combination. It'll also be great to see before and after shots once it's back from being serviced.

Good call there, and my thoughts were along those likes too. I've seen this happen for vintage watches of various brands, Omega especially. Keeping things as original as can be, especially with the sentimental value here, is well worth pursuing.

I've added two pictures of what it looked like after the strap change. No restoration done yet but I think it looks cool already. I will post again when it's had a cleanup.

Originally Posted by Kinnakeet

I have a 1945 moon phase chrono in RG and it was sent to Breitling about a year ago. They wouldn’t work on it.

That’s a very nice watch you have. Congratulations.

I'd be very curious to see your watch. The more I researched about my watch, the more I started to appreciate vintage Breitling watches. They are really cool and sometimes even ahead of their time design wise.

[philhendrix]

Here are two images of the watch after I did a quick strap change.

I had two other straps available, one alligator black and the other an alligator (shiny) brown, both very bright due to the texture and shine and I felt that they took away the attention from the watch itself. I ended up choosing the most subtle strap I got which would leave the center stage to the colours of the watch itself.

Will post more pictures once it's had a cleanup.

[HERITAGE82]

Absolutely stunning & incredible condition. Looks like you bought it yesterday that grey strap!

[RW16610]

Wow, that strap choice definitely creates a stunning combination. With this watch you'll have many options, all of which will be striking. Keep the images coming!

[philhendrix]

Originally Posted by HERITAGE82

Absolutely stunning & incredible condition. Looks like you bought it yesterday that grey strap!

Thank you!! The strap is new, the watch came on a gold bracelet (see image in initial post) which I replaced to make the watch slightly more wearable in day to day life.

Originally Posted by RW16610

Wow, that strap choice definitely creates a stunning combination. With this watch you'll have many options, all of which will be striking. Keep the images coming!

Thank you, will do!

[Beo3]

Beautiful watch and great back story to go with it.

[Nihon_Ni]

That's really a great family heirloom! Congrats on giving it new life.

[1William]

Very nice.

[Beep Beep]

I like this kind of story and watch.

Thank you for sharing.

[Chewbacca]

Beauty. Your great grandfather had taste.

[philhendrix]

Originally Posted by Beo3

Beautiful watch and great back story to go with it.

Originally Posted by Nihon_Ni

That's really a great family heirloom! Congrats on giving it new life.

Originally Posted by 1William

Very nice.

Originally Posted by Beep Beep

I like this kind of story and watch.

Thank you for sharing.

Originally Posted by Chewbacca

Beauty. Your great grandfather had taste.

Thank you guys!

[HERITAGE82]

Originally Posted by philhendrix

Thank you!! The strap is new, the watch came on a gold bracelet (see image in initial post) which I replaced to make the watch slightly more wearable in day to day life.

My statement was missing the word "that".

Meant to say the watch looks like it was purchased yesterday with THAT strap. lol

Meaning that its a style that has come back around to being being modern looking especially on the grey strap.

[WatchmeTimepiece]

What a clean, classic look.

[hdrazor251]

What an excellent way to honor your great-grandfather. Enjoy it!!

[Langwhang]

I absolutely love this. To be fair, not a fan of the original bracelet, but that leather strap really makes the watch and it just looks incredible.
Your grandfather had great taste. You've taken a family heirloom and sympathetically modernised it with nothing more than the right strap while keeping the vintage look.
That's class.
Hopefully our kids and grandkids feel the same when they inherit our ones.

[philhendrix]

Hi guys!

Changing things up a bit with a new brown/cognac colored alligator strap. I still love wearing this watch and have immense respect for it. It also keeps time very well and I've found plenty of use for its chronograph function at work.

Best wishes to you all!

[Langwhang]

Just stunning.
It looks fantastic and even better with this strap.

[RW16610]

Another winning combination, very nice! That brown Alligator strap is ideal for the Gold tone. Glad to hear you're enjoying the chronograph complication.