Orbita Breguet Story

In late 2005, Breguet-USA provided us with a defective Breguet winder, their Model No. EC.5001.BS. They asked us to examine the unit and analyze the reason for the failure. This single head winder, which carried an extravagant list price of $1800.00, is produced for Breguet by a Swiss supplier although the wood case itself is Italian made. The winder is either sold as an accessory by Breguet or used promotionally as a “gift-with-purchase”of a Breguet watch.

Upon initial examination at our factory, we were surprised to find that no provision had ever been made to access the interior in the event that repairs were needed. We determined it would be necessary to destroy the pretty Burl wood case in order to examine the internal construction. When so informed, Breguet USA did authorize us to do so. As it turned out, the Swiss-made gear motor had failed. In the course of examining the winder, we found that inserting or replacing the two batteries was extremely difficult, actually requiring a tool, and discovered several other technical deficiencies as well. All in all, the Breguet unit, while attractive, left much to be desired from a technology and engineering point of view.

Sensing an opportunity to do business with Breguet, we decided to speculate and build a “better mousetrap.” We knew we could do so at a very reasonable price. We would replicate the physical appearance but do a finer internal design to yield an easily repairable unit with easy battery installation and a host of other improvements. So, we invested on our own to build molds, develop new software which would provide an improved watch winding program, and designed a totally new printed circuit board. We also decided to add a much needed low battery signal LED. All in all, we thought it a great investment as we were sure that when they saw our final product, orders from Breguet-USA, and maybe even Breguet-Switzerland, would be forthcoming.

You can imagine our surprise and disappointment when we subsequently learned from Breguet-USA that, while our pricing was great and the final design was great, neither really mattered. Apparently, Mr. Nicholas Hayek, the Chairman of Breguet would have nothing to do with it. He personally turned “thumbs-down” on the project when he learned about it…..solely because our admittedly superior Orbita unit wasn’t being made in Switzerland. Particularly upsetting to us was the fact that over 50% of Breguet’s watch sales are actually made in the USA. It didn’t seem very much like globalization was at work with Breguet management.

Well, having already made the investment and knowing that we had developed a better product at a much better price, we decided to launch this new winder as an ORBITA product. We named this new winder the Privée RX winder and decided to limit sales only to high-end retail jewelers. We will suggest a list price of $ 595.00 . We also decided to offer a choice of three different finishes; the original Breguet finish of matte Burl, a glossy Macassar, and a very attractive glossy Mappa.

Perhaps one day Breguet will “rethink” their decision to exclude USA-made watch accessories. In the meantime, their myopia is your opportunity to obtain a fine winder at our cost.