Early 1970s ear Bretton 104, marketed in the US as a Martin Bretton 104 just arrived today. Great looking little reel in good condition, removed a little excess grease and relubed it, spins freely and is ready to use.
Really good-looking reel. Occasionally seen, but not very often.
Frank
Thanks Frank! It really is clean, almost no paint loss, just some scuffs on the spool cup.
I am assuming a 104 = 1000 size i.e. Cardinal 3,Penn 716,DQ 110,Mitchell 308? Is there a 204,304,& so on...
The model doesn't necessarily correspond with size...and to be frank I am a little puzzled about how Bretton's model numbering works. It is about the size of a DQ 110 or Alcedo Micron.
What kind of drag washer system does it have?
I dunno, I'm at the house in Florida this week, I'll be back in Ohio a week from today, and I'll look then.
I have another 104 coming, not quite sure what I'm going to do with it but I like having multiples of the same reel so I can convert one into a parts donor if push comes to shove.
Bretton model numbers have no relevance to their size, they're just models numbers.
David I have never heard of some of the reels you have been finding.If you find schematics for them & have time to post them,Just curious if it has a ball bearing?
Turns out I DIDN'T buy the 104, the emblem was missing and I wound up with an 804SR that should be arriving in a day or two. I knew a Bretton was coming, just had the wrong one in my mind. I'll throw some pics up when it arrives.
Quote from: jgp12000 on January 29, 2026, 12:21:16 PMDavid I have never heard of some of the reels you have been finding.If you find schematics for them & have time to post them,Just curious if it has a ball bearing?
Here are some specs from an advertisement that I think is from Feb 1973 Fishing Facts magazine
Bretton was one of the larger reel manufactures in France. At one point they claimed they were only second to Mitchell in total reel sales. They also made reels for Ocean City and Martin.
In the early '80s manufacturing was moved to Taiwan and Japan, similar to a lot of other reel makers. They ended up packing it in in 1992.
The Bretton story sounds like so many others: successful tackle manufacturer sees change a comin' and takes the path of offshore production to cut costs (and, presumably, to try and stay alive.), only to fail a few years later. I guess there were a few that stuck it out at "home" (or, came back after their overseas experiment) and made it work, but looking back now, that probably wouldn't have worked for too many either (or would it?).
Frank
Quote from: happyhooker on February 14, 2026, 02:00:11 AMThe Bretton story sounds like so many others: successful tackle manufacturer sees change a comin' and takes the path of offshore production to cut costs (and, presumably, to try and stay alive.), only to fail a few years later. I guess there were a few that stuck it out at "home" (or, came back after their overseas experiment) and made it work, but looking back now, that probably wouldn't have worked for too many either (or would it?).
Frank
Frank, in my estimation people have been conditioned to shop price first, not quality, over the last couple of decades. My parents had a couch that they bought in 1965 as newlyweds, had it reupholstered a couple of times, replaced foam a couple of times, had that thing for 50 years. Try that with most modern furniture. Rear wheel drive Volvos used to run 500,000 miles, try that with a new one. Everything is disposable.
People also like the newest, and the greatest. Whatever the "hot" brand happens to be.
In the case of fishing reel manufacturers, when you can walk into WalMart and buy a rod and reel combo for $29 on sale, it's pretty tempting to most people. SOME people will still buy a Van Stahl or something elaborate, but the whole concept of buying a reel, servicing it and using it the rest of your life is a foreign concept to most people. My mother had a Gruen watch she got for graduation in the 50s, still has it serviced every 5 years and wears it. I wear a $39 Timex. It's 4 years old and when the battery dies, I'll pitch it and buy another. That's the way of the world, unfortunately.
Inside the closets of vacation rentals here, people can sometimes find one of the described combo-rigs probably from Walmart. Folks ain't gonna take 'em back on the plane with them. Same for cheap snorkeling gear. As about as good as use for stuff like that as there is. The rest is brought to the 2nd-hand store, "Habitat for Humanity" by ethical vacationers.
I was trolling ebay a little while ago, looking for another smaller reel and stumbled on yet another Martin Bretton 104, this one with box and 2 extra spools, for relatively little money, so it is going to follow me home.