One of our favourite vintage chronographs, it is near impossible to not fall in love with the Breitling Navitimer! The slightly later variation of the Navitimer (the very first examples came with an all-black dial), the white subsidiary dials and white, outer ring, tachymeter scale make for a more visible and easy read. Full chronograph functions and chronograph flyback are controlled by the pushers at 2 and 4 o'clock. The lume in the Arabic 12 o'clock and baton markers have aged, giving no doubt to the originality of the dial.
The stainless steel case is an impressive 41mm, but lets face it, there is a lot going on underneath the dial. We particularly love the coin-edged bezel of a Navitimer and the way the case still gives you a full view of the dial - very few of those 41mm are taken up with casework, giving you optimum visibility. Inside is the Venus caliber 178, fully serviced by us and running strongly. We've paired this beauty on a brown leather racing strap to keep it in the sporty category, but with a face like that it can wear anything.
Breitling was established in 1884 by Leon Breitling in the Swiss Jura Mountains. In 1915 Gaston Breitling introduced a pusher at 2 o’clock to start, stop and reset the chronograph. Leon later moved the reset to a pusher at 4 o’clock. During 1939 Breitling shipped a huge quantity of chronographs to the Royal Air Force.
During the war with Germany surrounding Switzerland Leon and some friends created a makeshift runway near their factory. Planes would use the car's headlights as a guide to land. Once on the ground, they were quickly loaded, taking off before the Germans knew what's going on.
In the early 1950s, Breitling collaborated with the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) in order to make the slide rule of its Chronomat even more relevant to pilots. The end result, the Navitimer, was a well-known watch and is now highly collectable. Sean Connery wore this watch in Thunderball only a year after the watch had started being produced! The Navitimer was also in direct competition with the Omega Speedmaster Moon Watch and NASA actually tested them both for the moon landing. The Navitimer is like a wrist computer and it can be used for various calculations including flight plan, miles per hour and fuel consumption, which made it the perfect watch for pilots.
In 1969 Breitling collaborated with Heuer, Burne, and Dubois-Depraz on a top-secret project called Project 99. Together they developed one of the first self-winding chronograph movements. Breitling stands for high precision, outstanding performance, and functionality. During the early days of space exploration, Lt. Commander Scott Carpenter went around the earth three times whilst wearing a modified Navitimer. In 2017 they were sold to CVC Capital Partners, Europe's largest private equity firm.
This watch comes fully serviced by our on-site workshop and with a 12 month, non-waterproof service cover.
What we think
A stunning Breitling Navitimer that is a real mathematical instrument where multiple calculations can be performed, as well as all the usual time and chronograph functions. The Navitimer is still in production today and recently revisited , but it simply does not have the charm of this original vintage example! If we could keep this for ourselves then we would! The perfect amount of patina and character.
Spec Stuff
Serial : 102****
Reference : 806
Movement : Venus 178 Age :1961/1970 Specific Age : 1965 Case Size : 41mm Case Thickness :13mm Lug to Lug : Lugs :22mm Condition : Pre-Owned Box & Papers : No Case Material : Stainless Steel Service History : 12-Months NON-Waterproof Warranty
1965 Breitling Navitimer Original Pilots Chronograph in Stainless Steel Model 806 with Venus 178 Caliber
