A Fantastic Vintage c.1960s Breitling 806 Navitimer 3 Register Chronograph, with Twin Jet Logo and, Caliber 178 Venus Movement with Pillar Wheel Sub-Seconds, 30 mins and, 12 hrs Sub-Dials.

In 1952,Willy Breitlingwasapproached bythe renownedUSAircraft Owners and Pilots Association(AOPA)and askedtocreatea newchronograph for its members. Hedecidedto develop an innovative wrist-worn instrumentthatwouldenablepilots to perform allnecessaryflightcalculations, including average speed, distance travelled, fuel consumption, rate of climb or descent,andconversion of miles to kilometers or nautical miles.

At that time, calculationsrequired alogarithmic sliderule.Willy Breitling, therefore, adaptedthe originallogarithmicsliderule of the 1940s Chronomatfor aviation purposesandintegratedit intoa rotatingbezel, surrounded by small beads to makeiteasier tomanipulate.

The case diameterwasfixed at 41millimeters, which was large for its time largeenough to ensure that alltheinformation provided by the dialwouldbe easy to read.Thereadabilitywasfurther enhanced by oversized Arabicnumerals filled withradiumthat efficiently contrastedwith the black dial.Asfor the name,whatcould bemore evocative than Navitimer,acombinationofnavigationandtimer? When theNavitimerwasfinally introduced to the AOPA,it wasan instant success amongthe associationsmembers

Whats On Offer

A fantastic example of the iconic 806 reference on offer here from Breitling. This is the nicer variant in our opinion with the larger sub-registers, sometimes called the ‘big eyes’. Although this watch is fairly beefy at 41mm,it wears very comfortably on the wrist.The milled edge of the bezel and robust steel case with chronograph pushers at 2 and 4 oclock make for a stylishly substantial package.

The dished subdials punch outnicely against the black dial and seem to balance outa somewhat complex dial. The lume on the hour markers has deteriorated a little however, the hands are in good shape and the arrowhead seconds hand inblood red adds a stylish pop of colouralong with the other subtle red accents on the outer scale.

An iconic watch with sophisticated features which has aged well and will sit well alongside any modern-day counterpart. A classic model that has stood the test of time and is still in production today!