There is something remarkably alluring about this Breitling Navitimer with three Chronograph registers being one of the most epic chronographs created, with the iconic Breitling twin jet logo on the dial. These were originally timepieces given to the professional pilots by approval of the AOPA, Aircraft owners and Pilots Association. Showcasing a black dial with a white outer ring and three silver subsidiary dials, reverse panda. The dial has the infamous slide rule scale that is associated with these iconic pieces. At 40mm diameter and a lug width of 22mm this is a great size watch for something of this era. 

This stainless steel manual winding Breitling Navitimer chronograph – reference 806, from ca. 1966 has an original and great looking dial, that is all part of the charismatic charm. With the continuous subsidiary seconds dial located at 9 o’clock there are two other “sub” dials counting both thirty and sixty minutes, the central arrowhead hand is the second’s chronograph hand.

This particular piece showcases a pristine rotating bezel and Plexiglas. The Plexiglas has some very slight marks, which will be polished out at point of service. The dial beneath is showing signs of some nice aging. The correct and original pencil hour and minute hands are a seen to be a lovely off white. The lume insert in the hands has aged the same colour as the hour markers adding to the vintage character and history of this piece. The lume in each hand and all of the baton markers is the original tritium, showcasing a vivid green under UV light then to the naked eye fading back to a charcoal black.

Breitling Navitimer’s have always been a remarkable brand/model for myself, just the thought of these particular watches being worn by aircraft pilots hundreds, if not thousands of miles above where we find our feet grounded right now. This vintage Breitling Navitimer 806 is definitely one of the iconic watches to own and we will be sorry to see it go, as it remains near the top of most vintage watch collector’s wish list. Good examples at reasonable prices like this are getting harder to find, so quite soon, I am sure this piece will find another good home.

This Venus Calibre 178, 17 jewel manual wind movement is running and setting as it should, but the watch will be serviced before dispatching to its new owner, coming with a 12-month VWS guarantee.

• Model ref: 806
• Year: 1966
• Warranty length: 12 months
• Box and papers: No
• Movement type, calibre and jewels: Calibre 178
• Case: Screw-down stainless steel
• Dial: Black
• Crystal: Plexiglass
• Bracelet: Black rubber strap with deployant clasp
• Width (w/o crown): 40mm
• Height, lug to lug: 47mm
• Lug width: 22mm