The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello-

I've been an avid reader of breitlingsource but have never posted before. Really glad I've got this opportunity. I just bought this 806. I've had a vintage Breitling and a Navitimer but never a vintage Navitimer. I loved the blacked out dial and the beaded bezel on the early Navitimer. I remember seeing an old 806 at a store and have thought about that watch very often ever since. Needless to say, when I saw the one below, I was instantly taken with it and am so grateful to have been able to pick it up.

The serial number on the one below is 913XXX which puts it at 1959. While there is a lot of information out there on these early Navitimers, 1959 seems like an especially tricky year given the transitional dial (to wite subdials).

1) Is this dial (AOPA, "B," "Breitling," "Geneve") the correct dial for 1959? I've seen that layout from other Navitimeters but was unable to date those to a specific year. I apologize for the pictures, they are pictures from the listing and will put up higher res photos if that helps.
2) This is a long shot but is there any way to prevent the lume on the hands from cracking further?

A supplemental question is regarding the period correct band and buckle. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like a black calf/black lizard band with an extreme taper (22mm to 16mm). My question is whether the band was padded and whether the buckle was unmarked:

3) As far as I can tell, the band was unpadded/flat. Is this correct?
4) It looks like an unmarked buckle was favored. Am I correct in thinking the buckle was unmarked?

Thank you so much for any help you can give me.

Well I'm not Kurt when it comes to all of the subtle differences from year to year, but I see nothing wrong with this as a 1959. There isn't a single dial combination (with occasional exceptions like 1967) that will allow you to say that it is definitively a certain year.

In terms of the lume if you don't want it to get further damaged then put it in a drawer and forget about it - it's one of those things I'm afraid. Unless it's truly awful I would leave it, but some will advocate reluming for practicality, personally I prefer original. You may be able to find some period correct hands in better condition that will address that, but don't hold your breath.

Unpadded straps and unmarked buckles are perfectly OK.

Welcome to BreitlingSource and congratulations on acquiring an icon.

Hello,

I really appreciate the response and the information. I agree with you on the hands, I like the patina and wouldn't want to re-lume them but I hear horror stories about the lume disintegrating and getting into the movement. It seems like when that happens, it falls through the date window so hopefully that is less of a concern with this watch.

Thank you again-

beautiful piece, congrats.
totally agree with Roff regarding the lume, there was a thread about a "perfectly" relumed 806 some time ago, but most examples are quite awful, so better safe ....

re straps: Bill Shaine had some straps produced (and is selling them on ebay) that seem to be absolutely correct "re-issues" of the original straps, black Teju, tapering from 22mm lug width to a 16mm buckle, he has unmarked buckles and the "bi-plane" versions. I have only seen the bi-planes on (apparently) untouched AVIs and transOcean chronometers, not on 806s, but Kurt will know more.

Edit: @Roff, could you move this thread out of the FakeFranken subforum, this icon should not be in such bad company

Hello,

Thank you for the reply. That is a great suggestion on the band and what I had in mind. Would you happen to have the seller's screen name? I searched for those terms but couldn't find a listing. The watch came with the (modern) black calf band/deployant and while those looked/worked great on the newer Navitimer I had, they seem incongruous on this watch. I just want the buckle/band as close as possible. Analogously, I was into the old pepsi bezel GMTs for a while and was looking for a period correct riveted bracelet for a 1675 and can vividly remember how much information was out there on just the bracelet. There is comparably so much less information on the band/buckle configurations for this Navitimer and I want to give it as much thought. I saw one of those 16mm bi-plane buckles on ebay, I like the way the logo protrudes off the buckle but hesitated over it because I figured it was designed for later models (as it only matched the logo on later dials) but that is certainly an assumption on my part.

Thank you again for the input, I appreciate it.

Bill surprisingly has no items listed at the moment, this one sold some days ago:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/BREITLING-BUCKL ... 35b533c12a

if you contact him through ebay he should be able to help you.

@Roff: hope it is ok to post the link, not trying to drum up business for him ?

agree re the biplane buckle, definitely wrong for your watch, was just supplying general info/questions, as these often surface.

here is an AOPA ad from (apparently) the late 50s that shows the original strap well:



Bills strap w/ biplane buckle:


"generic buckle"

Those look really great. Thank you again for the suggestion, I'll keep an eye out for those. This was really productive, I hope to find something close and post some pictures.

Regarding saving old lume... I have done this for several customers that wanted to retain the original lume by applying a light coat of super glue to the back sides of the hands using a watch oiler pin. Works great.

_________________
S. Craig Bergsma

Thanks you-I had actually thought about that. I use superglue all the time to fix things and I don't imagine that, over time, there would be any problems with the glue otherwise discoloring the hands. So, intuitively, it made sense and am really glad that you can confirm this from actual experience. While freshly lumed hands can safely be ruled out, I'd love to prevent that overly austere look of the empty hands. I'll give this one some thought. I appreciate the insight.

I have bought one myself with the same dial layout from 1959, so I can only assume that it is correct.

You can see a picture of a band here http://vintageure.dk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=109 furthermore they was sold with different kind of bracelets, most of them was expandable Speidel ones, none of the bands or bracelets was Breitling signed.

/ Kurt B

like this you mean ?

this lizard (croco?) strap came on a NOS 18K 806

_________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard

No it's a later one, they was not signed on the black AOPA's

that 18K 806 is a little younger so that might indeed explain it

_________________
"I spent most of my money on Booze, Breitling and Boats. The rest I wasted" - mostly Elmore Leonard