The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi,

In 1965 I bought new my 1963 Navitimer 806 Ser.No.967059 in Beirut en route to crop spraying cotton in Sudan.

It was in use until my flying days were over 35 years later in 2000.

Now it has finished being overhauled completely by Horological services of Mr.Mark C. Heist, Watchmaker of
146 W. Philadelphia Avenue
Boyertown, PA 19512 - USA.

I am waiting its arrival in anticipation. Because of its sentimental value the $2900 was very well spent.

I would like to know whether it is rated as Classic or Vintage, and although not planning to sell (promised to my daughter), just for interest is its present market value more than what I spent.

When it arrives I will post a photo, if is allowed here. .........nick

that is definitely a nice vintage piece
what is Mark going to do with it ? , typically dial , hands etc replacement does (negatively) impact the value so I am curious what it looked like before sending it in

$2900 is about 2/3'ths to 4-5ths of the value , depending on the model and dial version . if it has an all black dial $2900 is about half market value of an original one

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

just looked at the serial number

If it has a completely black dial (without white subdials) , please dont let mark replace that , or the hands !

ask him to clean the dial only and give the movement a good service but leave the rest 'as is' that way you retain all of its value and increase it a little even by having it serviced

even if its not a completely black dial , but black/white but has little balls (beads of rice) on the bezel , its a rare transitional piece
please dont let mark replace the dial either

pics would definitely help to make a correct assessment

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

Thanx,

As stated "...Now it has finished being overhauled completely...." & Theresa is shipping it back restored.

I did not know, surely Mark would not destroy its authenticity so badly without asking me or would he?

I am trying to upload fotos as it was but keep failing. Just made it .......nick

Sorry, disregard last remark in previous post, just noticed it in the long list of his work on it:--

"...New dial, by exchange (all black with AOPA logo)...." is this OK? ....nick

ugh.....

Managed more shots.

no , not OK

let me rephrase that , its typically a very very bad idea , unless Mark has NOS (new old stock) dials , which I know he doesnt
So unless the dial is completely beyond salvation due to water damage , its better to keep the old dial (and hands ! , he doesnt have correct hands either so you would definitely be destroying value)

may I ask what was wrong with the watch in teh 1st place ?

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

just saw the pics

you may not like this but you would have been better off with 'just' a service and replace the missing hand
better off meaning 'retaining value and authenticity'

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

Can you ask Mark to return the original dial and hands? For a 3k service I would certainly hope so!

he wont , exchange only , Breitling rules
only option would be to change them back if he still has the old dial , but he may have already sent it to B swiss to get the replacement dial

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

Sorry to say this, but I can only confirm the advice above, though it might be too late to get the parts back.

none of the current "service parts" by Breitling follow the original design precisely - and your watch was actually in quite decent shape.

here is a picture of a Navitimer "restored" by Breitling Switzerland, not all single part is "correct", all hands are quite wrong, as are sliderule and dial.
"pretty" watches that have lost all vintage appeal.

You're gonna get CRUCIFIED here on this Forum for having that watch restored! Regrettable IMHO - most guys would rather have a "safe queen" regardless of condition, how or even IF it runs, capability of actually WEARING on a regular basis - even if the case is all boogered up and the dial is virtually unreadable...

I wear my "Jim Clark" 1966 Navitimer Twin Jet 2-3 times/week - it received a full service/restoration by Mark & Theresa at Horological Services in October 2013 before *I* bought it. Despite the fact that it has the DEPLORABLE Breitling Factory Service Replacement Dial complete w/C3 luminous that I can actually USE/READ all night long, is accurate to +3 seconds/day, and sports a ~1980's Breitling Oyster Bracelet that I fitted to it - I wear it WITHOUT embarrassment in public; I am SHAMELESS!

Crucified might be a bit harsh. Fred's point was only that the original watch was still in reasonable shape, and in that case, a sympathetic restoration might have been an option with successful outcome.

It is sad that I allowed this amazing machinery to loose its vintage status by choosing all new parts but, that is what we decided to have.

Luckily we are not affected, I am too old now & my sibling she is not interested in all these but the sentiment that she grew up with & she will occasionally wear a "pretty" shining quirky watch to remember by.

Of all the writing I saw about it not one person seemed to know, care or mention about what an invaluable aid was all those years to an aviator. All conversions and flight planning calculations e.t.c on its rist without fambling for Jeppesen manual circular "computer" while flying.

One last thing you may clear up for me is that the only wording on this one is "Breidling" under the wings & "Navitimer" under the hands pivot, a thing I have not seen on dozens I looked up. Any significance?

The following are the experts opinion:-
"..... Your watch is in very poor condition. It is repairable to good working order and appearance but will still be a 48 year old watch. The movement is out of production for 40+ years and spare parts are becoming increasingly unavailable.

The hands have rust and one is missing. It is not cost-effective labor-wise to consider anything short of replacing them but that can also be determined at repair as we want the dial and hands to look consistent with each other.

Your Navitimer is 48 years old, with rust, corrosion, moisture exposure, has received a hard shock, and has had very little, if any, service history.

We have the option to keep the existing dial and replace the darkened luminous only. This is the minimum we would do and some blemishes will remain. The hands have rust and one is missing. It is not cost-effective labor-wise to consider anything short of replacing them but that can also be determined at repair as we want the dial and hands to look consistent with each other.

Additionally corrosion and rust make it difficult to know until the movement is apart what parts can be serviced and what parts require replacement.

WORK DONE:-
Complete disassembly, clean, oil & adjust movement
Refinish movement as needed for rust, damage, wear
Fabricate & install stem pilot boss in mainplate
Repair or replace minute recorder aperture in main plate
Modify upper Barrel Arbor hole, rebore, upright
Replace coupling wheel (for damage)
Mainspring
Bronze bush mainspring barrel (part is no longer available)
Center Wheel
Winding pinion, sliding pinion, Crown wheel (for rust)
Surface treatment of movement
True hairspring in round & flat
Crown
2 Pushbuttons
Crystal
New dial, by exchange (all black with AOPA logo) ......." Slide-rule
New hands
Case work; Bead blast pitting; Case screws; Spring bars
Straighten case back as best possible
Refinish case, satin & polished, as original