The Breitling Watch Source Forums

This is a 1967 Navitimer I have owned for a long time and that I want to sell now.
It works perfectly and is in very good original condition except the dial and especially the bezel which have a strong patina as you will see.

Do you think I should I leave it as is or do you think having the dial and bezel repainted by a professional is a better idea ?

This will cost me around 200 € I think and I wonder what you think is best as I need the money after the purchase of the 765 for which I just asked your advice.

In other words, do you think it would sell for at least 500 € more with the redone dial and bezel than without ?

I know it 's always better to keep the original dial but when nobody wants to buy it because of the strong dial patina, it doesn't really help...

Thanks for your help

Replacing the dial won't increase it's value by €500. I have seen a lot worse. I would sell it like it is and let the next owner determine what needs to be done.

Thanks for your advice.
I welcome other advice too as i don't want to make a mistake

Worth more to me in that condition than with a redial. Would much rather have the dial sympathetically cleaned and a new crystal put on it and then see what it looks like.

would have said "maybe the dial ring", but latest personal experience
makes me switch to "hands off".

Paul, when do you expect the Barcelona dial back ?

Could you please explain me how to clean the dial ?
Which product ?
If I decide to have the dial and bezel redone, do you have a GOOD address to recommend ? (in france they are not very good and expensive) ?

Thanks

The process for cleaning the dial (and the answer to your second question) is:

1) Contact member chronodeco (Craig)
2) Send him the watch
3) Wait until he sends the watch back

There are many, many happy customers of Craig here, and while he is in the US he is the go to guy for many European members.

I had a bunch of vintage watches serviced by Craig and they return beautiful. I very highly recommend him!!!!!!!



NOBODY ELSE WILL TOUCH MY WATCHES

_________________
"A man with one watch knows what time it is; a man with two watches is never quite sure."

regarding dial refinishing all of us are looking for a good source, including Craig - waiting for the first dials to come back from a refinisher in Barcelona that seems to do decent work - all others have been quite disappointing.

Worth SO much more with the original patina!

I would send it to Craig for a dial clean and servicing first and sell it unrestored. A redial will make it loose most of it's collectability value. (note a redial (involves repainting the dial) is different from a dial clean(involves a clean of the dial face with some cleaning solution to take off old grime/dirt/stains but must be done by an expert with vintage expertise else you could ruin the dial))