The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hello All,

Anyone can enlighten me why some all black 806 Navitimer dials look more glossy than others? Like this one attached look more glossy / shinny than some others I have seen?
Thank you!

I don’t think there are glossy and non glossy. Probably just differences in overall condition, as well as camera reflection of the crystal.

There’s definitely different in the gloss of the dials, the early AOPA’s are very often less glossy, whether it has to do with exposure to sun (sunlight causes the lacquer to degrade over years), I don’t know for sure, but it’s a qualified guess.
But a new crystal obviously makes any dial more glossy.
1955 AOPA Navitimer with matte dial attached.

Kurt B http://www.kurt-b.com

Thank you.
Yes, that’s what I meant. How come some dials become more glossy than others over time.
So I guess it was the difference in material that caused them to differ over time.

Just to show an example, I bought a 1966 panda that was kept in a safe for 20-30 years so it's in extremely good condition. I have it in service right now but I took a few pictures of the dial because it looks way more glossy than I thought it would.

As far as I know, Breitling never made matte and glossy navitimer variants (as opposed to, say, Rolex subs).
I suspect a lot depends on aging, but also likely that dial varnish used varied somewhat over the years.
This is something we likely will never know.