The Breitling Watch Source Forums

HI I inherited my dads 806 when he died last year and he and i were about to have breitling restore it.

he owned it from new i think from 1964. its works fully although the movement could def do with a full service, it was sent to Breitling and came back there suggestions were:

New plexi, New hands, New outer slide rule bezel (this was lost a few years ago) and full service.

i assume they will clean the face during the service?

i like the patina and still want it to be dads watch (if you know what i mean) the pexi def needs replacing and i am not fussed about that.

what should i do about the hands?

whats the drawback to having them replaced?

this is my only vintage B all my others are recent so have no experiance with restoring old one.

all the work will be done in Switzerland by breitling. not cheap but worth it.

cheers

Alex

I'm sorry about your father Alex.

The watch will be given a cleaning when they do the work, but they shouldn't restore / remove the patina unless you specifically request it. To be on the safe side you can specifically state that you want to retain the patina and therefore heavy cleaning should be avoided - and also whether this is just on the dial or on the case as well.

In terms of the hands, it's unlikely that they will be able to keep the original hands as they are usually push on style that can only be used once (and they have to be removed to service the watch). Can't swear for sure that this is the case if these are the original 1964 hands, though.

If there is an emotional attachment I'm sure that Breitling would accommodate you if you asked for the original hands to be returned.

cheers, yeah 2007 was a really sh1tty year!

thanks for the info, id def ask for the hands to be returned, i may also ask if they can age them as new ones will look a bit odd.

the steel case has a few dinks and dents from daily wear for 40 years but if they clean it up thats fine, may ask them for a light polish what do you guys think?

do they ever retouch any faded lines on the dial?

i can post some close up pics but she looks so sad without her slide rule!!

Aging hands might be harder - but they may have some NOS ones that have lost their original lustre.

I wouldn't expect any retouching unless you ask for a partial or full restoration, but again you can specify what degree of work that you want done and I'm sure that Breitling will do their best to accommodate.

I would personally have the case polished, but it really does come down to choice - I know people who would want their watch to look like new, I also know people who feel that it's a travesty to polish a single scratch out. This is clearly a very personal watch for you - do what will make you and your late father happy.

hey guys, itys back, the 806 arrived back a while ago and they did a great job, i will post pics if anyone is interested?

You had blinking well better post pics!

You don't ask this question.

As you can see they have done a great job, they left the patina and the fading on the dial as requested, only thing they didnt manage to do is get the water smudge off the dial but tbh i can live with it as it clearly identifies as my dads.

if i wanted it perfect id buy anohter 806 for full resotration but then if you do that why not buy a new navi

It looks fabulous. Congrats.

thanks

They've done a very nice job on that - it's a great piece, and hopefully will give you some great memories.

Oh and I could give you a thousand reasons why you would have a vintage restored rather than buy a new one

I'm not generally a huge vintage watch fan, BUT that is truly beautiful.

The restoration looks superb as well. A beautful job that's a great honour to your father's memory.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

cheers mate and glad its given you a vntage piece you like.

yeah dad loved his 806, great story of how he got it too.

when he left the RAF he managed to keep (nick) his service watch and when getting out of his GF's car one day in 196x she shut the car door on his wrist, however the brave service watych stepped in and took the hit.

unfortunately his watch was obliterated and knowing how much he loved it she replaced it with a brand new 806. i cant recall but i think he picked it and it was like £64 in the 60's.

he basicallyt wore it everyday from new till about 93 after his heart attack the year before when he decided it was too special for everyday wear and started to wear a santos.

in 99 it went back as a daily wearer as he'd given me the santos as my first expensive watch staying on his wrist til 02-03 when he went to something that in his older age he could work on the car with and not damage (having lost the outer slde rule doing just that).

its sat protected and cosy in the safe til 2008 when i sent it to BUK for its makeover.

That's a great story. I always wonder what tales old watches like this could tell if they could speak!

It's amazing to think that watch was basically been a daily wearer for the best part of 40 years, and yet can still come up looking that good.

It's a great piece and I hope it gives you as much happiness as it obviously gave your dad.

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Driver8

Site Moderator