The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi, help need from fellow forumers on this AOPA Navitimer; any info on why there is no AOPA lettering on its AOPA wings? most of the AOPA I find on the web has the AOPA lettering on the wings... thanks in advance.

Because its a dial the expert has never seen before

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=50524

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

that might be a bit confusing, Renè.

The wings without the AOPA lettering are a sign of watches distributed outside the US,
without AOPA affiliation; Breitling used the wings for these, but with a blank shield
without the AOPA branding.

These watches typically have "Breitling" and sometimes the cursive "B" above the wings,
this is missing on this dial - I show another, much later example in the thread above:


Here is an example of a non-AOPA branded dial w/ the Breitling logo, one of the "1953"
Navitimers according to the serial numbers, but bead count, hands, case and movement
marking clearly show it to be late 1950s.


Kurt shows several such dials on his Navitimer site www.kurt-b.com

Youre right Fred, I assumed the OP asked about that specific watch , not the AOPA vs non AOPA in general

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

This was done because AOPA was/is an American non-profit organization.

All that is explained in Kurt B.'s monography , but imho the strangest thing here is that Navitimer is in gold lettering instead of white - on a stainless steel Navi .

My understanding is as follows :
1/ "wings + AOPA" = made by Breitling for AOPA association and sold by AOPA to their affiliates
2/ " wings + no AOPA" = made by Breitling for sales thru the conventional sales network - including US sales thru Wakmann to non AOPA affiliates .

To be clear , I am not 100% sure that this dial " wings + no AOPA" without Breitling but with golden ink "Navitimer" - with irregular typo- is genuine?

The AOPA logo is not inked, it's a correct 1954/55 18k applied logo (they ate slightly differene then the later ones) just like it should be, and I am as certain as I can possible be that it is genuine.

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

Clearly the AOPA logo is metallic and applied . I was speaking about the typo NAVITIMER which is inked in golden colour and with curious fonts.
But as far as it is good for you , Kurt , it answers to my hesitation ... now it is good for me .

golden NAVITIMER and the font (especially the A) are different from all others I've seen; Phil is correct, I think.
Kurt ?

I agree that the golden NAVITIMER and the font (especially the A) are different from all others we have seen, but what does that mean, other then it's different ?

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

that I would doubt the dial print is in original condition, not only relumed, but partially reprinted.

Are there anything but the golden NAVITIMER, that gives you reason to call the dial partially reprinted ?

no. but again, not only the color is a one off for me, but the font used is clearly different from all others I have seen. not trying to be "right", just puzzled by that.

Brrr, really bad whether here and so much wind that I cannot sleep !

From the angle of printing process, each color needs one specific tool and one step of printing . On all the all black Navi dials we know, numbers, scales and lettering are uniform - most of them look printed together - all in white , or all in golden .
I have just checked that point on pics of Kurt's site, and some NAVITIMER prints look " less cream " or "more silver" so I guess that some were manufactured in 2 times .

For the subjected dial , having 2 factors together is strange :
1/ the font and especially the A with sharp top instead of flat top , is unusual
2/ having NAVITIMER in golden with all other markings in white shows that it has been either manufactured in 2 times or NAVITIMER printed separately .

On Breitling-Lip versions , the Lip printing was clearly printed by Lip afterwards , in silver ink .

Here what is sure is that NAVITIMER in golden was printed separately from the white markings . And originally some AOPA dials had no NAVITIMER marking .

On the subjected dial we can just note that it looks different in quality from the "100%sure factory done" markings. Answers to "who did that", " when" , "where" and " why" are from the expectations field .

Wow.. Thanks for all the information.