Hello,
I have an early Chronomat for almost 20 years now. I had it serviced at a Breitling dealer a long time ago and it was before I was interested in the caliber. I knew it was a vintage Breitling of course and i loved the looks of it.
As I was 19 it failed running and I had it repaired. I was just a student and agreed to clean the watch (dial, case, mechanism) and change the plexi glass and the hands (new, now I regret it because they look too new) but keep the costs under 7000 Belgian Frank (about 170 euro).
I did not see the mechanism or asked about the serial number. Long time I thought it had serialnumber 769.
Later I started wondering about its age and started comparing it with other 769 chronomats on the net. I started spotting differences.
There was no B on the crown, there was no serial number on the back, only 769 and acier inoxydable. So I started wondering if it had been changed in its previous years. Then I saw that the older versions had the same crown and a serial number on the inside.
Recently I took it to a dealer in vintage watches, just to open the case back and to have a look inside at the serialnumber.
I took some quick photos, not a good job I'm afraid.
And again there are questions. The serial nr is predating 1944, but when.
The caliber should be a Venus175, but no markings of Breitling or Cote de Geneve deoration, is this normal?
Thanks
