The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Hi,
I'm new to the forum, and what attracts me most to Breitling is the original 806 Navitimer. I was offered one in very good condition with box and papers whilst visiting Melbourne for A$5,000. I didn't buy it as sterling was getting a hammering by Aussie dollar. What is the going rate for a 806 in steel, and where is the best place to find one? I would be interested in any for sale on the forum, but a quick search on the trade corner revealed not one. Have I come across such enthusiats that no one wants to sell.
Yours WTB Navitimer..

Well price is going to depend a lot on what you are looking for.

Can you give me a bit more of an idea of what type of 806 appeals to you - black subs or white, rice bezel or 'normal', does year matter, does it matter if it's AOPA, etc

Looks like you guys are keeping Roff busy

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LOL, that was quick, glad someones on lookout duties.
well where to start, I would love a AOPA black subs all steel from as early as possible - however as I said due to lack of availability I'd settle for something close to my birth year of '68, would that be white/silver subs and aeroplane logo. if you had an image of one from that era that would be grand.
cheers again.
Dan

Me again, not strictly vintage, but seeing as I'm on a roll, can anyone tell me more about limited edition Navitimers. I know of the existence of afew, namely Snowbirds, and personally handled a Football. What movements are in them, and is it difficult to source one i.e falling the 806 grail, could and should I consider a LE?

Still WTB a Navitimer.

806 would probably be cheaper than most LEs

There's a 1968 here - http://www.lesmala.net/jean-michel/navitimer/index2.htm

Assuming that we are talking about a good to mint condition watch you are going to be looking at $3,500 - $4,000 for a 1968.

I identified a few LE Navitimers in the recent LE thread on the main forum, the problem with those is that there aren't many which impacts price.

In terms of sources, eBay is a minefield, but there are a few gems - stay clear of South America. There are also some dealers that have vintage pieces, some of whom are online.

Some great pics there!

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PAM 233, 232, 505
Rolex Deep Sea
Rolex TT Datejust
Rolex SS WD Daytona
Rolex Hulk
Rolex Day Date II (YG)

Just curious. What's the market out there for a 1st generation Navitimer AOPA? It seems to me that dealers are quoting upwards of US$7000 for those, and for 2nd generation, upwards of US$6000.

Those are for the beaded bezel, AOPA and black dials/sub-dials 806.

Well yes, dealers are asking that......

$4,500 - $5,000 is the most I'd pay for a regular 1st generation - obviously a mint 1952 is going to be serious money, and I would forget the rules there

The prices are increasing fairly rapidly, as the popularity of Breitling increases, but I'm not sure they are sustainable above $5,000.

Thanks for all your inputs, one further question is if I was to want to only own one 806, should it be a 1960's boxed and papers with white subs, or a clean 1st generation AOPA with black subs? - if I'm right in what I'm reading, these 2 should be about the same money.
Dan

Well, price is very dependent on condition, but if you are comparing similar condition watches the 1960s with papers and box and the 1950s without then yes, I guess prices would be reasonably close.

Which is the better buy, well that's personal choice. I'd prefer the black on black with rice bezel every time, but others will say that it has to be the 'classic' white sub Navi. Having said that, I'm anal about provenance - so box and papers are important to me.

There are a lot of these watches out there, and most are wrong - either frankenwatches or watches that have lost their originality through servicing over the years (which sometimes can be returned to original condition). Take your time and find the watch you like - don't compromise, and don't gamble. These pieces aren't going to make you rich, and you shouldn't buy them as investments - make the same decision as with a modern watch - buy the one that appeals.

Wise words, can't agree with you more, I've been collecting vintage watches for arround 10 years now, doesn't seem long really, but it's quarter of my life so far, mostly Omegas to begin with, then military and recently Rolexes. So know exactly that care and attention is needed when considering an addition. Always wanted a Navi, always thought one would come my way in my collectiing, but not yet. Noticed that prices of white subs have been increasing in years, and automatically thought that black subs would have gone up proportionately more, abit like any vintage sport Rolex has compared to Rolex dress. Now that a AOPA black sub is not much more that a boxed white sub encourages me to try and find a AOPA black sub dial version.
So cut to the chase - [b]I would like an original AOPA with black sub dials in SS rice grain bezel. Whenever you're ready to sell me one of yours - I'm listening.[/b
]Best regards
Dan

nothing's come your way? i've been looking for a little while now and have found a few examples that appear to be completely original. mostly from dealers with inflated prices, which is why i'm still looking. but all the same, i'm under the impression that original 1950s 806s are out there - or am i too eager to believe dealers' descriptions as completely original, even when they look good to my (untrained) eye?

They're definitely out there, but the majority of 1950s watches are not completely original. Good dealers will weed out the frankenwatch garbage, but finding a 1950s watch with correct hands is difficult as these were routinely replaced during servicing and as Breitling didn't keep out of date hands they would generally use the contemporary hands as at the time of servicing.

The same is true for anything else replaced suring servicing - slide rule gauges, etc. They are out there, and of course you can always try and restore back to original condition - again parts availability is the challenge.