The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Bought this morning from the original owner, a professional pilot who obtained it brand new in 1974, wore it in many cockpits until about 10 years ago and then stuck it away in a safe. The watch has never been serviced or opened. And amazingly, it runs and operates perfectly...That said, I will have it cleaned and serviced shortly. Of particular interest are the hour and minute hands, which I have NEVER seen on a Ref. 7806 before. I am assured by the seller that these are original to the watch.
I would welcome any opinions from the knowledgeable here who may have seen this configuration previously.

nice, congrats !

Vielen Dank!

According to the book they are not original to the watch, and will never be, otherwise it looks ok.

Whether they originally was born with the watch is obviously impossible to say, but I find it hard to believe.

Personally I have never seen this configuration before.


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

would not believe the hands are original to the watch either, though I have seen several with "big case" hands (one or two on the forum, even); the last Breitling years brought some strange combinations. Not a huge issue, correct hands are available (but not cheap).

Thanks Kurt and Fred for your feedback! I agree that the hands may not be "correct" for this reference, but that is how the watch was delivered to the AD 40-odd years ago. I have no reason to doubt the seller's word, as he is a person of the highest integrity. So now the question is "should I change the hands??" I can quite easily get a "correct" hand set, but will have to give some thought as to whether I want to or need to. Once again, all opinions greatly appreciated!

Despite my expertise is infinitely lower than Fred' s or Kurt's - the real Pope of vintage Navi's - I am not surprised by those hands fitted on a 7806 .
I remember that somewhere on JM Lesmala' s website , they are listed as a variation .
I have seen them on some period pics - maybe shown by Wajs , not 100% sure .
Yesterday I was mentioning Oldworldjewelers, they had 7806 and 7806S using those hands - few items available and during a very short time , and I did not buy ... prices were low but my interes was not on vintage at this time .
I bought a pair of those hands from Lester , some were also used by service centers.
Just remember that cal 11 and V7740 use the same gauge for hands.

Last thing, the 6' subdial hand is 100% correct, although 9 times from 10 it is not after a service

[list=]Calibre Heure Minute Sec.au centre Compteurs Petite sec.
Valjoux72 - et 23 160 109 25 25 23
Venus175-178 140 à 145 95 27 à 30 27 à 30 18 à 20
Valjoux 7733-34-36 140 à 145 95 27 à 30 27 à 30 18 à 20

Valjoux 7740 180 100 24 à 27 24 à 27 24 à 27Valjoux 7750 200 120 25 cône3° 18 cône3° 18 cône3°

Valjoux 7765 200 120 25 cône3° 18 cône3°

Cal 11-12-14-15 180 100 24 à 27 24 à 27

Universal 285-287 et Zenith 146 180 120 28 28 Lune et date 74
Universal 281-283-481 160 100 25 25 Lune et date 72
Valjoux 92 130 25 23 23
[/list]

Was the color of the indexes green like this? I have a perfect 806 from 1968 but there's lume much lighter. I know this color from different 1806.

The hand of the 30min subdial seems to be different from the 12h subdial.

Cal_11

Yes, the tritium used on this dial has aged rather nicely. Unfortunately it has started to decay quite badly, leading to the particles that can be seen on the dial and hands. I need to decide to what extent I may want to clean this up, or not at all...

The subdial hands are correct, to the best of my knowledge, although I have seen different combinations of these three hands on other 7806's. The constant seconds hand seems to be the same on most 7806's I have come across, while the 30min and 12hr hands seem interchangeable.

Nothing wrong with the sub dial hands.

Wow! That 7806 is just magnificent.

You're absolutely right! The hands of 12h subdial and 30 min subdial are different, one is slightly smaller - I've never checked this, but my one is similar.

The lume of my 7806 is much darker.

Cal_11

Thanks. This was an nos piece I was lucky enough to get last year. Still has the sticky on the back. Strap had dried out and the box hinges were broken but a really nice 7806.

Someone has offered me this type of watch, but it hadn't a serialnumer. I was not shure about it....