The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I've had this birth year watch for about a year, absolutely love it. It's become my daily wearer. I was under the impression it was all original, but was just told that with this model and year, the rice bezel and red numeral outer ring were only used on AOPO models. Is that correct? If the bezel and ring are wrong for the watch, can you tell if they are still genuine factory items? Thanks, I'm glad I found this forum!

This is what it should look like

Dial and ring seem to be original ? , or maybe an original service dial but they do not belong to an 806 from 64 with a rice bead bezel

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

P.s.

Welcome to breitlingsource

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

Thanks!

The red markers were used on Navis from about 1967 onwards. They should appear on both the dial and the outer sliderule ring. As you just have the red on the sliderule only, you know the dial and slide rule did not start out life together.

Would the rice bezel also not be original too? Is there any way to tell if the existing bezel and sliderule are genuine Breitling? I should have done more homework before I bought it....

From what I read, its possible (but uncommon) in 1964 to have that bezel and that hand style together with the black and white dial and the twin plane logo. You can refer to the chart at www.kurt-b.com (see "Publication of my work...." to see how the combinations change over time. I think though its not correct to read the chart such that changes happened firmly on January 1 and Dec 31 each year. Most of the features of your watch are coming in and out in 1963 and 1964 so I think your combo is possible. The bezel you have is normally associated with the all black dial and the older version of hands, but exceptions exits as Dracha has illustrated. Its also equally possible that you have a newer dial and hands in an older case from a refurb.

The thing that is definitely not right is the slide rule red markers. Its might be Breitling original, but not for that watch.

Do you have a recommendation as to where I could find a period correct sliderule?

refurbished (reprinted) ones are found on ebay from time to time, but some are not of good quality so you need to be patient to find one eventually..

in late 1963 and early 1964 we saw a transition from 'all black' 806's to black/white 806's where cases were used with 'beaded bezels' which we normally see with the 'all black' 806;s , these were only made for a few months and are quite rare

my opinion on what is and isnt original on the OP's watch:

-: Case , movement and bezel are OK for an early 1964 806
-: Dial and sliderule ring (although they look to be original Breitling) are not OK for this watch and the sliderule ring and dial are not from the same period either , the red markings did not appear until much later (1967 ?)

hope this helps ?

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

Rene - for my on-going education, what is wrong with the dial on this one for '64?

as far as I know the beaded bezel / black-white 806 only came with the AOPA wing , either signed 'aopa' in the wing or with 'Breitling' over the wing

the double plane logo dial started with the 'milled' bezel in 64

so :

if you have a 1964 806 w/ beaded bezel is should have the AOPA wing logo
if you have a 1964 806 w/ milled bezel is should have the double plane logo

you can see the beaded bezel w/ nonsigned AOPA wing above , Kurt has another one on his site that is AOPA signed

and I have a 1964 806 attached with the milled bezel and double plane logo

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

Rene, what is the latest beaded bezel panda you have seen ?

the twinplane dial looks correct for 1964, but I too have not seen that combination - like you I would have expected the transitional milled bezel or applied AOPA wings.
so I'm a bit surprised to see the beaded bezel on a (albeit early) 1964, but it might well be an original combination in a period of multiple transitions, would not dare to call it; maybe Kurt will chime in ?

sliderule insert seems like an original 67-and-later Breitling or Linder Freres replacement insert installed during service - as we have seen on dozens if not hundreds of Navitimers; these are the only inserts readily available, both Breitling and the Heists install these on any 806 you ask them to restore - MUCH better for me than the non-original and clumsily printed replacements without the red accents on offer from dialfactory or Bill Shaine.

to the OP: beautiful watch, as stated on WUS; wear it in health and enjoy it; chances to find an original non-accented sliderule insert are minimal.

the one I have , and pic above, is the latest I have seen . I dont have the serial handy but its close to the start of the 64 serial range .

I havent pulled my watches out of the safe yet after my vacation but as soon as I do that I will open it up and note the serial number down (I am off sailing in Croatia again next week so please be patient

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

watch your step