I've owned this awesome early 806 Navitimer for several years and I consider it a cornerstone of my collection...
To me, it is an archetype of mid-20th Century chronograph design and obviously Breitling's greatest icon.
Aside from its overall beautiful condition, there is another notable feature about this AOPA 806, namely that dial has the nomenclature printed on it is associated with early 1960s production...
...but when one opens the back...
...one finds that the serial # should date it to somewhat earlier...
I was unaware of this when a well-known collector and enthusiast who had asked for the details of my Navi sent me this reply:
"Tom,
Sorry about the delay in answering, but your watch have caused me a lot of
headache.
Your watch is 100% original & unrestored which is very important.
It is without any doubt that the serial nr. of your watch should have been
92xxxx instead of 82xxxx, it's a mistake that was made by Breitling during
production, and there are reason to believe that quite a few was stamped
wrong, as I have seen 5-6 of them, and I have had this confirmed by a source
that knows more then anybody else about the Navitimers.
Apart from the serial nr., there are enough examples, all of which match a
consistent and well-known 1960 pattern to have that make a lot of sense.
Your watch was produced somewhere between 1960 & 1962."
So we see once again that with vintage watches, what we think we know is never truly certain!
Best,
T.
P.S. New Year's resolution: Take new pix!
