The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I'm sure some of you must have seen this one. The Breitling 734 (although he listed it as 784).

I can't remember when I last saw one and it's a little gem on the grounds that it is the first wristwatch that Breitling listed in it's catalogue in the "Breitling 8" section. Which was the department dedicated to producing professional pilot watches and aircraft clocks.

Here it is in what I believe is the first "Breitling 8" catalogue, circa 1940


Here it is in the 1946 catalogue listed alongside what is destined to be a very cool Breitling ref - the 765.

Did anyone here snag this? If so some good pictures and a movement picture would be nice to see.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

I had it on watch - was debating whether to bid without a movement shot but was out yesterday and forgot all about it.

It was a decent price in the end.

I was the same as you - was watching but just forgot.

Which was a shame - everything on the outside looked OK and it should be a standard venus movement so assuming
nothing horrible inside would be very restorable.

Nice to know there are still some good ones out there.

same here.
nice watch. had it on my watchlist and forgot about it, remembered about 5 minutes too late, went well below what I expected.

might reappear at a different price point.

well, a little patience ...

had been looking for a "Breitling Eight Air Force" 734 for some time; from the 1946 catalog(ue), thank you, Eitan:

“Breitling EIGHT Air Force”
In the name of the new department created after more than 50 years experience and specialization in the manufacture of complicated watches. It disposes of the latest technical improvements …..”

These watches were offered to military and corporate buyers, not sure about the general public ?

Watch comes from pre-documented times, although I have a very early Chronomat 769 with a number pretty close after this, so it must have been from 1940 to 1942.

The dial is similar to the one pictured with the 765 in the catalog, the Venus 178 has the "old style" bridge, unsigned.

Very nice pick up!

I think that I need to find a long lost family connection to you so that I can make it into the will

thanks Roff !

we might really look into this will issue and make it reciprocal ?

would you have the hands refinished/relumed or just leave them like that ?

Maybe......

I think that I'm a few years younger than you so that might not be the worst deal for me

Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhh - wonderful Fred. Love it.

Is the dial gloss - it's hard to tell from the pictures.

What size is it?



I'm not near my main computer, but from memory the 765 is also included in the main part of the 1946 catalogue
as well as in the pilots section. I'll check if the 734 is, but I think it is.

I think these were offered to the general public as well, but were noted as higher spec watches to go into the
specialised Breitling 8 section.

dial is quite glossy, do not have my caliper with me but case seems 38.5 to 39mm, quite big.

would you refinish the hands like on the May piece or leave them like this, Eitan ?

So how come you guys are not using esnipe (or similar). It's the only way I bid on ebay. Place your bid and forget it. Craig

_________________
S. Craig Bergsma

Because Esnipe (.com) is a well guarded secret for people 'in the inner circle' and not to be shared outside a very select group of users
but I use it all the time to , as you said, just place a max bid and forget about it . Very helpful bidding on items outside my own timezone.

esnipe used to have a free trial as well, I dont know if that is still running, but the small amount you pay per winning is well worth it !

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

Craig, as you know I snipe quite a lot, just sometimes forget to set it or am stupid enough to assume René will not see a strange AVI on mesh and set the snipe too low.....
Moved to an iphone app snipewise so these things will not happen anymore, not that helps against certain bidders with a similar taste.

thanks Fred for not bidding , it would have cost me a lot more if you decided to bid !

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

in a way to lead this thread to a hollywoodesque (is this a word ?) happy end,
a collage of my ref. 734, after quite a long journey in time and distance;
back in Vienna, freshly serviced, repaired and with carefully restored hands.

Probably good for another 70 years or more.

Some blah below, prepared for another forum, most of that already raised in this thread.

Ref. 734 was - as far as we know today - the first two button Breitling aviation
chronograph, developed quite soon after Willy Breitling took over the company
and started to concentrate on the aviation market, first with cockpit instruments,
then aviation wrist chronographs.

None of these appear in the 1936 catalog, the ad (*) in the pic below was published
in 1939, the first documented appearance; in a late 1939 or 1940 brochure again
only the 734 is shown.

In the 1946 catalog both the 734 and the waterproof version, the 765 - later to evolve
with the AVI and Co-Pilot "turning bezel" variants - are pictured, all manufactured by
the Breitling 8 military and commercial aviation division.

This piece, as stated, is from sometime between late 39 to 41, the venus 178 bridge
still has the "old" U shape, not the later V.

And yes, the buckle is not period correct, took that off a 60s TopTime, will correct this.

* Interesting to see, the manufacturer name on the bottle in the ad appears as
"Montbrillant Watch MFY", not "MY" ?