The Breitling Watch Source Forums

just saw this listing http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-Breitling-N ... 3a6958be1e, claiming a production date of 1953 ....

No, it is not the first documented 806 from 1953, but a - for me - surprisingly late production date of 1971 if I interpret those digits correctly ?

What is the latest 806 you have seen, for how long were they produced alongside the 7806 and the "large case" versions ?

I dont know the answer from the top of my head .. but that watch and case back .. dont you agree the "B" in the engraving looks 'off' ?

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

I don't think that the 806 was ever officially discontinued. Alan Trott has a "circa 1978" model on his WUS history, although they certainly aren't common. This example's weird. The serial number on the outside of the caseback is correct for a later 806, and it almost looks like someone had gone over the B and Breitling to refresh it. The rest of the watch looks pretty correct, except for possibly the outer sliderule, would like to see a better photo of that, it looks like the font and the red shade may be a bit off.

. . . and Kurt will drop in to give us a grade.

I think the Jeopardy answer is "What is 1971, the last year Breitling produced 806/809 Navitimers?"

All thereafter are just not right.

There’s nothing wrong with the case back, they look like that.

The last production year I recall to have ever seen for a Venus 178 Navitimer, is 1971.

As I state in my article.:

“Around1971-74, the Navitimer underwent serious changes - and to many people (just like the 806/9-36) it ceased to be the "real” Navitimer. The legendary Venus 178 movement was replaced and a Navitimer with date aperture was introduced. The registers grew to their biggest size ever, the reference nr. was 7806/8 and the movement is a Valjoux 7740. AOPA’s logo disappeared and henceforth the watch was only marketed with Breitling's Doublewing logo & name on the dial.”

I have never paid interest to those versions.

BTW, I have made a few updates to my article, so feel free to take a look http://vintageure.dk/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=109


/ Kurt B

thank you, Kurt, for your verdict.
Like Bill said, i believe all later 806s are quite questionable.

Although I do like the 7740 based version.

I recently purchased an 806, which I've been after for ages & I had some concern over the serial number. Having browsed the forum it was encouraging to discover that the 806 was produced into the 70's, so thanks the info and for publishing the serial number list. As always, a great site.

According to what I found, with a serial number of 1352223 mine is a 1970 model.





Your comments will be appreciated.

Thanks and regards
Paul