The Breitling Watch Source Forums

My father gave me his Navitimer back in the early 1990's when I first soloed in his Piper Cub. He basically stated it was "just a watch he picked up when he was in Vietnam". It was always special to me since it was about the only thing he ever shared with me of his time in the USAF.

Needless to say, being a teenager I wasn't aware of what I had and didn't give it the proper respect it deserved. I left it in the pocket of a pair of pants I had and it went through the washing machine and dryer. When I found it, I knew it was destroyed and have never felt so ashamed of myself. I placed it in a box and hoped someday i could get it fixed somehow.

So recently, my wife was cleaning out some old boxes and asked if I wanted to keep "that old beat up watch". So here I am today, asking anyone who can help the following:

1.) Is this authentic from what you can see?

2.) Given its condition, can it be fixed?

3.) I realize this would be more than just a major overhaul, but any idea of the costs involved?

4.) Who would be the best option to contact to get this rebuilt.

Thanks for any help you can provide!
Scott

Some additional information. The watch still winds and the stop watch function will start. The stop watch hand will sweep until about the 35 second mark and gets stuck. The stop watch hand will stop with a push of the buttons and will reset.

The hour and minute hands do not move, but will adjust.

The entire face is loose inside the body and will raise up some from the outer ring.

The 3, 6 and 9 o'clock dial hands have popped off and are loose inside the watch.

Thanks,
Scott

Welcome to the source...

first of all, anything mechanical watch can be saved no matter how old it is... BUT... the scary thing you mentioned is that it has been exposed to water heavily... you didn't mention any type of service after it went through the wash cycle so the movement might be exposed to rust and that is a MAJOR ... the unfortunate thing is spare parts for these 806s are hard to come by. There really is one way to find out if it's salvageable and that is to removing the caseback for further inspection of the watch movement.

Hope the damage isn't too bad. If you are interested though, we can recommend you to our member chronodeco. He's pretty much our go-to vintage watchmaker here on the boards.

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

Awesome history and huge sentimental value, surely worth getting it restored if possible!

It's definitely real, but from a financial standpoint it's impossible to estimate restoration costs or whether it's economicaly sensible without seeing the movement. Given the damage that can be seen I suspect that there is very little that can be salvaged from the movement and as mentioned parts are tough to come by.

There is a watchmaker here - member chronodeco, who may be able to assist. No idea if he would be prepared to take on a project like this, and he wouldcertainly want to see movement shots, but that's probably the best option initially.

and, whatever you decide to do, stop trying to get it to run, you will make things worse.

Very true.

Thank you to everyone for the advice. I have included a few pictures with the back removed to give a better indication of the shape it is in. I apologize about the cruddy pictures, but photography is not my thing. To me, it looks to be in "okay" shape with no rust present, but I know next to nothing about this. I will persue contacting chronodeco and get his advice on how to proceed. Thanks again for you help.

Scott

From preliminary looks, for a watch that's been through the washer and dryer it looks not too bad... of course when the servicing comes and the components are taken apart, then maybe some other issues can arise but other than that doesn't look too bad...

Definitely contact chronodeco through the forums and see what he can do. Well worth the fix IMO.

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"I don't got the bright watch I got the right watch" -Jay Z

Looks a lot better than I thought it might. Of course it's dangerous to assume too much from just pictures, but seems 'rescuable'.

Anything is fixable if you want to pay the piper. I've seen a lot worse than this get restored. Shouldn't be much of a problem and if it was my fathers watch cost would be no object.

I think laser welding is the answer for your case and bezel if it has got rusted very badly and to save your beautiful family heirloom.
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