The Breitling Watch Source Forums

yes, these pop up relatively frequently and we need to define "authenticity" here.

these watches clearly use authentic Breitling components, but they are not "correct",
i.e. the components do not fit the model they claim to be; you might classify them as
"Frankenwatches" in the narrow sense of the term.

here are the original models we quite often see mixed up in these watches:

ref. 7806 should be a Navitimer, manual wind V7740, date at 4:30
ref. 7806-S should be a Navitimer, manual wind V7740, date at 6
ref. 7808 should be a Chronomat, manual wind V7740, date at 6

ref. 8806 should be a Navitimer, Chrono-Matic Cal. 11/12, date at 4:30
ref. 8806-S should be a Navitimer, Chrono-Matic Cal. 11/12, date at 6
ref. 8808 should be a Chronomat, Chrono-Matic Cal. 11/12, date at 6

your watch clearly is a model 7806, but has an 8808 caseback, so incorrect - both the
function (Navitimer vs. Chronomat) and the movement (manual vs. automatic) do not fit.

now to the question nobody can really answer - were these watches assembled by Breitling,
in a period of immense economical turmoil, just before Willy Breitling was forced to sell off
his last stock of spares and completed watches, machinery, patents, production rights and
brands and finally close down the company, or were they assembled from that stock of spare
parts Willy sold, primarily to Albert Wajs, Helmut Sinn, Lester Harrision and probably others ?

Bill will chime in, afaik he thinks these watches appeared on the market in the early
2000s and were assembled from stock components; I tend to (hesitantly) disagree -
Phil (Saabreit) even spoke to Albert Wajs, who confirmed that (almost) no Breitling-
branded dials were included with the components and the watches were only produced
with Sinn and the O&W "Aviation" logos.

the dials we see on these pieces appear to be correct, mass produced original
Breitling parts, I think that Breitling decided to use up as much of the available
components as possible and assemble complete watches, even if this meant that
Navitimers ended up with Chronomat casebacks.

on a side note - we see almost no correct Chronomat 7808 and 8808 appear on
the market, apparently they just did not sell well; another reason why there might
have been too many cases left lying around and Breitling was forced to reuse them
in the better selling Navitimers ? Speculation only, of course.

maybe you can shed some light on the history of your watch, the case was produced
in 1974, so among the last ones Breitling purchased, do you happen to know when
and where your father bought this watch ?

the watches appear in catalogs from the early 1970s, apparently launched a bit later
as the "big case" Navitimers and Chronomats, they do not appear in the big 1969
catalog where the new Chrono-Matic models are displayed for the first time.

Here are the known (to me) relevant catalogs:

Navitimer 7806/8806




Chronomat 7808/8808:

Watchfred,

Thank you so much for your thorough reply and your knowledge and speculation of the history of these watches. I do not know where my father acquired this watch as I inherited it following his passing. It is interesting to me that there are at least a few of these models out there. What is even more curious to me is the 8808 case that has a crown hole at the six o'clock and 9 o'clock positions. Research has informed me that this is not totally unusual. It baffles me why someone would marry the 8808 case with the 7806 movement. I have to somewhat agree with your presumption that something happened during the tumultuous times Breitling experienced during the late 70's. I share with you what Breitling's repair facility has to say about this model:

[b][b]Your e-mail to Breitling USA was forwarded to us. Since 1992 we have served as their factory authorized service for their vintage and out of production mechanical timepieces in the US.

We have attached a photo (not a great one) of the correct Reference 8808. This model contained the Cal. 12 automatic movement with date at the 6-Hr. position of the dial. The dial was signed "Chronomat" and "Chrono-matic". The crown would be on the left-hand side of the case as was required for the position of the automatic mechanism for the Cal 12 . The Chronomat and Navitimer models had different dial/slide-rule calculations.

The web sites you refer to in your e-mail show what should be a Ref. 7806 for Navitimer or 7808 for the Chronomat version that contained the manual wind Cal. 7740 movement. The milled out portion on the back probably was to remove the word "automatic". Unfortunately since the case sizes were identical it is possible for them to be "married", which appears to be the case with the watches on Chrono 24.

Best regards,

Theresa Heist
Horological Services
[/b][/b]

Any idea as to the value of these hybrids?

Thanks,

Hi all,
The period from 1973 to 1980 is all but clear due to "recycling" of unused new parts into several transitional productions by at least Sinn, O&W/ Aviation, and Jean Zurbuchen . From phone calls with Mr Wajs and Mr Zurbuchen at the end of 2011 or beginning of 2012 , I had got informations about the strange second life of some new unused 8808 cases sold by firma L. Breitling to Zurbuchen and P. Wyss , then by Zurbuchen to Sinn .
Most of the initial Sinn assemblies from Navitimer stocks were using 7806/7808 cases... and when Sinn was short from those cases, he bought back some 8808 cases to Zurbuchen , taped the 9h crown holes and machined new 3h crown holes .
Clearly Valjoux never issued its 7740 with a 9h crown ... but some Aviation watches have been retrofitted as Breitling with a dial and a caseback. Personaly I own a NOS 7806/08 delivered by Wajs with a 7808 caseback, original dial ...

saabreit,

Thank you for the information regarding your research into the curious birth of these 7806/8808's. I read somewhere on the internet years ago that Breitling, during its tumultuous times, had sold pieces and parts of their watches. It makes perfect sense that this is how these 7806/8808's were born. Do you happen to have any source that I might access that will attest to the lineage of these watches? Also, do you know of a baseling value of these watches? Thanks,

Hello ,
Just some links to some of my early posts here about this troubled period

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36836
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=36602

saabreit,

Thank you.

another Navitimer ref. 7808 for the records, well worn dial:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/400471657928?ru ... 26_rdc%3D1