The Breitling Watch Source Forums

In the past couple of weeks, I had a few Breitling fans bringing in their vintage pieces to me. My ever so little of Breitling vintage knowledge just not good enough and don't really want to mislead them with wrong information. So calling all Breitling experts now and tell me some cool facts about these beauties!!

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Now: Breitling Transocean
Breitling Navitimer 806
Panerai Pam 251 Daylight
Rolex Daytona 116520
Seagull Skeleton
Past: Breitling Chronomat BO1 44 Metalica Blue
Piaget Polo 45
Breitling Top Time 2002

Cool fact number 1 - they aren't all Breitlings
Cool fact number 2 - meaningful assistance is going to require inside and outside caseback shots and movement pictures.

The dial on the triple date is not too "cool" - a really POOR refinishing job! Most likely a fake.

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S. Craig Bergsma

+1 on this
#4 fake or botched redial too.

"cool" enough ?

Yeah I immediately assumed that 3 and 4 were duds. #1 is a less common and potentially nice piece but who knows with just dials.

. . . the first one is a 1956 ref. 1190 with a redone dial on which the sub-registers are printed too small and "Giro d'Italia" has been added, well, just for fun, I guess.

you dont believe these are watches that could (warning hypothesis) have been give to Giro D'italia stage winners ?

They were official sponsors in the late 40ies to mid 50ies

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

There was a Breitling Giro d'Italia; mid 1950s
bought from the daughter of a Brit who worked as a sports journalist in the 1950s
Bill is referring to the printing quality on the dial, me thinks.

Giro D'Italia pieces can (obviously not going to say all are) definitely be real - there are a number of different pieces, many of them presented here over the years.

Thanks guys, interesting information there.

What about the last picture?

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Now: Breitling Transocean
Breitling Navitimer 806
Panerai Pam 251 Daylight
Rolex Daytona 116520
Seagull Skeleton
Past: Breitling Chronomat BO1 44 Metalica Blue
Piaget Polo 45
Breitling Top Time 2002

As Fred already said......

as Roff said in his first reply, we can only talk about the most obvious "tells" here - until we see movements and casebacks (ideally inside and outside) there is no way to tell if watches 1, 3 and 4 contain any authentic components; watch 2 seems to have a correct case, dial and hands are ok.

You know you chaps are fantastic with your knowledge, I'm so glad that you are one step ahead of the game

Hats off to you Phil

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Now: Breitling Transocean
Breitling Navitimer 806
Panerai Pam 251 Daylight
Rolex Daytona 116520
Seagull Skeleton
Past: Breitling Chronomat BO1 44 Metalica Blue
Piaget Polo 45
Breitling Top Time 2002

Here's what I believe, and others are free to believe otherwise.

Using the advertising and the words in The Book (pages 112-113), I believe Breitling sponsored bicycle races only in the years 1949-1952. I think the watches made to note sponsorship of the Giro d'Italia were marked "Tour d'Italie," odd as that may seem. I think Steviepro.wu's example shown here is just one of the "fun" pieces that someone has made up in recent years and some do show anomalies, like ill-fitting registers.

Sorry that my image of that 1952 ad is completely illegible.