The Breitling Watch Source Forums

Although it pains me , sometimes the only thing left to do is completely restore a watch getting it back to 'as close as possible' to original

work was done by Horological services who replaced the previous service dial with one that is a lot closer to the original dial
hands were also replaced , case was laser welded and brushed , plexi replaced , movement repaired and serviced etc etc

all in all I am not disappointed but the charm and vintage feel is of course also completely gone

the New release for this year , the '2014 765 all black AVI' , Breitling should actually do a re-release with 'aged lume' , much like the new 300m or the JLC diver(s) , they would have an instant hit

before:


now:

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

beautiful watch, Renè. do you have pics of the laser welding on the case, before and after ?

I will have a look, I do have 1 side but have to look for the other side

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

Looks great Rene

Hope you factored in the Horological Services cost when you purchased that piece. As you know I'm not a fan or restored pieces but have to say that it looks awesome. Probably the only way to go in this case. Nice job!

Does look Much better.
Sounds like an extensive amount of work required that isn't so apparent in the "before" photo.

thanks everyone , it really is a nice piece but no longer vintage



Paul , I thought I took the Heists prices into consideration when I made the offer but I am still 'sticker shocked' !

I believe we all would rather use original parts (dials, hands etc) when doing a restoration but in all these years I have seen 1 original all black 765 AVI dial for sale and have yet to see or find a handset , so this really was my only option

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

Looks amazing!

Drach's bite the bullet lets look at the facts,

This has now become a bench mark standard, perhaps unique,
It is unquestionable a beautiful timepiece,
It is undoubtably undervalued as most vintage Breitlings seem to be
You own it
It is now part of history and you have made it so

This watch is up in my top 3 of watch wants, has been for a while,

Thank you for your dedication to the preservation of significant horological timepieces

ATB Phil

You forgot to thank the Heist's.

Wayne

Hi Phil,
Thanks for your kind words

If you ever find a beat up , non original 50ies 765 avi, send it to the heists , it will come back looking like mine, but hurry as there's only a few dials left and theresa doubts more will be made

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

That is a great looking piece. The Heists are certainly talented and that's a star in any collection.

this is beautiful. something i've weighed myself as these watches in particular are so hard to find in pristine condition. enjoy it..

some more 'before' and 'after' shots from the case work

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

Yes I did forget to thank Heists . Sorry Heists

Now this watch was expensive in it's day, wouldn't you think they could have found a chap or a machine to stamp the numbers and letters straight. It's like car number plates too, you can see a £100,000 car with a slightly wonky plate on it In the grand scheme of things I know it is not really important. Just a bit of a bug bear of mine that's all