The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I recently discovered a watch in my stepfather's father's (that makes him my step-grandfather I guess!) boxes and I was asked me to see what I can find out about it. The watch appears to be an old Breitling and has "Graduated to 30 pulsations" written on the top of the inner face. I can't take a picture good enough to show this as it is right at the top of the watch face, under the bezel? Sorry, I am a completely ignorant when it comes to watches so I thank you in advance for your patience!
My step-grandfather was a doctor, so it makes sense he would have a watch like this. There appears to be a serial number on the back as well. The watch is a manual wind chronograph and works well!
Thanks so much in advance for any insights on this watch.

Sorry but not a Breitling....

Best,
Wayne

hi wayne. thanks, but could you tell me why?

Sure!!! Dial has the worst and incorrect font, no Swiss. Total redial. Case back would also have the watch reference number which it does not. Serial number is 3xx.xxx which would put it in the 1930's range which this is not one of those jewels.

or .... a badly refinished dial, decades ago.

this makes me think...while it is possible that my step-grandfather bought a fake, i do wonder how many fakes were floating around when he bought it? my stepfather remembers him wearing when he was a child himself, so i guess it must go back quite a long time! does anyone know whether contacting breitling directly would help? do they have archives going back that far and are they helpful in providing this type of information?

contacting Breitling wil not help. watch MIGHT be an old refinish and the watch an early Venus 170 from the second half of the 1930s before reference numbers were stamped in the cases, but we have seen clearly fake Breitlings that had believably been in a family for 60 years or more, so faking Breitlings clearly isn't a new phenomenon.

thanks, WatchFred. i am new to this so please forgive the many questions. can you tell me why contacting Breitling would not help? do they not have a central archive somewhere in their corporate offices that they could tap into? or are they just not forthcoming with information about such things? also, what alternatives do i have when it comes to someone taking a look at the watch who could tell whether it is genuine or not? i live in NYC so there has to be somewhere i could go

the company that (maybe) manufactured this watch closed down in the late 1970s and the current Breitling bought the brand name and some production rights, almost no records were saved.

you could send the watch to the Heists of horologicalservices.com, they are the official Breitling service center for vintage watches in the US and seem to have some records, they could evaluate the watch, give you their comments - and they might help you with a replacement dial.

The case, crown, and hands look consistent to those made in the 1930's by Breitling so they could be original and the dial was redone at some point. The fact that it most likely has a Venus 170 movement would make me worry a bit though as that's pretty early. A pic of the movement would help.

i would be very happy to post a pic of the movement but i am not sure how to open this particular case. any tips?

thank you very much for this information. i will contact them and see what they say. i will update this post once i have any more info.