PRICE
Sold
WATCH SCORE
7,9 / 10
KEY FEATURES
The Miles Davis model
SERVICES INCLUDED
CERTIFICATION REPORT
BLOCKCHAIN CERTIFICATE
APPRAISAL BOOK
EXTRACT OF ARCHIVES
The present model, reference 806, is an early version combining the reverse panda dial, the Twin-Jet logo and the serrated bezel. The great jazz musician and composer Miles Davis owned such a Navitimer in the late 1960s, as many other celebrities like Formula 1 drivers Jim Clark or Graham Hill, to name a few.
#1.013.xxx was produced in 1965 and is in good condition with all correct period parts. The tritium paste of the dial indexes and hands are in very good condition, they have not blackened as is often the case with this model. However, the dial and the slide rule are stained in places.
About the model
In 1952, the US Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (abbreviated AOPA) contacted Breitling to develop a chronograph that would allow its members to perform all kinds of calculations necessary in flight: average speed, fuel consumption, distance, conversion kilometers in miles.
These challenging requirements were made possible by a logarithmic slide rule integrated into a rotating bezel. The NAVITIMER was born, with presumably the first examples produced in 1954.
The very first Navitimers were fitted with a Valjoux 72 calibre, quickly replaced by the Venus 178 (reference 806). The dials were completely black and there were several variations of inscriptions, some without the name BREITLING, but all had the applied gold AOPA wings. In 1963, readability was improved with contrasting white/silver subdials and the replacement of Arabic numerals by indexes (only the 12 was kept). The beaded bezel was replaced about a year later with a milled edge bezel. Around 1965, Breitling introduced its Twin-Jet logo.
