PRICE
Sold
WATCH SCORE
8.1 / 10
KEY FEATURES
Valjoux 72
SERVICES INCLUDED
CERTIFICATION REPORT
BLOCKCHAIN CERTIFICATE
APPRAISAL BOOK
EXTRACT OF ARCHIVES
This Navitimer is a very nice example of the pre-806 reference, classified as Mk 1.2 – the very first Navitimer, considered as a pre-production model and classified as Mk 1.1, was issued in a run of 100, and differs from the following models by its lugs with truncated tips.
Valjoux Caliber 72 was used on the executions of the first year, before yielding its place to Venus Caliber 178. The marking BOW is engraved on a bridge and corresponds to Breitling Watch Corporation of America, the import code of Breitling watches in the USA.
The watch is in very nice condition, with a dark brown dial, and all its parts are conform. It represents a very nice opportunity for any Navitimer enthusiast.
About the model
In 1952, Breitling designed for the influential US AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) a revolutionary watch combining a chronograph and an E6B type flight computer 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 features were made possible by a logarithmic slide rule integrated into a rotating bezel.
The Navitimer was born, with the first examples produced in 1954. The very first Navitimers were fitted with a Valjoux 72 calibre.
After a launch phase of about a year during which only a few hundred examples were produced, the real marketing phase began, with larger volumes. With this in mind, Breitling decided to equip the Navitimer with Venus Caliber 178, more familiar because it was already integrated into several other Breitling models.
