Breitling Navitimer*** 1806 New Old Stock*** 1969

Breitling Navitimer 1806 New Old Stock 1969

OUR ARCHIVE » Breitling Navitimer 1806 New Old Stock 1969

BREITLING N.O.S. Navitimer Chronomatic 1806 DDE.BR11525/67, 1969
Serial: 125XXXX
Circa: 1969
Reference: 1806

DIAL: Black dial with silver counters, date indication at 6 0‘clock and tachymeter and slide rule indicator on dial and rotating periphery

CASE: 48.5mm, stainless steel, crown at 9 o’clock and pushers on the right side with bi-directional blackened bezel, Glass in acrylic

MOVEMENT: Caliber 11, Self-winding mechanical. Hours, minutes, seconds, chronograph and date, 17 jewels

BRACELET: Not Specified

CONDITION REPORT: Watch is in original and New Old Stock condition and retains the original factory protective coating on the case back. The dial lume shows some signs of natural agining and is in excellent condition.

NOTES:
The 1960’s saw the race towards the development of the first automatic chronograph movement. Two groups were in contention for this feat: Movado/Zenith versus Heuer/Breitling/Hamilton/Dubois Depraz. The Caliber 11 was released just ahead of its competitor in March 1969 and became the first iconic automatic chronograph in the world. The amalgamations that lead to its success therefore benefited from the same caliber fitted into Breitling, Heuer-Leonidas and Hamilton-Buren. This caliber became the base workhorse for the next 40 years to follow including its successor the Caliber 11-I and the movement in this timepiece, the Caliber 12.

The Breitling Navitimer is believed to have been released in the early 1950’s (between 1952-1954). The name Navitimer is a combination of navigation and timer since the watch was intended for use by pilots. They used the slide-rule to determine fuel consumption and calculate distances. The original Navitimer collection all had an AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association) wings logo on the dial as it is believed that this association of pilots collaborated on the development of this model with pilot’s needs in mind. The Navitimer remains the most iconic Breitling model ever produced.