Tag Archives: Chronomatic

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale – Rare Vintage 1970s Breitling ref. 8806 Navitimer CHRONO-MATIC

Click here to contact me and make this super rare vintage Breitling Navitimer yours today!

Up for sale from my personal collection is this Grail-level circa 1973 Breitling ref. 8806 Navitimer Chrono-Matic with absolutely Mint Tritium dial and in fantastic Excellent+ condition overall. This highly uncommon version of Breitling’s classic pilot’s watch features an all stainless steel case with beautiful glossy “Big Eyes” Twin Jet dial, gorgeously patinaed Tritium luminous markers, red date and iconic left-hand crown. This is one of the rarest Navitimer references and hails from the days when Breitling bet the farm on their innovative automatic modular chronograph movement family pioneered in partnership with Heuer and Hamilton.

So, instead of the usual Venus 178 found in nearly all other earlier Navitimers, this scarce 8806 preserves the iconic oversized Navitimer proportions, snap back case and chunky slide rule bezel, but incorporates an automatic Caliber 12 under the hood, with minute and hour counters but no running seconds hand and a semi-quickset date at “6” in red. Coming so close as it did to the end of the Breitling company’s first incarnation as possibly the highest profile casualty of the quartz revolution, the reference 8806 Navitimer was made in extremely limited numbers and finding one in this kind of spectacular condition is a rare thing indeed.

This beautiful Navi came to me in near NOS condition and, having worn it frequently but carefully, the unpolished 41mm steel case is still easily in Excellent+ condition, with razor sharp chamfers and lovely satined sides. To put the cherry on top of the sundae, this great Breitling retains its original gloss black dial in absolutely Minty condition. Featuring two silver-white engine turned sub-registers, gorgeous puffy tan tritium luminous “12” & bar markers and intricately printed slide rule calibrations in silver “gilt”, this fantastic dial really shows off Breitling’s unmatched prowess at making highly functional, complexly printed dials back in the day.

This is a fantastically pure vintage tool watch with great wrist presence and panache, as well as a model you’re not likely to see on someone else’s wrist. It’s a real collector’s chronograph with historical rarity and importance. Don’t miss out on your chance to own a really special piece of Breitling history in stunning condition!

Click here to contact me and make this super rare vintage Breitling Navitimer yours today!

tomvox1’s Watches for Sale — Vintage Heuer Carrera ref. 1153S Silver Panda Dial

It may be the dog days of August but what I’m offering here is more of a thoroughbred race horse — a handsome early 1970s vintage Heuer reference 1153 Carrera automatic-wind chronograph featuring a beautiful Mint first execution silver Panda dial with original wonderfully patinaed Tritium luminous plots.

This example is in overall Excellent vintage condition for a 50-year-old watch and, along with its pristine dial, also features the desirable canted Tachymeter scale in the correct deep gray with white print, as well as the superior Caliber 12 version of Heuer’s pioneering modular “Chrono-matic” micro-rotor chronograph movement.

This 1153 also features an early serial number for the model of 148,xxx, which matches the era of the dial & inner Tachymeter scale. It does sport a 3rd execution handset and while this combination is seen often enough in the wild on these silver 1153s it’s probably safest to assume that the hands were replaced at some point during a service in the watch’s long life, either for the superior legibility they provide compared to the thinner previous two execution handsets or because those first two tended to suffer prematurely degraded lume filling.

Personally, I prefer the fluorescent orange chrono sweep seconds hand over the earlier red for its pop and pizzaz, as well as the easily read, highly luminous “wide boy”-style hands so I’ve always been fine with the combo. Either way, it’s a super stunning vintage chrono on the wrist, both elegant and sporty, as you can clearly see, and it makes a killer addition to any vintage chronograph collection.

Check out this classic and classy vintage Carrera 1153S in full via the very Heuer-centric ChronoTrader sales forum featuring full condition report and many more large pictures or contact me directly for more information.  SOLD