Description
BREITLING Navitimer, Ref. 806, case no. 880340, circa 1956 BREITLING
Navitimer, Ref. 806, case no. 880340, circa 1956
A fine and attractive, large, tonneau-shaped, stainless steel, hand wound, aviator chronograph’s wristwatch with matte black dial, gilt printings, painted luminous Arabic numerals, luminous hands, 12-hour and 30-minute registers, beaded steel bezel with slide rule.
Fitted with caliber Venus 178, mechanical, manual winding, pink finish, 17 jewels, engraved BOW, with straight line lever escapement, 2-arm monometallic balance with timing screws, self-compensating Breguet balance spring, shock-absorbers, index regulator, column-wheel chronograph mechanism, snap on case back.
Dial, case and movement signed.
Diam. 40 mm. Thickness 13.70 mm.
Following the great success of the Chronomat, the world's first slide rule chronograph released in the early 1940s, Breitling released their first pilot’s watch, the Ref. 806, in the early 1950s. Featuring the innovating slide rule chronograph, the model was called the “Navitimer" (combination of Navigation and Timer, the name was patented circa 1955). The 806 is one of the most iconic models of the Swiss brand as the slide rule allows pilots to make important calculations prior and during their flights.
On the present watch, the balance bridge is engraved « BOW », meaning Breitling Watch Corp, is in fact the US import code stamped on movements sold in the United States. When the Breitling Watch Corporation of America was established in New York in July 1947, the first models of Navitimer bear the "BOW" mark on the movement, such as the present watch. Sometime during 1957, Breitling Watch Corp. ceased operation, and the importation and distribution of Breitling watches was passed to the Wakmann Watch Corporation, which used "WOG" as its US import code.
