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MAJ75

Breitling Navitimer Aquisition

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MAJ75

Hi All,

Recently (I am a little ashamed to say) I have been flirting with the Gen world. I was extremely fortunate to pick up a Speedmaster Professional ref 145.022 in the last few weeks & that had been my only planned "Big" purchase until later in 2018.

However last week another of my wanted list turned up online & it was at such a good price that I had to pull the trigger. It is something of a rarer beast being that this reference of Navitimer was only in production for 2 years (1986-87). The movement is the wonderful handwound  Lemania Cal.1873 as also used in the Speedmaster. Breitling moved on to the 7750 in future references.

My pick-up is an 18K Gold Plated case & bezel (I had originally planned on a stainless steel Navi) but the gold matches my wedding band & it is in great condition for its age. It came on a wonderful dark brown calf strap.

Note the dial spacing is extremely similar to the Speedy & this reference doesn't have a date. I know that the busy face divides opinion but this is a piece I have lusted after since being a kid.I must admit I find a strange sort of beauty in this dial design.

There is a nice article with more information on this reference here:

https://www.timeline.watch/watch/breitling-navitimer-81600/

Here are a few pictures of mine:

NAVI1.jpg

NAVI2.jpg

NAVI3.jpg

NAVI4.jpg

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Glaude

Well, isn't that a beauty !

Great pics, I love this gold/black/white/dark-brown mix !

The 12 marker with the rest behing sticks and the lack of date windows look very nice.

I don't think there's anything to be even a little ashamed about the fact that you can (or you make it so you can) buy a gen watch !

Enjoy it !

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Del

:drool:

Congrats mate. I would absolutely love a Navi in my collection!

Enjoy! :thumbsup2: 

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Moondustesp

Stunning mate congratulations :Applause: 

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Flipper81

Stunning and two classics already obtained


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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MAJ75
2 hours ago, Glaude said:

Well, isn't that a beauty !

Great pics, I love this gold/black/white/dark-brown mix !

The 12 marker with the rest behing sticks and the lack of date windows look very nice.

I don't think there's anything to be even a little ashamed about the fact that you can (or you make it so you can) buy a gen watch !

Enjoy it !

Thanks for the kind words mate, TBH I'm firmly in the camp of enjoying gens & reps just the same.....I love wearing reps in & amongst the daily rotation.........

2 hours ago, Del said:

:drool:

Congrats mate. I would absolutely love a Navi in my collection!

Enjoy! :thumbsup2: 

Cheers Del, I got lucky with this one...it was a deal I couldn't miss...........

2 hours ago, Moondustesp said:

Stunning mate congratulations :Applause: 

Really appreciated, thanks Sir............

1 hour ago, Flipper81 said:

Stunning and two classics already obtained


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cheers & I do feel extremely fortunate...believe it or not I think one last piece & my collection is done..........

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Moondustesp

The collection is never done you show know that by now! :faceplant:

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NCRich

Gorgeous!  The navi is an awesome watch.  Congrats mate.

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Genius

What a stunner!  And finding a vintage piece with a bulletproof movement makes it all the better

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NFleischer

Nice pick up, congrats!

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MAJ75
5 hours ago, Moondustesp said:

The collection is never done you show know that by now! :faceplant:

I am long enough in the tooth to know that you are right squire, although my current feeling is that I only want one more.......................

5 hours ago, NCRich said:

Gorgeous!  The navi is an awesome watch.  Congrats mate.

Thanks Rich, I'm delighted with it......best of the vintage mixed with modern touches.

4 hours ago, Genius said:

What a stunner!  And finding a vintage piece with a bulletproof movement makes it all the better

Thanks Sir, a lucky but painful financial break..............

3 hours ago, NFleischer said:

Nice pick up, congrats!

Thank you kindly Sir!

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Daffy

If the worn gold plating ever starts to bother you, with both the case and bezel being stainless, there is a solution.  You (or your local metalsmith) can heat the stainless to a certain temperature to make the actual metal turn gold.  I think the rep world calls this "brassing" when done to bezels.

 

btw: NICE pickup.   I am seriously jealous.

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MAJ75
51 minutes ago, Daffy said:

If the worn gold plating ever starts to bother you, with both the case and bezel being stainless, there is a solution.  You (or your local metalsmith) can heat the stainless to a certain temperature to make the actual metal turn gold.  I think the rep world calls this "brassing" when done to bezels.

 

btw: NICE pickup.   I am seriously jealous.

Thanks for the tip-off bud. I guess it is 30 years old & seems to have been regularly worn so the plating is worn on the edges of the bezel. The plating on the case is pretty blemish free, just a little oxidisation on the chrono pushers etc.

TBH these are a small trade off against being able to aquire at what I thought was a very fair price.

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GC

giphy.gif

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Bjorns

Looking amazing !

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dhistory

Looks great. The crystal is amazingly clean for its age. Hope you enjoy it. 

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