REDUCED: Vintage 1970s Breitling ref. 7806 Navitimer w/Beautiful Big Eye Dial

[tomvox1]

Up for sale from my personal collection is this uncommon circa 1974 Breitling ref. 7806 Navitimer in stainless steel with beautiful inverse panda “Big Eye” Twin Jet dial. This rare reference of Breitling’s classic aviator’s computing watch features the equally scarce Valjoux 7740 chronograph movement instead of the usual Venus 178 found in nearly all other earlier Navitimers. The manual wind 7740 is an odd duck in that it is essentially a Chronomatic cal 11/12 but without the autowind mechanism (not sure how these wound up being branded “Valjoux 7740” but I guess that is a story for another day). Also unusual is the placement of the constant seconds sub-register hand at “6” while the hour counter is at “9” and the minute counter at “3,” as well as a small red date placed between “4” and “5,” another first for a Navitimer. With gorgeously patinated Tritium luminous figures, colorful red slide rule accents and an oversized 41mm steel case in Excellent+ condition this is a beautiful vintage watch with great presence and panache, as well as a model you’re not likely to see on someone else’s wrist. To put the cherry on top of the sundae, this great Breitling just had its complex movement fully overhauled and the watch will come with a 6-month movement guarantee for all normal, non-abusive use.

The asking price for this fully serviced Vintage Breitling 7806 is now REDUCED to $4450 USD OBRO including fully insured FedEx shipping worldwide. Bank Wire preferred on this transaction. Other payment options upon application. Payment must be made in US DOLLARS. Watch will ship upon full clearance of the funds, as well as any necessary bank vetting.



























CASE & BACK: Classic oversized aviator's chronograph measures approximately 41mm wide x 48mm long not including crown. The heavy steel snap back case appears to have been buffed in the past and there is some softening of the original lug chamfers, although all is still quite thick and they are still clearly defined. The brushed finish of the case sides may have also been re-satined. It’s all very clean with only a few light scratches and no harsh nicks or dings — Excellent+ lightly polished vintage condition for an over 40-year-old watch. The outer part of the steel snap-on back has some small scratches and the center section may also have been re-brushed but all original Breitling nomenclature, reference & serial numbers are still crisp and legible — Excellent cosmetic condition. The 1.43 mil serial number dates to circa 1974 according to the best available information. The inner caseback has some corrosion to the lip, as does the inner case ring where the gasket is seated, which is common with these older snap back cases (the gasket was replaced and properly installed post photos at service). Most of the nomenclature is on the outside of the caseback at this juncture of Breitling history, although the factory name is present inside the back, as well as several older service marks.

BEZEL: The heavy steel rotating bezel with big serrations is Near Mint with only light marks and sharp, well-articulated knurling. The slide rule insert is quite bright and crisp with no water damage. The bezel itself rotates in both directions with firm finger pressure and good resistance, as designed.

DIAL & HANDS: Excellent original eggshell finish black Twin Jet logo dial with complex silver printing and “Big Eye” engine turned sub-registers. There are some minor imperfections visible under a loupe, primarily some light marks to the hour counter register at “9” and some slight loss of red paint to two of the small adjacent calculating triangles on the left side of the dial. Obviously this is very hard to see with the naked eye. Tritium luminous "12" and bar hour markers are present and showing a lovely patina and the complex slide rule calibrations that circle the dial are all intact. The white engine-turned inverse panda sub dials have also acquired a warm light ivory tone through the years. Simply put, this is an absolutely gorgeous and complicated vintage dial as only Breitling seemed able to execute. Correct characteristic white luminous-filled sword and dagger hour & minute hands and spear-tipped chrono sweep seconds are likewise Excellent with only minor signs of age and the correct and distinctive non-matching small black counter hands are Near Mint.

CROWN & PUSHERS: The signed Breitling steel crown is very clean and undamaged, Excellent+ original condition. It sits tightly to the case, winds smoothly and pulls out to the time-setting position as it should. Both chrono pushers work as they should, though you have to be firm with the top start-stop pusher because, I believe, the way the movement sits inside the large case requires a relatively long pusher set up. It can be just a little bit less than crisp on stop and restart and always has been so again I’m not sure whether that’s not just a characteristic of this movement type never having owned another watch with a 7740. Everything certainly engages fine and the bottom pusher resets the chrono functions quite crisply with all counter hands snapping back to “zero” as they should.

CRYSTAL: Large medium-dome acrylic crystal is Excellent+ with only some minor scratches and no deep marks.

MOVEMENT: Uncommon Valjoux caliber 7740 manual wind chronograph movement with 17 jewels, shock protection and all correct Breitling nomenclature of the era on the bridges and beneath the balance. Essentially a non-automatic version of the revolutionary Chronomatic caliber 11/12, Breitling’s collaboration with Heuer et al, it seems to me as though the 7740 was tapped to be one of the replacements for the venerable Venus 178 in Breitling’s manual 3-register chronographs, along with the non-date Valjoux 7736, as you see these start to appear along with revised model references in the early 70s. As stated above, this complex movement has just been fully overhauled by my watchmaker for years more of faithful service. Therefore it is running strong, keeping great time with correct semi-quickset date change (by moving the hands back and forth between around 9pm and midnight) and all chrono functions are working properly and returning to zero. Power reserve is strong but of course, as with most manual watches, it's good to fully wind it once a day. This high grade chrono movement is guaranteed against any problems for 6-months of normal, non-abusive use.

STRAP: This cool Navitimer comes on a pilot-style black buffalo grain leather strap with white stitching and generic brushed steel buckle. It has barely been worn and is easily in Excellent+ to Near Mint condition. This big watch takes 22mm straps.

As a matter of policy, I make NO guarantees for the water resistance of this watch in any way, shape or form due to its age and the dodgy water resistance of most vintage chronos in general.

This great Vintage Breitling Navitimer is offered with a 3-day inspection period from the date of receipt and may be returned for a full refund less any shipping costs incurred by the buyer. This refund is unconditional and once I get the watch back in exactly the same condition as it was sent to you, your money will be refunded. Of course, once the 3 days are over the sale will be considered FINAL.

Thanks for looking,
T.
tomvox1@hotmail.com