The Breitling AOPA Navitimer 806 remains near the top of virtually every vintage watch collectors wish list.
The Breitling Navitimer 806 internal rotating bezel is a slide-rule navigation computer which makes complex mathematical calculations useful to pilots.
Jerry Seinfeld, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Miles Davis all wear (or wore) a Breitling Navitimer 806 with black & white dial.
The Breitling Navitimer 806 Chosen as the official timepiece of AOPA, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Something which Breitling has traded on ever since.
A 24-hour dial version, the Cosmonaute, was also produced in the early 60s.
The first generation Navitimer 806 came in the early 50s, they had Arabic numerals, black dials and sub-dials.
The second generation shows silver sub-dials and index instead of numbers. I believe a very undervalued watch considering its important hostory, brand and case size.
Many early Navitimers didn’t have the Breitling logo but the AOPA wing on the dial.
Some rare dials show the AOPA wings and the letter B instead of the Breitling logo.
Thunderball is the fourth James Bond film, which was aired in 1965. Commandant François Derval is a French NATO pilot who is deployed to fly an Avro Vulcan loaded with atomic bombs. He wears a Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806, which changes hands several times throughout the film after his assassination.
According to the Thunderball novel, Ian Fleming describes the NATO airman Petacchi – a character who holds a very similar character to that of Derval – as a lover of “flashy, exciting, (and) expensive” things.
Technical Data
Caliber: Breitling 01 (Manufacture)
Movement: Selfwinding mechanical
Power reserve: Min. 70 hrs
Chronograph: 1/4th second, 30 minutes, 12 hours
Vibration: 28 800 v.p.h
Jewel: 47 jewels
Calendar: Dial aperture
Case: Steel, 18K red gold
Back: Screwed in
Water resistance: 3 bars
Bezel: Bidirectional, slide rule
Crown: Non screw-locked, two gaskets
Crystal: Cambered sapphire, glareproofed both sides
Diameter: 43.00 mm
Strap: Leather, Navitimer or Air Racer
Interhorn width: 22/20 mm
Thickness: 14.25 mm
Weight (without strap): 81.20 gr.
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