Breitling Top Time is the name given to the series of watches characterized by a bold and elegant design, which were also useful tools for professional pilots and racers.
These watches were first introduced in 1964 and were primarily intended for young men. Breitling Top Time watches were positioned as entry-level chronographs, with much lower prices than the company’s flagships, the Navitimer and Chronomat.
Top Times were available in several dial styles, case shapes, and with both two and three-register variants. Hand-winding Venus movements were used during a production preiod that lasted until 1972.
The Breitling Top Time eventually became a classic among watch enthusiasts, thanks to its continued popularity. The many celebrities from the entertaining and sports worlds who were known to wear a Breitling Top Time paved the way for the watch to be etched forever as a part of pop culture.
The most famous among these celebrities is actor Sean Connery who played Agent 007 in the 1965 James Bond movie “Thunderball.” In the film, Connery’s character was tasked to find two NATO atomic bombs that had been stolen by the criminal organization Spectre. To aid in his mission, Q (Desmond Llewelyn) presented James Bond with a modified version of the Breitling Top Time Ref. 2002, equipped with a Geiger counter. The watch featured in various scenes in the movie as Bond uses it to survey radiation in places where the stolen bombs were thought to have been hidden, including in the Disco Volante boat and the Nassau Palmyra estate.
The Breitling Top Time Ref. 2002 is one of only two watches worn by Sean Connery alias James Bond. The Top Time 2002 is the first Q-modified watch to appear in the spy film franchise.
Breitling Top Time Panda
A Breitling Top Time Watch is also worn by actor and comedian Sid James in the 1973 movie “Carry on Girls” although, the Breitling Top Time Panda he wore was not nicknamed after him or the movie.
In the world of sports, Olympian Jean-Claude Killy is well-known not only for being an alpine ski racer but also as the owner of a Breitling Top Time Ref. 1765, for which the watch was nicknamed “Jean-Claude Killy”. Killy is said to have worn the watch before, during, and after the 1968 Olympics. He also reportedly wore the watch during his car races.
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