In 1952, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) commissioned ‘Navitimer’ watches by Breitling exclusively for pilots and AOPA members. The watches provided a slide rule bezel for calculating fuel consumption, flight duration and distance traveled. The catchy name, ‘Navitimer’ is a combination of the words ‘navigation’ and ‘timer.’ This soon became the official watch of the AOPA and the ‘winged’ logo of the AOPA replaced the Breitling ‘B’ on the dial.

The earliest models did not tend to have a reference number, but were distinguishable by the engraved ‘Breitling’ and “B” logo engraved on reverse. Few stylistic modifications were made to this classic, except that between 1954-1955, the reference number 806 was assigned to the timepiece and the Valjoux caliber 72 replaced the original Venus 178 movement, seen here in this example. For obvious reasons, the majority of the Navitimer wristwatches were cased in stainless steel. When found preserved in such wonderful original condition, they can be considered rare collectors’ watches.

The present example, fitted with a lovely black gloss dial, shows few signs of having hardly ever been worn. Also, it is accompanied by the original Breitling guarantee from its date of purchase on 28 April 1960 at Artland Watch Co. in Hong Kong, offering excellent value for any collector.