The Breitling 765 Co-Pilot was created, unsurprisingly, for airplane pilots. Thus, the presence of an oversized 15-minute counter at 3 o’clock and twelve hour rotating bezel, useful for navigational calculations. The Co-Pilot replaced an earlier reference 765 "Digital" that featured a digital minutes counter at 3 o’clock and incorporated an oversized minute counter fitted with large luminous indicators at each three minute increment. Legibility in low light conditions and accuracy were paramount in the creation of this Co-Pilot, and it was eventually even adopted for military use.

Intriguingly, the 765 Co-Pilot boasts not just one, but two strong celebrity endorsements: Jean-Claude Killy, the famous Swiss alpine ski racer, and Raquel Welch, the prominent mid-century actress and sex symbol who wore a 765 Co-Pilot with steel bezel in the James Bond spoof movie, Fathom (1967). While Killy’s name is usually associated with a different wristwatch, it is the Breitling 765 Co-Pilot that was photographed on Killy’s wrist after he won all three gold medals in alpine skiing at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.

The present 765 Co-Pilot shares the same movement as the more well-known Navitimer, the Venus 178. Already impressing the beholder with strong case proportions and flawless bezel, the dial of this specimen is simply breathtaking, fully original and without virtually any blemish, save for a very subtle patina - telltale sign of its fully unmolested condition.