Alkiro1
38081
Grandfather and grandson reunited. Why they keep their cards close to their chest?
Hi everyone,
I have had the true pleasure to meet today, for the second time, our dear HSTE. One of our kind and king vintage collectors here.
He brought with him his splendid Breitling Co-Pilot 765 AVI from the 50s also called “Lucy Digital” (see further why this nickname) and I brought with me my Breitling Spatiographe Montbrillant from the late 90s.
Why grandfather and grandson? Well, these two watches have something very special in common even if they have approximately 45 years of difference.
They share a window (at 3 for the AVI 765 and at 9 for the Spatiographe) which is not a date window (common mistake I made few months ago) but a countdown function.
A good explanation of this function is given by Acollectedman.com
“The 765 AVI was designed as an aviators watch, and the small display actually serves as a fifteen minute countdown function. Before taking flight, pilots are required to make 15 minutes-worth of pre-flight checks, which, with this complication, they could time in a rather satisfying way.”
If mine has only a 10mn countdown and not a 15mn one (why 5mn less? I’m not sure but maybe pre-flight checks were faster in the 90s compared to the 50s), there’s another interesting difference between these two timepieces.
While my Spatiographe has a “sliding” countdown, the AVI 765 has a jumping one which is truly cool when you see it in action believe me. Of course, I regret that Breitling didn’t keep this complication with my watch 😩
Now, why “Lucy Digital”? Well, below another explanation given by acollectedman.com
The nickname assigned to this piece is the ’Lucy Digital’, which may seem fairly abstract, but it makes reference to a nickname given to the remains of a 3.2 million year old skeleton of a predecessor to the Homo Sapien species. The name applies to the very first example of this reference, the idea being that it was the genesis of a number of evolutions of the 765.
I hope you liked this side by side shot (pretty rare in my opinion) and the explanations about these both timepieces and how they share a common DNA.
Best wishes
Alkiro
Grandfather and grandson reunited. Why they keep their cards close to their chest?
I thinks it's difficult to find !
