Horological Meandering

For those who are not very familiar with Breitling, there are some unavoidable models, maybe too unavoidable to be really tempting, like the iconic Navitimer, or the mythic Superocean Diving watch ( time only ) which is a contender to the Rolex Subs ,and even closer, to the Blancpain Fifity Fathoms.

This sounds like a wrong statement, as the Navitimers are watches to be seen and felt in the flesh, to be fully appreciated, and then, to understand why so many people are fatally attracted by them.

The Breitling I want to introduce you now is something very different.

Still, it is a Chronograph, but a special one, as it is a Monopusher, it is much smaller than a contemporeanean Navitimer, and the dial is something really special.

- The dial:

A white dialed Military Chrono is not that common.

It has to be precised that some armies opted for such a dial, white and unmarked, and when we look around we some very similar examples.

The Lemania, made for the British Hydrographic Service ( HS ) ( Picture to be credited to Zaf )



Do you notice the same painted numbers, at the exception of the 6 and 12, which are luminous ( tritium ) as well as the dots all around the unsigned dial ( for the Breitiling ) and signed dial ( for the Lemania )?

The pointed skeleted hands are identical, too, in both cases.

Same thing for the Omega, which was also made for the Royal Canadian Air Force ( Credit picture: Watchyouwant ) :



Another Omega RCAF, but with an unsigned sial, this time ( Credit pictures: Zaf Basha ), coming in a 38 mm case:







A red or orange second hand gives the colorful touch of life to the dial. Amusing but nice, too.



The fact that it is unsigned on the Breitling is really cool, as everyone who looks at it wonders from what brand it comes.

A bit of mystery is never bad, don't you think?

- The case:

This is a stainless steel 36, 5 mm case, which looks small on the paper, but which is not in the real life, certainly due to the white dial and the lack of bezel.

The surprise comes to the fact that it is a monopusher, located at 2 o' clock.



Once again, it is far from being the only one to come in this " monopusher " configuration, as the Lemania pictured above shared this particularity.

It taes a while to get used to the lack of the 2d pusher, which is usually located at 4 o'clock, but once you are, you begin to appreciate this specifity more than you are disturbed by this " castration ".

On my example, it seems that it was never polished, as the waqtch wears some obvious sogns of ( military ) life.

Which adds a supplement of soul to this tool watch.

You will also notice the overdimensionned signed crown which seems to be original, as I saw the same on the few ones which were posted on the net.



A rare hint which links the watch to Breitling!

- The Case Back and movement:

A screw in case back, which bears the military engravings, and the name of the watch brand:



Signed outside, but also inside, with the case number:



The case back protects the signed movement, a Valjoux 236, which is hacking, and allows a precise set of the time.



It is the first time that I try to make some adjustments on the accuracy of the watch, as it gained some 5 minutes per day, and I managed, proudly, to low it to 15 secs per day.



I think it will need a good service, but for the moment I enjoy it without moderation.

As to conclude, I'd say that I fell in love with this white beauty, because it is an original military watch, and also because it changes from the Breitlings we use to see.

As previously said this is quite a rare watch, which was made in the second half of the 60ies, for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

A watch which gives you a lot of pleasure once on the wrist, and which will end my thema of military Chronographs, unless I find a military Longines 13 ZN...



Looking forward to reading your comments,

Best,

Nicolas.

This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-10-02 12:24:35 This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-10-02 12:27:41 This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-10-05 23:41:17

Some time back I had the pleasure to see, in flesh, the Omega brother, also from the Canadian Air Force.

Your Breitling is in great shape but, IMHO, you should try it with a dark brown leather.

Thank you for showing another beauty,

Nilo

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Absolutely beautiful pictures of that watch. I've had one for a few years now and am prompted to wear it more often after having seen your post!. 

+ / - 3 secs per day... Damn! I have to do it again!

Best,

Nicolas

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I loved it the first time I saw you ware it on WristScan, love the dial plus that combo with the Kaki Nato is just perfect and the orange seconds hand a subtile "zap"!

Kind regards. Francois

I loved it the day I bought it, I love it even more for two years, now...

Thank you so much, my friend.

Nicolas

. . . which sterile you prefer - Breitling or Benrus?

I would say this Breitling...

Best, Artie.

Nicolas

. . . with Himself ;-) . . .  

Congratulations. Really a great catch!

This is one of these secret treasures which is so exciting to discover.

Best,

Nicolas

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Anyone who knows a Bit about watches would assume it is a Lemania just because it is a monopusher. What a pleasant surprise they would get if they asked you about it to learn it is from the other top chrono brand of its period.
It is quite unlike the majority of Breitling chronos from the same period and has the look of a 50's piece.

Get it serviced and then it will be +/- 0.

Enjoy
G

This message has been edited by amanico on 2012-10-04 07:40:01

Thanks for sharing Nicolas, interesting stuff. I really like the charm of these military mono-pushers, they are quite unique in their looks I think. I still cant get over how clean your example is, the chrono hand looks like it was painted yesterday - really stunning!

I brought mine back from the dead as I have said before with a full clean up and re-dial. The caseback had lost the military markings through polishing and the amazing hands had been swapped for others - a shame but all of this was reflected in the price so some consolation. It ultimately swung my decision on the name on the re-dial...I was left with a military watch with half of the military elements lost!

I also think they are reasonably priced especially compared to 806's or 809's of the same time period (although I did read of one of the Omega examples fetching $14k at Christies?!)

Here is mine:

 

 

I have quite big wrists and this 36.5mm manages to fill it up nicely:

 

Luckily mine also retained the original "big" crown, this a view of the domed crystal:

Yes, it is a lovely watch, and I feel your pain concerning the military parts lost on yours.

Still, you have a lovely Chrono.

I don't think we are the only two to have it, here...

Let' s wait for a certain british friend of ours to come...

Best, Tim.

Nicolas.

Very informative, and good deal of research you shared with us.

Yes, I like these slightly rarer military watches, nice pieces of history.

 

Best, cheers Tony

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.... Don't know much about this brand, but have seen mono pusher chrono by lemania from time time, but yours look more appealing to me.

Just a bit of patience and of luck, my friend.

Best,

Nicolas

Canadian military wristwatches have very little information about them and as time goes on I'm sure more info will come to light.
The pleasure for me of these military watches is the fact they were living breathing timepieces that were used and maintained over a
long period, sometimes decades worth of use.

As far as I can tell there were several versions of this watch produced, like yours in the Sixties and then some more in the Seventies.
All have had their dials redone by the Canadian military, with some of the later ones adding the Breitling logo like mine. Perhaps  the redials were to change or refresh the luminous compound on them.

A few years ago someone posted one that had been cleared out of an old Canadian military base. Complete with repair certificate.

The owner posted --

"I received my watch from my father in-law. He got the watch doing a scrap clean up at the comox air base located BC, Canada, back in the late 60's and the watch sat there in the garage for over 40 years before I opened the can.

The can the Breitling "DND" (Department of National Defence) Canadian watch came in is a circular "Vulcan" metal container
The watch is a certified proven Breitling 17 jew. VALJOU CAL. 236
Also come with the Old RCAF Repair tag issued by the government, with the exact serial numbers as the watch, and all serial numbers match the can it came with."

(credit - breitlingsource)

There is still not enough known about them and as more examples appear perhaps we can fill in some more blanks.

I'd also like to say that while we've had to gather information bit by bit over the past 12 years, a couple of years ago Konrad Knirim brought out a wonderful
book called "British Military Timepieces", which is anyone has a serious interest in military wristwatches is really a great resource.


This message has been edited by Ubik on 2012-10-11 06:51:10

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Yes, there are many  blanks to fill, indeed.

Hence the idea I had to  " light " this topic.

I am sure that with time, some informations will be gathered, added, and that we'll discern in a more complete way the whle story of these watches.

Thanks for adding these informations, my friend.

Best,

Nicolas.