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Monday, June 23, 2008

Cool gear: Breitling Navitimer Montbrillant Olympus


Why I would give my left nut for this watch. *

For those of you who watch the watches like I do, the Olympus is a holy grail of watches. It is a LARGE beautiful complex watch that is currently out of my financial comfort zone. Especially for something that sits on my wrist and looks good.

But this watch is a moon phase chronograph that make my nostrils flare when I see it.

Here is some history:
(from http://ezinearticles.com/)

While many manufacturers make and market aviators' watches only a few can really claim to make watches that actually are. Watches like the Omega X-33 and Seamaster 120 Multifunction; the Omega Flightmaster; and the Rolex GMT. And of course, one could not fail to list the Breitling Navitimer.
The Navitimer has been in production for over 50 years. The name of this Breitling watch collection comes from the combination of the two words; Navigation and Timer. The Navitimer practically made the reputation of Breitling, certainly to the general public. It is an iconic timepiece and remains the company's most famous collection.

Today, the Navitimer collection includes the Cosmonaute, World, Montbrillant, Montbrillant Olympus, Montbrillant Datora and Chrono-Matic.
The World is the largest of the Navitimer collection with a casing diameter of 46mm. It has 25 jewels and a 2 time-zone, self-winding mechanical movement. The casing comes in steel, 18k gold or red gold.
The Montbrillant takes its name from the location of the original Breitling factory. It's a very decorative watch featuring gold hands and hour markers among other embellishments.
In 1969, Breitling developed the World's for self-winding chronograph movement, the Caliber II. The watch collection was called the Chrono-Matic and still is being produced and sold. The watch was easy recognized as the crown was placed on the left-hand-side of the casing - it still is. The watch has 38 jewels and the casing diameter is 44mm and is available in steel or 18k gold.
The Navitimer is a very special Breitling watch due to its association with the early days of aviation. It may be over 50 years old but it still looks as hi-tech and fashionable as it did when it first appeared.
Incidentally, after Lt Cmdr Scott Carpenter splashed down to earth, the watch needed to be repaired as it wasn't water tight. It was sent back to the factory in Switzerland for repair but somewhere along the way it went missing and was never found. A piece of Breitling watch history was lost forever.

* almost kidding , serious offers considered.

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