Breitling Chronomat ref. 769, Non-Luminous Gloss Black 'Gilt' Dial

Dealer description — Oliver & Clarke

Breitling has a long and rich history in chronographs — with an emphasis on aviation chronographs. No doubt, their most well-known model family is the Navitimer, with its characteristic 'slide-rule' rotating bezel and inner ring, but the Navitimer was actually preceded by Chronomat. From ten feet, these look a lot like the Navitimer, utilizing the same materials, dial colors, and a manually-wound chronograph movement, but are actually quite a bit more digestible when it comes to legibility and size. The example that we have here is a very early Ref. 769 dating to circa 1950. Coming in at a beautifully-sized and versatile 36mm in diameter it remains in unpolished condition, with defined lugs and deep knurls on the rotating bezel. It shows normal signs of wear from age with no major damage and just a few tooling marks on the caseback from opening over the decades. The square pushers at the two and four o'clock positions show light wear, revealing their brass color beneath. This piece, like so many great chronographs from this era, is powered by the proven Venus Cal. 175 manually-wound movement. Last but not least is the stunning and beautifully-preserved dial inside. Being a non-luminous variant, this piece shows none of the usual heavy wear from degradation of the luminous material that most of these would see. The center section retains it's deep glossy black 'gilt' surface and shows only faint surface 'matting.' The outer white and silver rings are also in fantastic condition, showing only light surface wear from age with non of the usual moisture damage or heavy discoloration. It is stunning to behold given it's 75-year old age. Additionally, being an early example, the dial bears the cross logo that was eventually moved onto the caseback on subsequent examples. It, along with the rest of the text and printing, remains crisp and clear. Vintage Chronomats in condition like this are truly elusive. Collectors tend to hold onto fantastic examples like this one, making for a great opportunity to snag this one.