Case sizes, dial colors, and materials have all had their ups and downs, but even back in the ‘90s we were seeing brands launching anniversary reissue models of some of their past classics. With that in mind, few brands have been as consistently impressive in this category within the last handful of years as Breitling.
Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806 1959 Edition
The Replica Watch gains a tiny bit of additional water resistance (30m), and uses Super-LumiNova for its luminous material, but otherwise you’re effectively looking at a carbon copy of the 1959 model here. We were genuinely surprised to see the use of a Plexiglass crystal rather than sapphire, and as much as some would rather see the more modern and resilient material in its place. The piece is powered by a modern B09 in-house manufacture chronograph caliber, a manually wound version of their in-house automatic B01.
What we see so often is at the very least a change in Breitling Replica case size, nominal changes in indices, or even repositioned elements like moving a date window to accommodate an available existing caliber, but from stem to stern this model was entirely spot-on.
Breitling Top Time Zorro
It’s a Zorro dial of the Top Time – a Cheap Breitling Replica classic from the ‘60s and ‘70s whose purpose was to be an affordable gentleman’s alternative to the iconic Navitimer.
It steals many details of the specific dial, grabs hands from other vintage Breitling references, and is packed with more modern niceties like a sapphire crystal and a more contemporary yet compact 41mm case diameter.
Consider this more of a ‘Resto Mod’ rather than a ‘Classic” for those of you familiar with the car collector world. It has all that vintage charm without fussing over the little details of a specific historically significant piece. Fake Breitling super wearable given its size and the use of a sapphire crystal, but most importantly it’s AFFORDABLE.
