Breitling, chronograph
My first proper watch was a Breitling: a quartz colt to be precise, and from a Hong Kong dealer. I loved that watch and it was astonishingly accurate over many years. It was a little sad to say goodbye to, but one can’t keep things forever. Anyway, I had moved so far away from quartz that I had become rather blase about the battery that kept it ticking. Of course, I wish I had bought one of their numerous mechanical versions as it could be said that no-one knows chronographs quite like Breitling.
And so to this beauty: a two-register chrono, Reference 1191 from 1962. It’s in excellent condition and all stoppers and functions work well. It has a lovely silver dial, applied batons and an outer minute track - and of course that ultra-useful 45 minute chrono subdial. The engine behind the case is a a Venus 188 chronograph movement which is beating away just fine. This famous cam switching movement, rather than a column wheel based chronograph, powered chronographs from 1946 to 1966 when it evolved into the Valjoux 7730 and then later into the automatic Valjoux 7750.
The watch is an almost perfect 36mm (well for me) across the case, has great sword hands, probably an unpolished stainless steel case, and nice long lugs that give it an elegant and solid look on the wrist.
