Timeline Watch
1953

Breitling 765 AVI

Moscow announces explosion of hydrogen bomb

1953 Breitling 765 AVI all black Pilot Chronograph.

The Breiltling 765 AVI is a rare Pilot chronograph, roughly 1000 watches produced from 1953 to 1958.

The Black Breitling 765 AVI have a steel bezel which is held in place by 3 screws. The screw holes are not in a specific place in the bezel but can be in several places. The screw holes I observed were in the following places.

In the mid 1950s, Breitling developed a military aviation-spec chronograph the reference 765. A large chronograph, with 22mm. size lugs, a rotating 12 hour steel and 41 diameter bezel.

In the beginning of 1960s, Breitling changed the black sub-dials to white ones. In 1965, the company decided to update the model but maintained the case, dial and hands. The AVI designation was replaced by CP which stands for Co-Pilot. Then, the material of the bezel was changed from steel to anodized aluminum, besides, Breitling introduced two different types of bezels: a half black and half white bezel and a full black one.

Breitling modified the movement to a 15 minute counter instead of the 30 minute, the 15 minute counter was done because Aircrews had 15 minutes to get an aircraft ready for takeoff and this allowed them to keep track of those 15 minutes easier than with a 30 minute counter.

The Company has been a leading innovator in high quality stopwatches and chronographs and helped define how chronographs look and function until today.

Breitling launched the first wrist chronograph with a pusher at 2:00 in 1915.

Presented in 1933 as the first dual pusher wrist chronograph with pushers at 2:00 and 4:00 o’clock.

Breitling was one of the first manufacturers to recognize the need of early aviators for wrist watches incorporating such devices.

Consequently in 1942 Breitling introduced the Chronomat, the worlds first Smart Watch. A chronograph with a rotating logarithmic slide rule that allowed complex calculations with the turn of your fingers.

Throughout the 1930s to 50s, Breitling continued creating chronographs with different scales to suit different professions, such as tachometers for production engineers and drivers, and pulsometersfor doctors.

As a result in the 50s the Breitling Navitimer Chosen as the official timepiece of AOPA, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. Something which Breitling has traded on ever since.

A 24-hour dial version, the Cosmonaute, was also produced in the early 60s.

Jerry Seinfeld, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Miles Davis all wear (or wore) a vintage Breitling Navitimer.