I am seriously considering to purchase this watch. Although I like Breitlings very much I have no idea what I am looking at? In the past the this Forum community has helped me a lot with their valuable opinions. So once again I am here asking for your opinions for this watch. I do not have any picture of the movement. Again as always thank you so much.

 

Nice looking watch, Dial appears to be original but hard to tell 100% with the crystal on. I assume the movement would be a Venus 178 but might be a Valjoux 7736. Best of luck on the watch!!

 

This would be a Venus 178.

 

It does look nice, and this dial variation seem less common than the others.

 

Reverse panda+178+AOPA= BUY

Case looks very nice.

 

Looks in excellent shape. AOPA Breitlings are generally more sought after than regular ones. Expect to pay a premium.

If you want to dive into the wonderful wormhole of vintage breitling, start here and then here. You could also ask for help at TZ's Breitling forum. When I bought my Navitimer Cosmonaute, the eminent @watchfred helped me in the vetting process.

Hope this helps!

 

Good 810s are getting very hard to find at any price. You just reminded me that I haven't worn mine for a while. I would take this over a Heuer any day.

 

Thank you all very much for your input. When I first saw the watch my reaction was like @TexOmega "Reverse panda+178+AOPA= BUY". The case and the dial loked too gog to be true. It appears to me that this a 1.2 version of the Top Time.

This is a face to face transaction and I know all about the buyer, so I am buying the watch.

Should I buff the crystal or replace. The case of course will be cleaned but not polished (sound like Bond's martini)

Thank you so much I am grateful.

 

I’d replace (but keep!) the crystal for a period-correct new one. If it’s indeed the original crystal, it may so so brittle by now you could easily crack it. When you keep it after replacing, you won’t have any trouble selling the watch—if you would ever even consider parting with this Top Time again ;-)

 

@jaspers said
"I’d replace (but keep!) the crystal for a period-correct new one. If it’s indeed the original crystal, it may so so brittle by now you could easily crack it. When you keep it after replacing, you won’t have any trouble selling the watch—if you would ever even consider parting with this Top Time again ;-)"

Is there a way you can tell if the crystal is original? How do you get a "period-correct" new crystal?

 

great looking watch.

 

Not in the way you can tell with an Omega crystal, alas! Check with the aforementioned people. Fred particularly is quite helpful if you ask nicely, as are many other folks on the Breitling TZ forum. As for the period-correct crystal: find a watchmaker with a track-record of vintage Breitling. Again, inquire with TZ folks and they can point you to watchmakers near where you live. Best of luck!