Peak Tropical ?

The rusty hands are typical silver mark 1 on early Breitling's from 1956. The rust is from the radium. Curious that the dial has AOPA on logo but also the word Breitling. For the american market it would be AOPA on logo but no breitling text. The european market watches would typically have the word breitling but no AOPA on the logo. To see both a signed AOPA plus Breitling text is rare.

Very interesting. I wasn't sure what exactly would have caused the rusting and discoloration. Often can be various factors, but it makes sense that the radium causes it in cases like this. It certainly makes a geiger counter start beeping! In looking through a loupe, you can definitely see that there are some areas that are more affected than others, and it could be that the hands were stopped in these areas for longer than others. For example, around the word "Navitimer" the face almost has iridescent scaling. Same around the AOPA logo.


Agreed on this. I've done a bit of research. Kurt B has the most extensive info on these. He has one of only a couple that I've found with both the AOPA logo and the breitling text and "B". If you scroll about 1/3 of the way down this page you'll see a stellar (non-rusting 😀 version. http://kurt-b.com/ From what I have read, it was that period when breitling was a bit all over the place in transitioning to different markets with different faces. But, that's part of why I'd really like to know the original story of this watch... was it purchased in or outside the US, etc.