Hi everyone - brand new to the forum, and I hear you guys are experts on vintage pieces so I thought I'd get your opinion on this vintage Breitling. I'm thinking of making an offer, but I don't want to get a franken-watch or something that's been poorly modified. The seller says the movement was serviced just a couple months ago and it's running great. I asked about non-original parts and dial repainting - he said that his watchmaker had to source a specific part of the movement that may not be original, and he didn't have the dial repainted, although someone prior may have. It's a Venus 170, but I don't know if it's the original movement. The dial looks a little suspect to me - mainly that the markings on the right subdial look darker than the left subdial - and also that the left subdial intersects with the minute scale, whereas the right subdial does not. But I don't know if that's normal or not. I really don't know much about vintage Breitlings, but the dial design and that lollipop hour hand really drew me in. What do you guys think? Is it worth making an offer? Is $1000 a fair price, or too high? Any thoughts are much appreciated!
I will let the experts chime in but I agree with you on the dial imperfections - the printing inconsistency especially. Also, as a reference, I've seen original vintage Breitling chronographs sell starting around $1.5k. A quick scan on ebay sold listings will help as well.
Here's a dial from a Breitling model 1188 from 1950. It has a Venus 188 inside. The V170 is more desirable. I have not resized this picture like I usually do so you can look at it at full size - just click on it and it will open in another window and click once again and it will go to full size.. The dial is dirty but I believe it is original - I could be wrong. My biggest concern with your dial is the "Breitling" - it looks cruder than mine.
It's definitely a redial. Expand the pictures, compare the "Breitling" script with the one in @ahsposo's post and it should be fairly obvious. Note the much cruder r, the loops in g, the loop in l and the terminals of B and g.
Oh and I'm not sure about minute hand. The fact that it overshoots the minute track so far makes me wonder..
It seems very likely to be a redial. Also I believe the caseback should be signed for this reference. It's difficult to tell from the pictures, but I can't see anything.
The Venus 170 has it's subtotals at 6 and 12, not at 3 and 9 like your example, so this seems to be mixed up as well. Hands are also of concern: All big hands are different styles are are both subtotal hands. => Better wait for the next Breitling than to take this one.
Besides dial, hands and caseback concerns, also check out the "Breitling" engraving on the movement; it was added after the original script was machined off. Also font might be incorrect, imprint is sloppy etc. I'd say teleporting yourself from its vicinity would be more appropriate than running