On the heels of its popular Navitimer Ref. 809 1959 Re-Edition, Swiss made replica Breitling continues to grow its stable of pilots’ watches inspired by vintage models. The latest, which debuted last week, is the AVI Ref. 765 1953 Re-Edition, channeling the design of the original 1950s Co-Pilot watch (vintage watch pictured below) and representing, in fact, only the second official re-issue by the Swiss brand.
Since its initial drop, the AVI 765 1953 has been a quick hit among watch media, reviving a cherished design from Breitling’s rich archives and providing collectors a unique model within Breitling’s modern lineup. Interestingly enough, the vintage Co-Pilot was itself based upon onboard clocks designed and produced by the brand in the 1930s and 1940s — the same clocks from which Breitling took inspiration in designing its contemporary Aviator 8 series of Navitimer wristwatches. The new AVI 765 1953 is only being released in limited editions, but in three different materials with various colorways.
The timepiece will be available in steel, platinum, and rose gold cases, all at 41.1 mm in diameter. The case has sharp lugs that evoke those found on 1950s pilot watches, and uses vintage-style (read: small) pump pushers with a push/pull crown. Surrounding the dial is a metal, bidirectional rotating bezel marked with Arabic numerals for each hour, while protecting it is a domed hesalite crystal, hesalite being a more period-accurate material than the sapphire more commonly used on watch crystals today.
The dial of the AVI 765 1953 is black on the rose-gold and steel models, and deep blue on the platinum version, though the configuration and faux-patina accents on each remain the same. On the external portions of the dial is a subtle chronograph-style minute ring, marked at each five minutes with small Arabic numerals, while within these markers are oversized Arabic numerals accented with Super-LumiNova. As for its subdials, we find an unusual 15-minute chronograph counter, riffing off the original’s, at the 3 o’clock position, along with a 12-hour counter and running seconds indicator at the 6 and 9 o’clock positions, respectively. Passing over the dial are two syringe-style hands common to 1950s pilots high quality replica watches uk, while a thin, diamond-tipped hand counts the stopwatch seconds.
Powering this vintage re-issue is Breitling Caliber B09, a COSC-certified, manually-wound movement with an impressive 70-hour power reserve; it’s protected by a solid caseback engraved with the watch’s details. Interestingly, the steel model is the only version to use a screwed case back while the two precious-metal versions use the older snap-back style, though each maintain the same water resistance, up to 3 bar (30 meters/100 feet).
