THE LEGENDS: LARGE-CASE WATERPROOF MODELS

REFS. 765, 777

While there are only two model references in this range of Premier chronographs, the ref. 765 and its twin-register sibling, the ref. 777, they are incredibly important for Breitling and chronograph evolution in general. They began as tool watches, built for wartime military precision. Their cases were waterproof, designed for pilots and soldiers who faced all kinds of unexpected situations. And at 38 mm, they were huge for their time, with simple, functional dials that were easy to operate and easy to read at a glance. But while their roots in the 1940s were as air force chronographs, in the post-war years these watches would evolve on the wrists of athletes, adventurers and businessmen into elegant gentlemen’s chronographs.

The triple-register ref. 765 was one of two references to be carried over from the Landeron Hahn caliber period before 1940

Huit Premier ref. 765, 1946, Venus cal. 178, 38.1 mm case: steel, hands: slim lumed Syringe

(the other being the ref. 734, covered in the non-waterproof section of this book). It was the “tool watch par excellence” made by Breitling’s Huit Aviation division, which was also producing cockpit clocks and chronographs, along with professional pilot’s watches. These watches contained the best calibers money could buy, and they were tested for reliability in temperatures from -40 to +100°C and on specialized vibration tables that mimicked the punishing conditions inside a warplane. When Breitling discontinued the use of the Hahn cal. 42, the ref. 765 migrated to the new Venus-based movement line. The 38 mm watch was designed to hold the 14-lignes Venus cal. 178, but because the movements were late to arrive, early models were assembled using spacer rings with the smaller, 13-lignes Venus caliber 152.