Vintage Watches UK

The Dial

Rarely does an original dial leave us so bewildered by the longevity of its youth. With such an attractive design to begin with, this is a fantastic vintage piece that is currently shining through as one of the finest in our collection.

There’s a certain beauty to the more humble vintage Breitling dials, those with fewer scales and technical embellishments. This 1969 Breitling Cadette’s reverse panda dial hits our sweet spot for chronograph design. It is decorated with stick indices and pencil hands, which are imprinted with a yellow lume. Two silver-white ribbed sub-dials are positioned at 3 and 9. They are slightly sunken and read the time-keeper’s seconds (left) and the chronograph’s jumping minutes counter (right). The chronographs seconds hand is in a striking aviation-red, in line with Breitling’s piloting heritage. It ticks confidently across the matte dial and resets exactly to zero, which is immediately a good sign with these older chronograph movements.

The dial is signed ‘Breitling’, below reading ‘Cadette’ with ‘Swiss Made’ at 6.

The Case

This is a very beautiful vintage Breitling Swiss made chronograph case, it features tapered pushers which are robust and feel tactile to use as they have very little play. The crown is a service replacement and so is unsigned, as we see on the far majority of vintage Breitling today. The replacement crown is a very similar design to the originals, which you can easily compare online by searching ‘Breitling Cadette 1155’.

This 35mm Breitling Swiss made case is made of chrome plated stainless steel. The highly reflective chrome has eroded slightly in the areas prone to the most wear which has resulted in this very tastefully aged appearance. The tapered lugs are sturdy with straight sharp edges and are swept back slightly to sit the case comfortably on the wrist. At 35mm this is a familiar case size for a chronograph in the late 60s, which were naturally larger than the average dress watch sold at the time. Due to the addition of a chronograph mechanism, this case is 9mm thick. Thicker than our other vintage dress watches but still a discrete piece to wear today.

Inscribed on the exterior of the press-fit case-back is ‘Stainless Steel Back’, ‘Swiss Made’ followed by the case serial number 1302763, which dates this watch to 1969. Also inscribed is the model reference number 1155.

The Movement

Breitling, like many others, would often turn to the praised watchmakers at Valjoux to produce their movements. The Valjoux 7730 was a very popular mid-range Swiss chronograph movement which utilised a more affordable cam switching system, a development that sharply increased the availability of quality chronograph movements in the mid-20^th century.

Housed in this watch is the Valjoux 7733, a completely overhauled design from the 7730. The 7730 was a movement inherited by Valjoux when they came to own Venus, another watch manufacturer mostly used for outsourced movements. With a complete Valjoux re-design the caliber only became more capable and reliable and still favoured that previously mentioned cam-switching system over the more traditional and expensive column wheel switching system.

There’s nothing in particular to report on the condition of the movement. It was recently serviced by our master watchmaker who specialises in vintage chronographs and has seen this movement in the past on many occasions. Of course, we have still thoroughly tested this watch’s time-keeping and chronograph functions and it passes entirely and with flying colours. The chronograph stops, starts and resets exactly to zero instantaneously and the pushers are a delight to use. The time-keeping is of course excellent.

The movement is signed ‘Breitling Watch Co Ltd’, ‘Seventeen Jewels’, ‘Swiss’, ‘Unadjusted’ and the calibre number 7733 is inscribed below the balance wheel.

Strap & Buckle

We thought it appropriate to fit a red calf leather strap to this watch, as it further empowers that striking aviation-red chronograph seconds hand. An appropriate stainless steel buckle has been fitted and the ensemble suits the watch perfectly. If a different style of strap would be preferred, we can have an 18mm strap provided by the buyer at no extra cost.

Conclusion

The watch is sold as-is. The watch will take a next day tracked and insured delivery service for the UK, and a 3-5 day service for customers abroad.

Please do get in touch with a member

of our team with any questions. We are always happy to talk shop and negotiate

a price that everyone's comfortable with.