Something of a rarity this time on the blog, a Breitling Superocean Ref. 2005.
(Click pictures to enlarge)
The name ‘Superocean’ will be recognised by any Breitling enthusiast as it has been a model in their line-up since 1957. Releasing a diver and a chronograph in that year, the new models proved popular and it’s not hard to see why… how cool are these two?
Fast forward a decade or so and Breitling released the first version of the watch in this post, the Superocean Ref. 2005, featuring a Venus cal. 188 which had been modified specifically for Breitling to incorporate a unique diving timer (more on that later). The main differences between the two versions are that the early model has no running seconds subdial and has a plain diving bezel rather than the yachting bezel found on the later model.
As you can see in the first picture, the watch in this post arrived in pretty poor condition. The watch didn’t run at all, the timer wouldn’t operate and the crystal was heavily crazed. Once out of the case, judging by the condition of the dial and the missing lume, it was clear that the watch had also had some moisture in it at some time.
Inside the watch is a Valjoux cal. 7731 which is based on the Valjoux cal. 7730 cam lever chronograph. Like the Venus 188 used in the early model, the caliber in this watch was again modified specifically for the Breitling Ref 2005.
Thankfully the movement was still in decent condition and showed no sign of rust, though it did have it’s fair share of issues. The hairspring was broken, a part of the diving timer was missing and the pusher tab on the operating lever had broken off. All of these items would need to be replaced.
What isn’t obvious in the first picture and certainly isn’t immediately recognisable when looking at the movement is that this watch doesn’t have a regular chronograph function but a unique diving timer – the main sweep second hand doesn’t rotate once per minute like a regular Valjoux 773x chronograph but once per hour, eliminating the need for a minute subdial. What also isn’t immediately obvious is that the watch also has a hole in the dial under the ‘Superocean’ script showing the current state of the timer.
Let’s have a closer look at the components which make this possible…
With the dial removed, you can see the modifications made to the dial side of the base calibre. A recessed area has been cut into the mainplate to incorporate the timer state indicator.
When the dial is in place the indicator underneath shows one of three states depending on the current operation of the timer; running, stopped or reset.
The indicator is moved back and forth between states by a modified chronograph hammer on the going side of the movement. The hammer has an extended pin that passes through a hole in the mainplate (again modified for this calibre) and moves the state indicator under the dial accordingly.
The final modification is to the driving mechanism which dispenses with the regular parts found in the base chronograph calibre. The third wheel is modified to extend the upper pivot onto which a driving wheel is mounted and the coupling clutch is replaced with a completely new part which incorporates two internal wheels geared to rotate the centre chronograph wheel just once per hour rather than once per minute.
Sadly the driving wheel was missing from the watch and I knew that sourcing a replacement would be very hard indeed. Although Breitling confirmed that they had the missing part in stock, they refused to supply the part unless the watch was sent to their service centre for assessment and a full restoration.
Six months of fruitless searching rolled by and not having the means to manufacture such a wheel, I decided to make a work-around ‘wheel’ comprising a slotted brass bush with a rubber gasket mounted on it to provide the friction needed to drive the timer. Perhaps not the most elegant solution, but it worked a treat and allowed me to continue with the rest of the work.
With all the movement problems solved, it was on to the cosmetic work. The dial was cleaned (as much as was possible), the hands were re-painted and the hands and timer state indicator were re-lumed. Finally, the case was cleaned and a new crystal and caseback gasket fitted before the watch was rebuilt.
The owner decided subsequently to send the watch to the vintage department at Breitling who inspected the watch and finally agreed to supply and fit the correct driving wheel after all.
Rich.
** Many thanks to Bryce Clayton for letting me feature his watch on the blog. **
