Done, restored Breitling 9106

[767Geoff]

YAHOOO!

the watch arrived today, Ole Joe's module arrived yesterday so I got down to business;

diassembled the case and removed the old module
cleaned each part of the case including the dial, pushers, springs, screws and etc
sanded crystal with 400 followed by 1000 and 2000 wet dry sandpaper to remove all scratches and pits
then polished the crystal
all gaskets on the pushers and case back renewed
silicon grease to all pusher recessess and case back

The previous module was cleaned, alot of outgassing effect, most of the case was covered in a gooey residue. No obvious sign of corrosion but I will investigate the old module further. Here are the various parts of this beautifully crafted case:

the dial is perfect, took a high res shot for charger105:


the crystal and internal bezel, the white arrow points at the bezel gear for turning the slide rule. This was cleaned of gunk and the relubed with silicon gel lubricant:




the internal ring repositioned inside the case. The dial is affixed to this ring:


the outer turnable bezel was also covered internally with 40 years of detritus:


the outer bezel retaining spring:


The battery clip showed signs of corrosion which was carefully cleaned up:




of course the pushers were removed, gaskets replaced and silicon lubed:


the springs:


the tiny screws:


for scale a Canadian pennie, same size as an American one, (not the same value!):


the case back and new gasket:


And of course the watch in timing mode:


and in time of day mode:


Hope you like it. In the mail is an original bracelet (thanks charger105 for pointing me in the correct direction).

Thanks again to Ole Joe for the module and info and to Charger105 for the heads up on the bracelet. Charger, your Hi Res dial image will be emailed tonight.

Cheers,

Geoff

[Phasar66]

Congrats, Very nice watch and good job on the resto. Is good to know that is not imposible to resurrect
a time piece like this. and there is members out there eager to give a helping hand.

[charger105]

Wow, that was fast work .
You don't muck around do you !!
Looks excellent. Did you remove the glass to polish it ?
Is that retaining spring thing for retaining the outer rotating bezel ?

I'm pleased you ended up with the bracelet. They don't come up very often since I've been watching. Looks like all the planets aligned for you with this one !

Thanks in advance for the hi-res scan.
Rgds.

[767Geoff]

Left the crystal in place for the sanding and polishing. Don 't know how rare the crystal is so i didn't want to crack either by removing it or replacing it. Was in excellent shape except for minor pits and scratches which were dealt with. It had been polished prior to me receiving it but it had pits and rubbed out scratches. The sand paper finished it in a perfect convex shape. The polish perfected the surface.

Yes, the spring thing sits inside the outer revolving bezel. It fits in a groove and the flat portion sits proud of the inner diameter. When the bezel is placed in position the ring snaps and holds the rotating bezel in place. Lots of DNA and other grunge was in there. Now the bezel rotates smoothly!

Have to get to my main computer then will send hi res picture. Couldn't find my micrometer to measure the outside of the dial. Of course you could measure the inner diameter of the outside bezel ring to determine the size. Also you will need a thin film of red for the lense. It is glued into place from behind. The whole thing is glued to the ring.

Cheers, Geoff

[Kasper]

very nice..it's strange that the biggest word is MPH instead of km/u ...for an european company.

or what does it do there?

[767Geoff]

Two images of a flyer from 1973:





Mph is just a choice for the slide rule index. I think I have seen versions of navitmers with KPH. However, this is a flight computer and flight speeds are based on Knots 'nautical miles per hour'.

Nautical miles in turn are based on hours, degrees, minutes, seconds of the global latitude and longitude. For example, traveling due north from N49'00".0 to N50'00".0 is exactly 60 nautical miles which is 69.5 statute miles. So aircraft cockpits are calibrated to knots and nautical miles, hence MPH.

Now back to the as an index marker, MPH would ostensively cover statute miles per hour or nautical miles per hour. It still works for kilometers per hour as an index but leaves that up to the user to remember. It is just an index and a rate name had to be applied, So I think it was that MPH covers two options, the main one being the base system that pilots use to calculate speed and distance. It is after all an aviation sliderule.

Second point would be, what was the largest market, but I think that would take a lesser role for the aviation speed reasons mentioned above.

Nice thing about this slide rule is that I can read it. It is a very large watch and the slide rule is therefore more legible compared to my 809 1965 24hr Navitimer Cosmonaute.

An interesting note, the twenty four hour Cosmonaute was marketed in north America as a twenty four hour Navitimer Marketing realized back then (cold war) that Americans treated Cosmonaute and communist as synonyms! In actual fact the Navitmer was twelve hour version and the Cosmonaute was the twenty four hour version, except in North America!

Begs the question, this is a Navitimer but it goes to 99hours and 59 minutes and 59.99 seconds all displayed! The LCD version marketed at the same time, 1973 only counted up to 59 minutes and 59.00 seconds.not good as a flight timer at all! So a case of the LED dinosaur being more useful then the new generation LCD.

Cheers,

Geoff

[Kasper]

good question from me , but the answer was so much better!!

thx Geoff, very interesting reading.

[clockace]

awesome restoration. that takes skill and patience. where did you get the gaskets for the pushers? peter

[767Geoff]

Generic Swiss gaskets, multiple assortment from Smirhs & Smiths in Sydney, australia.

Any parts supply house should have them. You get about 100 sorted to size in a small container. Check where your local watchmaker gets his supply from. Check out Jules borel.

Cheers and thanks

Geoff

[dutchsiberia]

Awesome watch and restoration!

The less useful lcd navitimer seen on the ad has probably the same esa caliber as my Beltime and Certina :)

[767Geoff]

I've it that Certina The chronolympics are great. Just installed a new LCD panel in mine. Nice to know there are parts for them.

You are probably right about the era. I always wondered why the early and later LCD timers were only good for boiling eggs

I have a seiko with a 24 hour count up and a separate countdown timer also for 24 hours. Now that is functional!

Cheers,

Geoff

[clockace]

Geoff, i kind of thought they are probably generic. i use jules borel all the time. i was thinking you maybe had a source for oem parts. i have the mechanical cosmonaute 1809. it is a large case as well. 47m/m i think. for some reason the led version never appealed to me until recently. but the more i look at it the better it looks. yours looks like factory fresh. congrats again. i just got a module w/alarm from ole joe for a hamilton 957 i have. it is installed and running. peter

[767Geoff]

The alarm is great, with the two tone alarm. I was wearing the same one (eye candy post) until the breitling showed up!

Ole Joe is extremely helpful! Looks like the out gassing of the batteries has destroyed the original module. The interior of the case had a chemical deposit as well as the red plastic lens. I was shocked at the amount of chemical film coated the inside. Thanks to Ole Joe the module is not a problem.

Sorry, no hidden source although I have a couple of friends at some established parts houses around the world. I intend to tap them for ideas when I see them .

Cheers, geoff

If I find a trove of parts I will share

[vpn]

Wonderful restoration Geoff, your Navitimer looks almost like if it came out from the factory. It's incredible to see how great results can reach those watches, when they're brought back to their former glory! The LED Navitimer surely looks chunky compared to the LCD counterpart.

[767Geoff]

They made two LACDs. The smaller one you refer two and a one in the same case as the LED.

The slide rule mechanism is more complex in the large case but boy is it smooth and tight! A delight to use. Actually use the slide rule on the flight deck for fuel versus time in a hold. Once the ratio is set up you only have to glance at the total fuel to see how much time you can circle.

Also great for exchange rates on currency. That is why I like the Navitemers and with this watch, I get an LED too!

Geoff

[clockace]

also for %'s off on sale items. peter

[767Geoff]

Ha Ha, got to use that function more often!