THE ESSENTIALS
MAKE: BREITLING
MODEL: 2005
YEAR: 1964
BOX/PAPERS: NO/NO
CASE DIAMETER: 42.6MM
CASE MATERIAL: STAINLESS STEEL
BRACELET MATERIAL: RUBBER
MOVEMENT: MANUAL WIND
The mid-1950s marked the beginning of a dive-watch race between the top Swiss watch manufacturers: the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms and Rolex Submariner in 1953, the Omega Seamaster 300 in 1957, and the list goes on... In 1957, Breitling threw its hat into the ring, releasing two serious underwater tools: the SuperOcean 1004 and 807.
The ref. 1004 featured a 38mm case, a concave glass-protecting bezel, and an impressive 200m water resistance (double that of the Submariner at the time). The ref. 807 is even more impressive: it was the world’s first diving chronograph, retaining the same 200m water resistance in just a 39mm case.
Breitling did not stop there — just seven years later, they introduced the SuperOcean Ref. 2005. In contrast to the sleek lines of its predecessors, the 2005 was built to be the ultimate diving machine, removing all the subdials you would normally expect to see on a chronograph and moving to a bold 42.6mm case. Designed to measure time spent underwater, Breitling removed the running seconds and hour counters entirely, leaving a central chronograph hand that measures only the minutes elapsed (hence the name “slow chronograph”), achieved through heavy modification of a Venus 188 calibre.
Despite being extremely legible, a challenge appeared: divers sometimes became confused as to whether the chronograph was running or not... To solve this, Breitling came up with another technical solution, equipping ref. 2005s with an “activation indicator” at 6 o’clock. “The Dot”, as we call it, turns yellow when the chronograph is running, switches to a small yellow circle when paused, and returns to black when the chronograph is reset/stopped.
The present example came from the very first year of production and is in tremendous condition. The tritium lume on the dial and hands is all present and has aged to a rich creamy hue. The black central dial and white minute ring are both in near-perfect shape, bar a minor imperfection around the 11 o’clock region. The case is likely unpolished, with the original crown and pushers still in place. The brightly coloured “Yachting bezel” came from a later ref. 2005 version featuring the modified Valjoux 7731 movement.
The watch has just had a full service, including a genuine OEM NOS crystal. The slow-counter chronograph functions perfectly; we pictured it on the one-minute mark to showcase this. The original Tropic NATO is also in great condition.
In the crown-up position, the watch is running at an impressive +6–8 s/d, with 270 amplitude and a beat error of 0.7 ms. A brilliant example of one of the most technically advanced watches that came out of the 1960s, which happens to look great too.