Breitling Watch Top Time 2002 Chronograph 1965

SPECIFICATION

Reference : Breitling Top Time 2002
Movement :  Venus 188 manual winding
Age : 1965
Case Size : 36mm
Case Thickness : 13mm
Lug to Lug : 42mm
Lug Width : 19mm
Condition : Used Breitling watch
Box and Papers : No
Case Material : Stainless Steel
Warranty : 12-Months Warranty

POINTS TO MENTION

• In good pre-owned condition, with some wear from use
  
• Case and bezel have some light scratches and marks
• Dial has some age related marks and scratches throughout
  
• Fully serviced Venus 188 chronograph movement
• Historic replacement crown
• Paired with an unworn green leather strap

To complement the ever-successful Navitimer, a watch that is worn by some of the greatest musicians and sportsmen of the time, like Miles Davis and Graham Hill, Willy Breitling works on a sportier and more contemporary collection, breaking with traditional design codes and perfectly adapting the new models to the dynamic lifestyle of the young people it is aimed at.

In 1964, Breitling introduces the new Top Time after the first designs are presented already in 1962. It is an affordable chronograph with simple yet elegant lines and exceptional quality and precision – the perfect watch for young men and women interested in sports and technology.

The name of this new collection – Top Time – is deliberately kept short, catchy, and English to underline the modern design of the collection and the energy of the time period.

To make sure it is suitable for any daily adventures, the Top Time features improved water-resistance thanks to a monocoque construction. You can also choose between three different outer scales: Tachymeter, for drivers who want to calculate their average speed when racing. Pulsometer, for sportsmen who want to calculate their average heart rate after a run. or decimal, for anybody who wants to make timing easier by using a scale showing one-hundredths of a minute.

The Top Time houses a pretty special movement, the manual winding Venus 188 that paved the way for chronographs. The Venus 188 family was a revolutionary cam-switching chronograph movement design introduced in 1948. It was much cheaper to build than column wheel chronograph movements and laid the foundation for today’s ETA / Valjoux 7750, one of the most popular movements ever produced.

The venus 188 family was introduced in 1950 and augmented in 1953 with the Venus 210. After Venus was acquired by Valjoux, the 188 design was lightly modified with a mobile stud carrier and re-launched as the Valjoux 7730 in 1966. It was further refined as the 7733 before automatic winding was added for the 7750 that we all know and love.

A BIT OF TRIVA

One of the first references to be offered is the Reference 2002 like we have here with two sub dials.

This model becomes hugely popular when it is worn by James Bond in the movie Thunderball in 1965.

The world’s most famous secret agent is given a Top Time specially customized for his mission by Q – it even features an integrated Geiger counter. It’s certainly a very stylish instrument!

Eventually, the exact watch worn in the James Bond movie was bought at a car boot sale for GBP 25 and sold at auction in 2013 for almost GBP 104,000, making it one of the most expensive vintage Breitling watches ever sold.

OUR THOUGHTS

The Breitling Top Time is a forever classic rooted deep in history and highly regarded among collectors, all for the right reasons. This reference 2002 is a good example, albeit wears its history proud and offers an insane amount of value, just take a look at the iconic Breitling styling that many smaller brands are replicating today.