Breitling Top Time

[ricardopalamino]

This  1964 Top Time Ref . 2003.4 was just delivered . Even though it seems to have a non-original hour hand and crown , I am very pleased with this watch .

It's one of those "someday" kind of watches for me . Called a "Reverse Panda " , It has a Venus 188 movement .

 

 

 

[bobm12]

Nice watch! I love that movement and the brand is super. I do have a question, for a panda, don't you need 3 eyes? In any case, reverse panda is good for me...but is should be more like pink....oh, never mind, we are not turning the panda inside out. Too many hours among surgeons today! 

Cheers,

Bob

[ricardopalamino]

1 hour ago, bobm12 said:

Nice watch! I love that movement and the brand is super. I do have a question, for a panda, don't you need 3 eyes? In any case, reverse panda is good for me...but is should be more like pink....oh, never mind, we are not turning the panda inside out. Too many hours among surgeons today! 

Cheers,

Bob

Aloha bobm12 .... I got the info and reference # and description from the website , "The Spring Bar - Breitlings Top Time Collectors Guide " the other day . Unfortunately , I have not been able to access the site since .

 I don't know if Top Time watches came with 3 sub dials like the Chronomat , Navitimer , etc . The Silver dial with black sub-dials is called "Panda" , and the black dial with silver sub-dials , like mine , is called "Reverse Panda ". 

The Spring Bar article has a good write up on the Venus 188 , followed by other Valjoux's that were used in this model .

[ricardopalamino]

I just found this article from Fratello Watches that shows 3 sub dials on some Top Time models .

 

[bobm12]

Ah, yes, the third dial is supposed to be the "nose" of the panda! That's why I was wondering is only two dials (or eyes) would also be considered a panda. The first time I heard about the term I was working on a Citizen chronometer of similar looks, some time ago. I still have it. In that instance, the dial was white and the "eyes" were black so I guess that made it  a panda. It is funny but I wasn't too thrilled about that Citizen until I heard it was a "panda" and immediately its "desirability" increased in my eyes!

 

[ricardopalamino]

The Top Time article in the Spring Bar blog became accessible again  . These is some good info and references here ...

file:///Users/louis/Desktop/Breitling Top Time Collector's Guide - The Spring Bar.html#Ref_20034