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On April 5, 1979, Ernest Schneider took control of Breitling. Breitling\'s own history identifies him as a pilot and former head of Sicura and credits him with securing the brand\'s future. The 1984 Chronomat would become one of the defining watches of his tenure, but Schneider had already spent years running Sicura, a successful Swiss watch company in Grenchen. By 1975, Sicura employed about 450 people across four assembly plants, a case factory and a jewel factory. The company produced more than a million watches a year. This Navy dates from that period, when the company he ran was still signing its watches Sicura.
Sicura printed the watch\'s purpose straight across the dial. Beneath the script signature are 23 JEWELS and NAVY; below the hands, SUPERWATERPROOF, 400, VACUUM TESTED and TRITIUM. Thin white lines cross the black like a plotting grid, two vertically and two horizontally, closing a square around the center. Large luminous numerals stand at twelve, nine and six, with long rectangular plots around the remaining hours and a date window at three on a disc that has aged to cream.
The dial names its own luminous material, and the tritium has aged through warm yellow-green tones, deeper toward olive in portions of the hands. The black elapsed-time bezel around it is marked at ten-minute intervals, with a luminous-style marker at twelve.
On the back, the claims on the dial turn into a picture. A diver in mask and fins swims beside a fish and three stars, surrounded by 400 VACUUM TESTED, WATERPROOF, ALL SWISS MADE and STAINLESS STEEL BACK. Inside is a 23-jewel hand-wound Swiss movement marked SIC 47, SWISS and 23 JEWELS. The black perforated rally strap is stamped 20. I cannot establish it as original to the watch.
A few years after this watch was made, Schneider would take over Breitling. Here the earlier chapter is still intact: Sicura in script at twelve, Navy beneath it, and the diver still swimming across the back.
Please see the condition section and the photographs for details on watch condition.
Terms: Please review all photos carefully as they are a part of the listing. This is a vintage timepiece. Accuracy, power reserve, and water resistance are not guaranteed. Vintage watches may require periodic service. Performance can vary with wear, temperature, and position.
All sales final.
