A scarce Breitling Rallye sports watch from the ‘Eric Tabarly’ range, complete with the removable grille, from circa 1983.

HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?

In 1979 Breitling were nearly bankrupt, and were saved by Ernest Schneider who also owned Sicura.  The Schneider family turned around Breitling and owned the company until 2017.  As well as the mechanical chronographs that helped the long term recovery, there were also models introduced to capture the newly emerging quartz sports watch market.  One of the first was the ‘Eric Tabarly’ range of yachting and aquatic sports launched in 1981.  In 1983, the Breitling Rallye watch launched with it’s removable grill to protect the crystal during sports.  We don’t know how long these were in production, but given how few are available it would not have been long.  There is a QC stamp in the case back that says 084, but we can not be certain that relates to 1984.

CONDITION

The last time we had a Breitling Rallye we shouted how rare it was.  It was seeing that listing that encouraged a collector to sell us this example with the cool grey dial, so now we have our second version of this genuinely hard to find watch.  Even though the unofficial Breitling Museum website do have a picture of a Rallye, but that example has a damaged bezel and this example is far better than the one in their photos.

The dial and hands are superb, with gilt details.  The oversized Breitling B in the centre of the glass is eyecatching, but not as much as the grille with not only fits perfectly, but it is also flat.  The unidirectional bezel turns with a strong click, and the Royal Oak inspired bracelet is complete with the original clasp.  The signed crown is screwed down, and we did forgot to screw the crown back down for some of the photos.  Everything works as it should, including the quick set date.  We will fit a new battery before sending this out to you.

This watch will be supplied with our branded presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.

Please see the HD video for more detail.  All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned.  We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.

​SIZE

Width with crown  36.9 mm

Width without crown  34.0 mm

Lug to lug length  40.7 mm

Case Thickness  10.0 mm

Bracelet will fit a maximum wrist size of 190 mm.  The bracelet can be sized for you if you give us your wrist size when placing the order.

All sizes are approximate.

Included with this watch is a 3 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses.  If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries.  Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us.   Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.

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