A scarce Breitling Rallye, 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.
CONDITION
We try and avoid to use subjective terms like rare when describing watches, as some sights are full of ‘rare’ watches are nothing of the sort. However, we can not find another Breitling Rallye available for sale anywhere, so in this case the term is justified. Even though the unofficial Breitling Museum website do have a picture of a Rallye, but that example has a damaged bezel.
The dial and hands are superb, with gilt details. The oversized Breitling B in the centre 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 nice click, and the royal oak inspired bracelet is complete with the original clasp. The signed crown, which has lost its plating, is a negative, and the gold plating from some of the links is also worn. Everything works as it should.
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.
