Tomorrow, in Geneva, Antiquorum will be auctioning off six pre-owned Breitling timepieces. Of the Breitling lots, the circa 1950 Breitling Split Chrono Ref. 783 (shown above), lot 52, is the rarest. And accordingly it has the highest estimate of among Breitling pieces at $11,000-$18,000. I’m not sure exactly how hard this particular model this particular reference is to find, but I have found one other Ref. 783, which sold for $13,570 May 2009 at Christie’s.

Both versions are similar, however, the one that previously sold at Christie’s has painted hands and markers, whereas the one coming up for sale tomorrow has solid pink gold hands and markers. The pink gold hands and hour markers are preferable to me, especially now that they’ve aged so nicely.