Tap the image to enlarge
Breitling Top Time 1969s 36MM Stainless Steel
Ref. BREITLING 2002
The Top Time was Breitling's answer to the youth market of the late 1960s — a chronograph stripped of the professional bulk the brand was known for and given a sportier, more accessible character at a moment when motorsport was reshaping how young men thought about watches. Reference 2002 is a genuine period piece from that run, and a modified example of this very model appeared on Sean Connery's wrist in Thunderball, fitted with a Geiger counter for the production. At 36mm the case sits closer to how men actually wore watches in 1969 than most vintage chronographs that survive in collections today, and on the wrist it reads as a sports watch that has learned to behave indoors. The Venus 188 movement inside is a manual-wind calibre of the period — you wind it each morning, and the engagement with the watch is part of the point. The acrylic crystal will show its age in small ways, which on a watch like this is evidence rather than damage.
- Reference
- BREITLING 2002
- Brand
- Breitling
- Collection
- Top Time
- Case size
- 36mm
- Case material
- Stainless steel
- Case shape
- Round
- Dial
- Silver
- Crystal
- Acrylic
- Movement
- Manual
- Calibre
- Venus 188
- Functions
- Chronograph, Tachymeter
- Bracelet / strap
- Leather strap
- Strap colour
- Black
- Lume
- Super-LumiNova
- Condition
- Vintage
- Retailer
- Mappin & Webb
Learn more about Breitling
Léon Breitling founded a workshop in Saint-Imier in 1884 specialising in chronographs and precision counters for industrial, scientific, and sporting use — deliberately narrow ground at a time when most makers built everything.
The family's technical contribution is the chronograph as we use it. Gaston Breitling introduced a wrist chronograph with a dedicated pusher separate from the crown in 1915, unpicking the start-stop-reset sequence from the winding mechanism. Willy Breitling added the second pusher in 1934, separating reset from stop and completing the two-pusher layout every chronograph has used since.
Aviation followed naturally. The Chronomat arrived in 1942 with a rotating slide rule bezel, and the Navitimer in 1952 refined the idea into a circular flight computer capable of fuel burn, climb rate, and unit conversion. It became the semi-official watch of pilots and remains the brand's signature.
Breitling was among the consortium — with Heuer, Hamilton, and Dubois Dépraz — racing Zenith and Seiko to the first automatic chronograph in 1969.
The company faltered badly in the quartz crisis and stopped trading in 1979. Ernest Schneider bought the name and rebuilt it around aviation and oversized cases. A change of ownership in 2017 brought Georges Kern and a deliberate softening toward slimmer, more archival designs.
- 1884
- Léon Breitling opens his chronograph workshop.
- 1915
- The first chronograph pusher independent of the crown.
- 1934
- The two-pusher chronograph layout is completed.
- 1952
- The Navitimer introduces the aviation slide rule.
- 1979
- The original company closes; Ernest Schneider revives the name.
Also in 7 collections
This watch appears in the Breitling Top Time range (6), Back in Stock (4,847), Stainless Steel Watches (3,197), Watches Under 37mm (1,704), Chronograph Watches (1,234), Leather Strap Watches (1,049) and Silver Dial Watches (718).
Best of 2 retailers
What the specifications mean
Strengths
- 36mm suits most wrists
- Luminous hands and markers for low light
Worth knowing
- Acrylic crystal marks easily, though it polishes out
Breitling Top Time 1969s alternatives
Watches from other brands at a similar price, style and size, so you can see what else your budget can buy.
| Specification | BREITLING 2002 | Q2668432 | 7149/0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | £9,495 | £8,450 | £13,950 |
| Case size | 36mm | 34.2mm | 39.5mm |
| Water resistance | — | 30m | — |
| Movement | Manual | Manual | Manual |
| Strap | Leather strap | Leather strap | Stainless steel bracelet |
| Power reserve | — | 38 hours | — |
| This watch |
|
|
More Breitling watches like the Top Time 1969s
In stock, and close on style and price
