Breitling SuperOcean “Slow Motion” Chronograph, Ref. 2005, Stainless Steel, 1967

Movement: Venus Caliber 188, manual-wind, modified for “Slow Motion” central-hand elapsed-minute function, column-wheel chronograph, 5 beats per second
Case: 42mm stainless steel, screw-down caseback with intact engravings, bidirectional rotating timing bezel, signed Breitling crown, 200m water resistance
Dial: Black inner disk framed by a wide white minute ring, triangular and Arabic indices, central chronograph minute hand, running/paused/stopped status indicator at 6 o’clock, tritium luminous markers and hands
Hands: Oversized diamond-tipped chronograph and time hands with tritium fill, aged to a warm patina
Signature: “SWISS MADE T” tritium designation on dial
Year: 1967
This is one of the most inventive dive watches of its era, and one of the few vintage tool watches that still stops collectors in their tracks on sight. Released in 1965 under Willy Breitling, the SuperOcean ref. 2005 solved a specific problem for divers: the standard chronograph minute counter was too small to read at depth. Breitling’s answer was to modify the movement so the central chronograph hand made one full revolution per hour rather than per minute, turning the entire dial into a large, legible elapsed-time display. The nickname “Slow Motion” followed naturally, since the central hand crawls around the dial rather than sweeping. Because that hand moves too slowly to visibly confirm the chronograph is running, Breitling engineered an ingenious status indicator at 6 o’clock: black when stopped, yellow when running, black with a yellow dot when paused. It is a genuinely clever piece of watchmaking and the detail collectors prize most.

The design is bold and purpose-built. The oversized 42mm steel case was large for its era, the chunky diamond-tipped hands and high-contrast minute ring were developed for underwater legibility, and the whole watch carries the confident, experimental character of 1960s dive design. This reference has quietly become one of the more sought-after vintage Breitlings, difficult to source in honest, original condition, and steadily climbing in value as the market catches up to what it is.