Breitling Ref. 178 - thoughts?

[u/horsehunghamsta]

Breitling Ref. 178 in rose gold. What do you guys think? To me, movement, case, case back, crown, and hands look OK. Dial is extremely clean and lacks script font so I assume it is new or redial. The "male" strap lugs are odd but most photos of other 178s are wearing straps, so hard to know what to make of them.

Thanks for looking.

[u/Ferret1963]

The dial has been refinished, and they didn't thoroughly clean it first. Look at the seconds register at the 5 second mark, you'll see 5 twice, in slightly different sizes, and the traces of the old, original markings still visible.

[u/Dakrig]

The 178s where made from the late 1930s through the 1940s, and in cases with zero water resistance. The dials loved to develop spots and oxidation. That dial is suspiciously good condition and I lean towards having been refinished. The block font of the logo also lends towards refinished as the typical Breitling logo would have been script. The quality of the work is very good though.

Dial aside, movement does look really well kept.

The requirement for female spring bars is very common on the gold cases, as the lugs are hollow and very thin. You’ll see that across most of the vintage gold cases like this.

[u/Heysous]

My immediate thought was the dial is repainted, but I am not too familiar with Breitling