First of all, this Lip Ref. 765 is essentially a Breitling but branded by Lip. It was produced by Breitling, looks like a Breitling and even shares its reference number. Lip was a French watch brand and produced their own watches, but as they were a huge force in France, Breitling struck a distribution deal with Lip to sell their watches in France, and this is how you get the watch you see today. There are many variations of Lip Breitling watches, some with both brands on the dial and others with just the Lip signature.
This Ref. 765 is an extremely rare watch and only appears on the market a handful of times a year. This watch essentially features a Breitling 765 dial, is without its bezel and housed in a monbloc stainless steel case. It has to be, in my opinion, one of the more beautiful chronographs of its era. With its 39mm case featuring elongated and bevelled lugs and its reverse panda dial with large white subdials against a matte black dial, this watch is a design masterpiece- perfectly proportioned. Even by today’s modern standards, this watch has a great presence on the wrist.
Flipping the watch over, this Lip Breitling 765 is powered by a Venus 178, a high quality, column wheel movement that Breitling used on their top tier chronographs and one that rivals the Valjoux 72. It is a very nice movement with nice and soft pushers ensuring that it is always a pleasure using the chronograph.
You will not see many Lip Breitling 765’s around and with this example in very nice condition, it would make a worthy addition to any collection.
