Saddam, Breitling and Me: Collecting Watches During War Time

Photographs & Text By Norbert Schiller

I recently visited colleague and friend Santiago Lyon with whom I had covered the Middle East for the Associated Press in the early 1990s. Over dinner, we reminisced about our careers in photojournalism, specifically the years we covered wars and conflict in the Middle East while we were based in Cairo, Egypt. We were discussing our experiences during the 1990-91 Gulf War when suddenly, in mid-sentence, Santi declared, “you know, I still have an Iraqi Air Force Breitling watch you sold to me over 30 years ago.”

“How much did I sell it to you for?” I replied jokingly

“I believe it was around 150 dollars; do you want to see it?”

As Santi disappeared to fetch the watch, I started remembering all the Iraqi Air Force Breitling watches that had passed through my hands during the first half of the 1990s and realized that I had little recollection of who I had sold them to, for a minimum profit, or given them to as gifts. I figured that Santi’s was a Breitling quartz Jupiter pilot’s watch from the 1980s as those were widely available in Iraq at the time. However, much to my surprise, he came back with a 1960s Breitling Navitimer 806 hand wound mechanical watch. My heart nearly sank when I held it, especially after I noticed that it was still in good working condition. I had managed to keep a few 806 Navitimer watches for myself, but they were not in the best of shape, and, over the years, I had to send them to an authorized Breitling agent to be restored at considerable cost. This one, however, was almost perfect without ever having been serviced.

Santi turned to me and said, “I’m thinking of selling it, and, since I bought it from you, it’s only fair that I ask you first.” I stared at the watch for a while, and then back at my friend, who added, “there’s no rush; think about it, but seeing what the watch is worth today… it wasn’t a bad investment on my part.”

I first discovered the Iraqi Air Force Breitlings when I was covering the Iraq-Iran war in the spring of 1988. On a government press trip to the recently liberated Majnoun Island near the border with Iran, I was seated next to a journalist who was wearing an attractive watch on his wrist. He explained that it was a Breitling made especially for the Iraqi Air Force and that he had bought it in the old bazaar in Baghdad. I was so intrigued by the watch that, as soon as we got back to the capital, I went to the souk, but I came back empty handed and disappointed.

A few years later I was back in Baghdad to cover the aftermath of Iraq’s annexation of Kuwait. It was November 1990, and I was following the plight of the “human shields,” a group of mainly western civilians being held against their will by the Iraqis at military and other sensitive installations to prevent a U.S. military strike against sensitive targets. On a slow news day, I went to the bazaar and this time I hit the jackpot. I found a Breitling Jupiter Navitimer 2300 Iraqi Air Force quartz watch which was the same watch that my colleague had purchased. After negotiating with the shop owner, I closed the deal for the equivalent of $50 USD and walked away with my very own first Breitling watch. When I arrived in Amman, Jordan the staff at the AP office wanted to know where I had acquired the watch and asked if more were available from the same source. I had similar requests when I returned to Cairo, my home base at the time. Essentially, the Iraqi Air Force Breitling became a hit, and I had a shopping list to fulfil on my next visit to Iraq.

It wasn’t long before I was back in Baghdad where one of my first missions, besides covering the story, was to find watches. When I didn’t have luck at the bazaar, I went to Souk al Harameya or Thieves’ Market in the the center of Baghdad which was home to small stalls and street venders selling electronics, cameras, watches and much much more. There, I was able to procure a few Iraqi Air Force Breitling quartz watches for which I paid between 75 and 100 dollars. I soon realized that I wasn’t the only journalist who had developed a taste for rare finds. I ran into fellow photojournalist Rabih Moghrabi from Agence France Presse who was also on the prowl for the coveted time pieces. During one of our encounters, he showed me his collection which also included other brands, but the one watch that stood out was the Iraqi Air Force Breitling Navitimer 806 mechanical hand wound watch.

The Breitling Navitimer was first introduced in 1954 to be sold exclusively to members of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). It wasn’t until 1956 that the Navitimer 806 was available to the public. The Iraqi air force relationship with Breitling began in the mid-1960s with the Navitimer 806 and lasted well into the 1980s. A similar partnership developed between Breitling and air forces around the world. The distinguishing mark for these watches was the wings above the Breitling logo on the dial while the equivalent watch released to the general public showed twin jets. For the Iraqi Air Force, Breitling added an engraved insignia on the caseback.

Rabih and I decided to join forces. In between our work assignments we wandered the streets of Baghdad and other cities in search of watches, and later vintage camera equipment. Before we made our purchases, we made sure we had potential buyers, usually colleagues. Every time I left Bagdad, I had an assortment of watches and camera gear that had been preordered. It was the thrill of finding the wares and negotiating the bottom price that I found exciting rather than the business aspect of buying and selling. Hence, my profit margin was minimal, and I gave many watches away as gifts to close friends and family.

The most popular and most widely available Breitling air force watches were the 42mm Jupiter 2300 and 3300 quartz which were used throughout the 1980s. For those who really wanted a piece of history and were willing to spend a bit more there were a few options such as the 41mm mechanical hand-wound Breitling Navitimer Chronograph 806, introduced in the mid-1960s followed by the Navitimer Chronograph 7806 and 7808 a few years later. There was also the 48mm chrono-matic Breitling 1806 Navitimer, nicknamed the “fried egg” or “pizza” which was released in 1969. However, the latter wasn’t very popular because of its large size, and the ones I managed to procure did not work so I stopped buying them. Ironically, these are the Iraqi Air Force Breitling watches that are most widely available for sale on Chrono24 or eBay.

As I previously mentioned, many of these watches ended up as gifts. One was given to Ruben Anderegg a family friend in Switzerland. When I presented him with the Jupiter Navitimer 2300, I jokingly told him that it had been taken off a dead Iraqi soldier to see his reaction. He believed me for a split of a second and then realized I was pulling his leg. Still, Ruben thought it was a good story and after a few drinks in his hometown bar, he loved telling this tale. One time I happened to be with him when he told a woman sitting next to him that I had pulled the watch off of a dead soldier. She looked at me in horror and that was when I reprimanded my friend for sharing what was meant to be an inside joke.

Rabih and I had pretty much cornered the market on Breitling Iraqi Air Force watches until 1994 when we both stopped traveling to Iraq for work on a regular basis. After having had acquired and passed on dozens of Iraqi Air Force Breitlings, what I had left were two Navitimer 806, one Navitimer 7806 and a quartz Jupiter 2300 which were all in need of serious repair. The only functioning watch was a quartz Jupiter 3300 that I had given to my wife as a gift. At this point, I had no intention in investing to fix the vintage watches, so I stuffed them into a drawer and forgot about them.

When I returned to Iraq in 1998, the price of the Iraqi Air Force Breitling models had jumped from the hundreds of dollars to over a thousand. Therefore, I turned my attention to Saddam Hussein watches which I figured would one day become collectibles. Most of the Saddam watches had been commissioned by the government to give as gifts to visiting dignitaries or diplomats. I focused on the affordable well-known brands such as Longines, Favre Leuba, Rado, West End Watch Co., Tutor etc. which ranged from the dozens to the hundreds of dollars. Today, there are still plenty of Saddam watches available at reasonable prices but those released by Patek Philippe and Rolex can fetch in the tens of thousands of dollars. The trick is determining whether they are authentic or Chinese copies.

When I returned to Iraq at the beginning of May 2003 to cover yet another U.S. assault on the country, Breitling Iraqi Air Force watches were very scarce, and the rare originals came with a hefty price tag. US soldiers and journalists who had heard about these watches were on the lookout, and, because of the demand, the Chinese had jumped in and dumped fake Breitlings as well as other luxury brands on to the market. They also made other paraphernalia including Saddam Hussein watches and cigarette lighters. The hottest item though was a lighter with an engraving of Osama bin Laden and the Twin Towers which turned red when the flame was ignited.

About a decade after I had my last trip to Iraq, I was feeling nostalgic, so I opened the drawer where the derelict Breitling watches had been hidden all these years. After admiring them and realizing their worth, I decided it was time to repair them one at a time. The process proved to be timely and expensive, but definitely worthwhile. It was like bringing back a piece of history after so much had been destroyed.

After my visit with Santi, I asked myself if I really needed another Breitling Navitimer 806. However, as the weeks and months passed, I could not get that Navitimer out of my head. At the same time, I wondered the fate of all the other watches that passed through my hands. I kept thinking that it was a piece of the puzzle that had been my life in the 1990s and brought back fond memories of Iraq which seems doomed to an endless cycle of suffering. One evening, I sent a text asking, “Dear Santi, how much?”