Venus Caliber 178

The Venus caliber 178 is a 17 jewel manual-wind mechanical movement produced in the 1950s -1960s. The example shown here was found in a vintage Breitling Navitimer 806 AOPA model.

Venus 178 vs Venus 175:

The Venus caliber 175 was the first in version of this movement family and later evolved into the caliber 178 shown here. The only difference between the two being an hour counter located at 6:00.

Brief History of Venus:

Venus became part of Valjoux- the maker of the widely popular modern automatic chronograph caliber 7750 .

17X Variations:

There are many variations of the 178 movement each adding a different layout or readout of the chronograph complication. Each variation has the same diameter and same jewel count.

Column wheel:

One of the things that makes the Venus 178 so popular among vintage chronograph watch enthusiasts is the column or pillar wheel mechanism for controlling the chronograph start stop function.

178 Chronograph Operating Instructions:

• Top button: Start/Stop
• Bottom button: Reset

Button sequence: Top, top, bottom.

Chronograph Hand Lining Up:

Unlike quartz powered chronograph movements, mechanical watches do not have the luxury of using a reset sequence to get the chronograph hand to line up to 12:00. If your caliber 178 powered watch has a hand that is not lining up, it could be a mechanical problem and should be inspected by a professional watchmaker. Your watch may need serviced or the hand might need to be reinstalled.

Other Brands:

Although the desirability of vintage Breilting Nativimer watches has increased over the past few years. This caliber is found in various chronograph models (add yours below).