@BreitlingOfficial
70 years Navitimer! Discover the redesigned collection! To create the new Navitimer, Breitling preserved the most recognizable aspects of the icon’s design code. From a distance, this is unmistakably a Navitimer, with its circular slide rule, baton indexes, trio of chronograph counters, and notched bezel for easy grip. Up close, however, its modern refinements come through loud and clear.
A flattened slide rule and a domed crystal create the illusion of a more compact profile. Alternating polished and brushed finishes give the metal elements a lustrous yet understated quality.
A slimmer silhouette on the oscillating weight enhances the open-caseback view of the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01. This column-wheel chronograph calibre with a vertical clutch is backed by a five-year warranty, provides approximately 70 hours of power reserve, and allows the wearer to change the date – now visible through a discreet window in the subdial at 6 o’clock – at any time.
The watch comes in a range of sizes (46, 43, or 41 mm), two case materials (stainless steel or 18-carat red gold), and a choice of straps (semi-shiny alligator or seven-row metal bracelet). Modern colors in shades of blue, green, and copper define its updated dial options. And if there is one feature sure to spark nostalgia, it’s the return of the AOPA wings to their original position at 12 o’clock.
Breitling Navitimer 1952 – 2022
Not even its inventor could have predicted the phenomenon the Navitimer would become. In 1952, Willy Breitling developed a wrist-worn chronograph with a circular slide rule that would allow pilots to perform all necessary flight calculations. Two years later, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the largest aviators’ club in the world, announced the design as its official timepiece. The association’s winged logo was emblazoned at 12 o’clock, and the “navigation timer” – or Navitimer – was born.
The Navitimer grew up alongside the burgeoning civil aviation industry. Beloved by airline captains and aircraft enthusiasts, it even made its way into space on the wrist of astronaut Scott Carpenter in 1962 as a 24-hour timepiece to tell day from night. And it wasn’t only pilots drawn to the watch’s irrepressible aesthetic. Celebrities of the day, such as Miles Davis, Serge Gainsbourg, Jim Clark, and Graham Hill, were devotees, proving that the Navitimer had style as well as function.
