BY JOVAN KRSTEVSKI
Although Breitling was founded in 1884 in Saint-Imier, Switzerland, by Léon Breitling. When his grandson Willy Breitling took over the reins of the family business, the brand established strong ties with the aviation industry after he witnessed the rise of military aviation of the period. A wrist-worn device with a circular slide, that would enable pilots to conduct all essential flight calculations was created in 1952 by Willy Breitling and served as a precursor to the most iconic watch of all time, the Navitimer. Both airline captains and aviation hobbyists wore the Navitimer. After its first flight in 1969, the Boeing 747 revamped civil aviation by making long-haul travel affordable for a new generation. As Boeing delivers the 1,574th and final 747, Breitling honors the two aviation icons with a limited-edition Navitimer, the Breitling Navitimer B01 43 Boeing 747 Limited Edition.
The color scheme on the Navitimer Boeing 747 is reminiscent of the original aircraft, as evidenced by the cream dial with black subdials and red inner slide-rule scale with blue accents. The hour hands, minute hands and indices are treated with Super-LumiNova for easier reading of the dial in low-light conditions. Last year, Breitling celebrated Navitimer’s 70th anniversary by releasing an entire collection of Navitimes in three different sizes and with the return of the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association) wings logo. The dial features of the new Navitimer Boeing 747 are similar in this regard, barring the 43mm x 13.7mm fixed size of this stainless steel case in the new model.
Driving the new Breitling Navitimer B01 43 Boeing 747 Limited Edition is Breitling’s Caliber 01, a COSC-certified movement with column-wheel and vertical clutch. This movement features hour, minute, date and chronograph readings and offers 70 hours of power reserve while beating at 28,800 vibrations per hour.
Breitling Navitimer B01 43 Boeing 747 Limited Edition comes on a black alligator leather strap with a folding buckle or a steel seven-row Navitmer bracelet with a butterfly clasp. It has a limited edition run of, appropriately, 747 pieces with a price tag of $9,400.
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