BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Lots of brands are marking some kind of anniversary this year, however, for Breitling their 140th anniversary has been and gone. We were blessed with three different perpetual calendar chronograph watches last year, and now the combination with a bi-metal watch in the Navitimer case.
This new Navitimer variant measures 43.00mm x 12.94mm which is a good size for Breitling’s iconic pilot’s watch, although a 46mm version would be interesting. The iconic look of the Navitimer remains here with a narrow outer bezel allowing for maximum real estate for the many indications the dial gives. Most of the case is stainless steel, however, Breitling has crafted the bezel (used to control the slide rule around the dial) from platinum, hence why I said this is a bi-metal watch earlier.
The dial is ice blue in colour, although the main feature of it is how much stuff is there. The purpose of the Navitimer was to be the ultimate pilot’s tool back when pilots needed to use slide rules and mathematics to navigate. I’m sure they still do, to an extent, but technology has definitely made life easier for them. Because there isn’t an unlimited amount of space available, Breitling has had to double stack the subdials, meaning they use two hands to display information for the chronograph and the calendar, with a moonphase by itself at 12 O’clock.
It’s hard for me to comment on legibility when I haven’t seen a watch in person, but it’s probably something you can glimpse the time on but using the functions requires you to squint a bit.
Inside the case and powering the dial is the self-winding calibre B19, which is itself based on the in-house B01 calibre that Breitling seems to have been using for ages at this point. It’s a good calibre, though. It has a column wheel for the chronograph and (possibly) a vertical clutch. I’d need to confirm that, but as the B01 uses it, there’s a high chance the B19 also does. The movement runs at 4Hz and has a long 96-hour power reserve. Although it’s on show through the open caseback, the movement doesn’t use the same fancy decorated rotor as the anniversary watches from last year, just the regular rotor here. It’s nice, though.
The Navitimer remains an attractive watch in all the right ways. While I don’t think it competes for looks like the old ref. AB0120 from back in the day, it remains a watch I like the look of very much. Two versions are available, one on a leather strap costing $29,000 and the other on a stainless steel multilink bracelet costing $29,500. I wonder when we’ll get a solid platinum one of these.
