Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary chronograph

The new Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary automatic chronograph watch successfully mixes the brand’s signature bold styling with the legendary slide-rule bezel in a surprisingly compact 43 mm stainless steel case.

In 1942, when the skies over Europe were dominated by the Nazi Luftwaffe fighter planes, the Swiss watchmaker have introduced the new Breitling Chronomat model, their first aviator watch equipped with a slide-ruler.

The watch was quite popular among pilots on both sides. In fact, it was so popular that in 1952 the Swiss company started selling another slide-rule watch: the Breitling Navitimer. The watch that long outlived the company itself.

In its traditional form -a pilot’s watch with a slide-ruler on its bezel powered by a mechanical chronograph movement- the Navitimer evolved for the whole ten generations before it imploded in the 1973 as a model with a LED and then an LCD screen.

In 1986, seven years after Ernest Schneider took over the almost bankrupt company, the Navitimer was reborn as a 81600 model powered by a hand-wound Lemania 1872 movement.

The model was a great success among aviators and other wealthy people and since that time the Navitimer family keeps on growing adding new and new versions, including those in gold and complications models.

This particular Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary chronograph watch is available in six different versions. It may be ordered in a stainless steel or in 18kt rose gold, with dials available in black, bronze or silver.

Its compact (for a Breitling) 43mm case features a convex sapphire crystal with antireflective coating and the trademark slide-ruler on its rotating bezel.

The watch is powered by the Breitling B26 caliber, which is in fact an ETA 2892-A2 movement adjusted to comply with the strict COSC certification guidelines.

Unlike the other Navitimers, the anniversary model lacks the small seconds sub-dial on the 9 o’clock and has it replaced with the hours chronograph sub-dial.

The free space at 6 o’clock is taken with the date window making the watch’s face less busy and much more legible, which is a good thing for an aviator’s watch.

At this time, the company plans to limit the Navitimer’s production to 125 pieces in rose gold and 2009 units in stainless steel.

Photos: Breitling

Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary chronograph specification

Price range: Around $7000 for a model in a stainless steel case
Movement: B26 based on ETA 2892-A2, automatic, COSC-certified chronometer
Complications: Chronograph, date
Power reserve: 42 hours
Case material: Stainless steel, 18kt rose gold
Case dimensions: 43 mm
Case height: N/A
Dial: Black, bronze or silver
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: Air Racer bracelet
Crystal: Sapphire, anti-reflective, convex