Breitling Unveils New Navitimer Collection In Three Sizes

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Breitling Navitimer, a watch that carved a new path for the pilot watch genre, and has become something of a symbol of consistency over the generations. The next chapter of the Navitimer story begins this week with the launch of a new collection that takes the watch in a few new directions, all without losing sight of the original formula. These are still instantly recognizable as Navitimers, but now, you’ll have more colors and case sizes to choose from than ever before. 

The Navitimer heritage has been preserved with the new models, behind the slick new colors and cases you’ll find the familiar look of the slide rule and chronograph, and they’ve even brought the AOPA wings back up to 12 o’clock. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has recognized the design as its official timepiece since 1954, 2 years after its initial appearance.

The newest Navitimer family features three different case sizes with 46, 43, and 41mm options available. The 43mm case option gets the largest selection of dial colors with 5 distinct colorways of black, silver, copper, ice blue, and mint green. Each gets fully filled sub dials for maximum contrast, along with a matching slide rule, framing the dial like a bezel. This look has proven popular with chronograph manufacturers in recent years and it certainly suits the Navitimer well. Unfortunately, the look is lost in the move down to the more reasonably sized 41mm case, which gets sub dials value matched to the dial for a more uniform look. Here, you dial choices are limited to blue, silver, and mint green. 

If you prefer your Navitimers full size, the 46mm option will provide you with a further three options in black, blue or dark green. Additionally, each case size gets a single rose gold example with a silver and black dial at 46mm; a black and white dial at 43mm; and a full silver dial at 41mm.

The contrasting sub dials and slide rule bring a clean, sporty flavor to this typically complex dial, and the personality difference between contrasting and uniform dials are vast. I love seeing the variety on offer here, and my only gripe would be the lack of high contrast options at the 41mm case size. Ok, and maybe the date window at 6 o’clock nestled into the hour totalizer. 

Inside, Breitling is using their own B01 chronograph in chronometer spec. The movement is visible through caseback and provides an appropriate level of decoration to behold. They’ve managed to trim some heft from the case and get the thickness down below 14mm, which goes a long way with this watch. It’s a perfectly easy watch on the wrist, particularly with the seven link bracelet option, which is quite comfortable in use. 

The new Navitimers will start at $9,000 for the 41mm example on a leather strap, and jumps to $9,100 and $9,200 for the 43, and 46mm examples respectively. A steel bracelet will add an additional $400. Breitling.