This year marks the 140th anniversary of Breitling, which means plenty of new watches to celebrate the occasion. For instance, the brand has just released a trio of new Navis: Breitling Naivtimer Automatic 41, Navitimer Automatic GMT 41, and a limited-edition Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute. As George Kern, CEO of Breitling, put it, “All this year, we’ll be talking about our 140 Years of Firsts. And when it comes to these two watches — the Navitimer and Cosmonaute — you cannot overstate the significance they’ve had for our brand, for aviation, and for watchmaking as a whole.”
When the Navitimer made its debut in 1952, it was the first aviator watch to combine a chronograph and a computational slide rule, resulting in a handy tool watch for pilots to compute vital calculations such as the rate of climb and fuel consumption. The Navitimer helped Breitling to become the “official supplier to world aviation” and remained a favorite model among pilots and watch enthusiasts for decades. In 2022, Breitling began its latest revamping of the Navitimer Chronograph line, and now, other non-chronograph iterations are being treated to similar updates.
The first of the trio is also the simplest — the Navitimer Automatic 41 collection of watches. As the name indicates, these watches sport 41mm cases, which measure 11.65mm thick and 46.86mm lug-to-lug. They’re furnished with notched bi-directional bezels, cambered sapphire crystals on the dial side, solid screw-down casebacks, and non-screwed-locked winding crowns. They are water-resistant to 30 meters, which is a bit of a letdown if I’m honest. As is customary for Breitling, the Navitimer Automatic 41 is available in a few material, dial, and bracelet options.
There are steel versions, two-tone 18k red gold and steel variants, and full 18k red-gold models. The steel ones come with a choice of blue, green, or ice blue while the two-tone and gold ones are paired with silver dials. You can opt for a seven-link Navitimer bracelet with a butterfly clasp or a leather strap with a folding buckle across all case metals. While these are not chronographs, they do include the circular slide rule characteristic of Navitimer watches. The time-only functionality of the watch is powered by the COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 17 self-winding ETA-based movement with 38 hours of power reserve and a frequency of 28,800 beats per hour (4 Hz).
Next in line are the Navitimer Automatic 41 GMT watches, with 41mm cases that apparently measure the same 11.65mm in thickness and 46.86mm lug-to-lug as the time-only variants. Furthermore, these models are also fitted with bi-directional slide-rule bezels, cambered sapphire crystals, screw-down casebacks, and pull-out winding crowns, resulting in a less-than-ideal 30 meters of water resistance for the case. Breitling offers the Navitimer Automatic 41 GMT in stainless steel or 18k red gold where the former is available with black, silver, or ice blue dials whereas the latter comes with a green dial. Regardless of the case material, link bracelets and leather straps are on offer.
The dials follow a similar layout to the simpler three-hander Automatic 41 editions but of course, as GMT models, they include a few other bells and whistles. For instance, there’s the arrow-tipped 24-hour hand that points to a 24-hour scale on the inner, sunken part of the dial center. This is a “caller” GMT watch with an independently set GMT hand. Plus, there’s also a date window at 6 o’clock, which is color-matched on the black and green dials but not on the silver and ice-blue ones. Inside the watch is the COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 32 ETA-based automatic movement with 42 hours of power reserve.
The third and final new Navi is the Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute, limited to 250 examples and based on astronaut Scott Carpenter’s bespoke Breitling that he took with him on the Mercury-Atlas 7 (MA-7) mission on May 24, 1962. Carpenter’s “Cosmonaute” watch, characterized by a 24-hour dial, became the first Swiss wristwatch in space, beating Wally Schirra’s Omega Speedmaster by less than five months.
The 18k red-gold case measures 41mm in diameter, 13.6mm thick, and 47.09mm lug-to-lug. It houses a dark green dial with three black counters and like the original Cosmonaute, it includes a 24-hour display but this time, the applied numerals are in the same shade of gold as the case. The sapphire display caseback reveals the COSC-certified Breitling Manufacture Caliber B12 column-wheel, vertical clutch chronograph movement with 70 hours of power reserve. The caseback is also home to the inscription “First Swiss Wristwatch in Space/Navitimer Cosmonaute May 24,1962,” in addition to the watch’s production number out of the total 250-piece run.
As expected, the prices of these new Navitimers range significantly depending on the model and material. The Navitimer Automatic 41 watches are priced at 5,300 USD for the steel with leather strap (ref. A17329161C1P1, A17329371L1P1, and A17329171C1P1), 5,600 USD for the steel with bracelet (ref. A17329161C1A1, A17329371L1A1, and A17329171C1A1), 7,500 USD for the two-tone with leather strap (ref. U17329F41G1P1), 9,750 USD for the two-tone with bracelet (ref. U17329F41G1U1), 15,000 USD for the red gold with leather strap (ref. R17329F41G1P1), and 35,950 USD for the red gold with bracelet (ref. R17329F41G1R1).
The Navitimer Automatic GMT 41 watches are priced at 5,850 USD for the steel with leather strap (ref. A32310251B1P1, A32310211G1P1, and A32310171C1P), 6,200 USD for the steel with bracelet (ref. A32310251B1A, A32310211G1A1, and A32310171C1A1), 15,600 USD for the red gold with leather (ref. R32310251L1P1), and 36,500 USD for the red gold with bracelet (ref. R32310251L1R1). The Limited Edition Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute is priced at 22,400 USD and will only be available via Breitling’s online and in-store boutiques. For more information, please visit the brand’s website.
