If there is one thing Breitling knows, it is watches for pilots. Launched in 1952, the Navitimer, or “navigation chronograph”, soon became the official watch of the AOPA (Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association; its emblem is the winged insignia at 12 o’clock). The larger diameter and chronograph made it a functional tool, while the flight slide rule was intended to allow pilots to make any necessary flight calculations – today, its actual use remains confusing.
Today, Breitling replica luxury watches unveiled the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Boeing 747, a limited edition watch that – you guessed it! Is the 747. – celebrating the end of production of the Boeing 747 (the 1,574th and last 747 was produced in 2023).
The dial of the Boeing 747 Limited Edition recalls the colour scheme of the original 747: a warm cream dial with black subdials, as well as red inner slide rule indexes and light blue accents. Around the sapphire case-back, the case is engraved with “Original Jumbo Jet” and “One of the 747s”. Apart from these changes, this limited edition is essentially the same as the standard Navitimer 43, which Breitling launched last year to celebrate the collection’s 70th anniversary. That is to say. The 43 mm stainless steel case, 13.7 mm thick, houses Breitling’s chronometer-certified caliber 01 with column wheel and vertical clutch. At $9,400, the Boeing 747 Limited Edition will cost $300 more than the standard Navitimer.
While we might quibble with the limited nature of this edition or its possibly diminished connection to history, let me say this. The Boeing 747 Limited Edition is an attractive Navitimer. Look, I’d probably let the retirement of the Boeing 747 pass without any limited edition watch to commemorate its impact on commercial aviation. But I’m also a slightly nervous flyer who takes a ZzzQuil before any flight longer than three hours, and I don’t run a multi-billion dollar watch brand, so maybe I’m biased.
But the Navitimer with its cream dial and black subdials is an easy winner, so it’s nice to see Breitling has come out with an attractive limited edition Navitimer, even if it is a limited edition, and even if it is meant to celebrate a relative footnote in aviation history. Yet another example of Breitling’s recent use of its historical references to launch great modern luxury replica watches, the Navitimer is one of Breitling’s most famous designs – Willy Breitling designed it in the early 1950s to help a new generation of pilots fly in the cockpit. It was soon worn in space by astronaut Scott Carpenter. Miles Davis also wore his Navitimer, and if Breitling wants to keep releasing Navitimers in different colours – as it has done with many other models in its lineup, from the Superocean to the Chronomat – I won’t stop them.
It’s hard to argue with the fact that one of the classics of chronograph design, complemented by a solid COSC-certified movement (with a vertical clutch and column wheel), now comes in an attractive new dial variant. In terms of aesthetics alone, it’s probably my favourite modern Navitimer 43.
