Last year in Basel, we saw a 38mm three-hand Navitimer with a beaded bezel equipped with a slide rule. Sure, it was on the smaller side for a Breitling, but it was also a clear signal that under its then-new new management, Breitling was going to be open to trying new things to reach a wider range of watch buyers. This year, we see the same aesthetic applied to a 41mm mid-size three-hander with date.
It’s a good looking watch that takes the aesthetic of the Navitimer, a tool watch if there ever was one and definitely Breitling’s most iconic design, and applies it to a fashionable time and date in a wide range of executions incorporating various dial colors, two case metal configurations, and choice of a leather strap or a bracelet. Based on the shear number of examples within this new collection, it would appear that Breitling expects this collection to be a big success and a pillar for the brand. The Breitling 17 is not produced in-house, but it’s based upon one of the most widely used and time-tested movements in all of Swiss watchmaking, ETA’s 2824-2.
I’m a fan of the Navitimer aesthetic, and I think a lot of you out there are too. It’s definitely Breitling’s best-known watch and easily one of the most instantly recognizable pilot’s watch designs from any watchmaker. These new time and date models successfully transfer the design language of an iconic tool watch to more of an everyday watch with mass market appeal. There are a heck of a lot of different possible configurations here – I count 15 when taking the optional folding clasp versus pin buckle into account, and I think some of them look really great: the blue dial option below matched with a blue strap, for example.
The new Breitling Navitimer 1 Automatic 41 collection gives a brand-new take on the Navitimer, effortlessly combining the historic appeal of a true icon with the refinement of a sophisticated, contemporary timepiece.Offered either with a matching bracelet or a black, blue or brown alligator strap that fits both a stainless-steel pin or folding buckle, the Navitimer Automatic 41 is powered by the Breitling Caliber 17, a COSC-certified chronometer
The Breitling Navitimer 1 Automatic 41 watch was an effort on the brand’s part to blend some of the expected Navitimer features into a highly functional timepiece, all the while maintaining that classic design we know and love. The Navitimer 1 draws much of its inspiration from the Navitimer 806, a simple three-hander released in the 1950s.It’s firmly rooted in Breitling’s best-known strand of DNA, but has been modernized and sized appropriately in an attempt to widen appeal. Sized at 41mm, it will be appropriate for a wide array of wrist sizes for those who might have found the previous version a little small.
