Tag: Breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph
Breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph
The Breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 is powered by the in-house Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01. The self-winding 43 mm watch has a ratchet-wheel chronograph with vertical coupling and an impressive power reserve of more than 70 hours. The display features 30-minute and 12-hour counters
The Breitling Aviator 8 Curtiss Warhawk collection is a tribute to the famed P-40 Warhawk fighter plane. At the time these iconic aircrafts were being built – between 1938 and 1944 – Breitling’s Huit Aviation Department was also making history with its groundbreaking onboard instruments for the RAF and other air forces.
The breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, the Aviator 8 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, and the Aviator 8 Automatic 41 Curtiss Warhawk collectively celebrate two true innovators in aviation. Featuring rotating bezel and distinctive triangular pointer, the watches revisit the iconic Reference 768 – one of Breitling’s first pilot watches.
Two chronographs and an understated three-hand model celebrate these aviation legends. The Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, the Aviator 8 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, and the Aviator 8 Automatic 41 Curtiss Warhawk collectively celebrate two true innovators in aviation.
The Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, the Aviator 8 Chronograph 43 Curtiss Warhawk, and the Aviator 8 Automatic 41 Curtiss Warhawk collectively celebrate two true innovators in aviation. Featuring rotating bezel and distinctive triangular pointer, the watches revisit the iconic Reference 768 – one of Breitling’s first pilot watches.
Breitling is synonymous with aviation, it always has been, and it’s been highly regarded by flight professionals the world over for its precision instruments for decades. They’ve been at the cutting edge for decades, too, much like the manufacturer of the aircraft this watch pays tribute to. It’s perhaps one of the most legendary and innovative aircraft manufacturers of all time: de Havilland.
De Havilland’s repertoire includes legends such as the Tiger Moth biplane, Venom, Vixen and the coolest sounding warplane, the Vampire, examples of which make regular appearances across the UK and overseas. Though, de Havilland is known for one plane more than any other. The Comet was the first-ever jet-powered commercial airliner which signalled not only a new age of air travel (the Comet flew from London to Johannesburg via Rome, Beirut, Khartoum, Entebbe and Livingstone in just over 23 hours) but also Great Britain’s ingenuity and air dominance, by the time the Comet appeared on display for the first time American designers didn’t even have jet-powered commercial airliners on the drawing board. It wasn’t to last.
If you visit the historic home of de Havilland aircraft, Hatfield in Hertfordshire, England, the only giveaways that de Havilland existed are some street names, the welcome sign and an art deco hotel named the Comet (named after the 1934 racing monoplane). Though the jetliner from de Havilland was a game-changer, shortsighted engineering led to catastrophic issues. The plane was notoriously difficult to fly for pilots. The hydraulic controls gave no feedback for pilots to judge and make adjustments on take-off and landing. The hull was thin to save weight which caused the metal to fatigue and weaken due to the high-pressure changes. The most critical issue was found to be the design of the square windows, which often led to the planes exploding during flight as the metal became too weak after repetitive use. Though de Havilland did rectify this, by that time it was too late, and Boeing had produced their own jetliner, and de Havilland could no longer keep up.
Though de Havilland doesn’t exist any more, their Canadian subsidiary, de Havilland Aircraft of Canada does and continues to make the Dash-8 aircraft. It’s exciting to think what it must have been like to be the first-ever passengers to fly on the Comet’s maiden voyage, faster than anyone else in a sleek jet plane. Similar to the game-changing Citroën DS, the shape of the Comet is synonymous with retro-futuristic art styles.
As a manufacturer of aircraft during the Second World War, de Havilland played their part in creating planes for the Royal Air Force to use. One of the most notable of this era was the Mosquito. With a frame constructed mostly from wood, the Mosquito was one of the fastest planes of its day and was capable of being equipped for lots of different roles from night fighting and defending the UK shoreline from incoming Luftwaffe aircraft to photo-reconnaissance and attacking Kriegsmarine U-Boats.
The new Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 Mosquito from Breitling attempts to bring back some of the nostalgia of plucky British lads flying their wooden planes about in the face of the most dangerous war machine in history. Red and orange accents are used on the dial such as the hands and running seconds subdial, they not only provide contrast to the black ADLC coated bezel.
The caseback is transparent so we can see the in-house made Breitling Calibre 01 movement, which has a 70-hour power reserve, a 4 Hz beat rate and 47 jewels. It’s a good looking calibre, and it sits in a good looking watch. I like the idea of the 43mm case size, and I like the contrast between the black dial and bezel and the polished steel case midsection. I like the brown leather strap as well.
But, I’m a little reserved on the whole reason this is a special edition watch. The Mosquito was a vital plane in the RAF’s arsenal of aircraft, and it performed exceptionally well. I think this watch doesn’t make enough of a song and dance about the Mosquito. There isn’t even a mention of its name on the caseback. You might say that’s Breitling being subtle, but is it? Surely they can pay tribute to something and at least mention the thing they’re paying tribute to. That’s not too much to ask, is it? It seems like they are playing careful, careful about falling down the route Omega took of doing a special edition for every day of the week, but this seems to be too far in the opposite direction.
Breitling Navitimer 8
The Navitimer 8 is named after Breitling’s “Huit Aviation” department that Breitling had set up in 1938 specifically to design and produce cockpit instruments and “wrist chronographs” for military use.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 B01 is going to be available in both steel and gold. There are going to be two steel models, with a blue or black dial available on a bracelet or leather strap. The red gold model will have a bronze dial and will only be available in a brown alligator leather strap.
The caseback is a screwed down steel piece and the watch has 100m of water resistance. Keeping with the color schemes in this collection, the steel watch will be available with a blue or black dial on either a bracelet or leather strap. The entire Breitling Navitimer 8 collection will be available Summer 2018.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 is a possible answer to this issue. Smaller, or at least more comfortable on the wrist, less hardcore-aviation-oriented, slightly more modern and more subtle, it is designed (but not only) to gain market share in Asia. In addition to that, the number 8 isn’t completely innocent (8 is a lucky number in China).
The Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 SWISS Limited Edition The Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 SWISS Limited Edition is powered by the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01. Created in-house by Breitling, it has become one of the world’s most admired mechanical watch movements, delivering an impressive power reserve of more than 70 hours.
After several weeks of teasers posted on its official social media channels, Breitling has at last launched the new Breitling Navitimer 8 collection with a variety of models. Today’s Navitimer 8 collection is a nod to that extensive heritage as well as all that the Navitimer is loved for like its reliable movements and masculine case – while the busy dials appear to have taken a lesser role in this new, vintage-inspired spin on the Navitimer. A clear message from new Breitling head Georges Kern is the decision to forego Breitling’s winged-B logo for the older simple B logo. This new collection is made up of five watches: the Navitimer 8 B01; the Navitimer 8 Unitime; Navitimer 8 Chronograph; Navitimer 8 Day & Date; and the Navitimer 8 Automatic. Worthy of note and bordering on sacrilege here is the fact that three out of the five Navitimer 8 watches are not chronographs leading to the question: should this just have been a new collection altogether?
The Navitimer 8 is named after Breitling’s “Huit Aviation” department that Breitling had set up in 1938 specifically to design and produce cockpit instruments and “wrist chronographs” for military use. These included a range of cockpit instruments with 8 days of power reserve, as well as a number of chronograph wristwatches with different scales and levels of complexity to cater to WWII pilots.
We’ve seen many new Navitimer models over the years, and some have stepped away from the original quite spectacularly. The original Breitling Navitimer was launched in the early 1950s specifically with pilots in mind. With it’s prominent “Slide Rule Bezel,” Breitling improved on the Chronomat model with a feature deemed as a “navigation computer” that allowed pilots to track speed, fuel consumption, conversions, and climb rate. It can (and realistically should) be argued that the 1950s original had a seriously busy dial. The new Navitimer 8 collection heavily channels the original concept while also presenting a refreshing modern look. If there is one thing to be said about the Navitimer 8, it’s that it improves on all things legibility and may prove a great first real addition to the Breitling catalog under its new CEO, Georges Kern.
Let’s start going through the collection, starting with the Navitimer 8 B01, which obviously features the in-house Breitling caliber B01 movement that boasts a 70-hour power reserve. Sized at a reasonable 43mm wide and 13.97mm thick, the Navitimer 8 B01 strips away the arguably vestigial Slide Rule Bezel while offering a 30-minute counter, 12-hour counter, and a date window. The Slide Rule Bezel has likely been the most prohibitive factor keeping many, many people (including myself) from considering adding a Navitimer to their collection while the aggressively macho styling of the Chronomat and Avenger kept as many people away on their own.
So, this Georges Kern special is bound to please a lot of vintage design lovers who have been scared off by contemporary Breitlings. My initial take? It’s cool looking, if a bit safe by design. A lot is going to hinge on the execution and how the watch feels in the metal. High-quality finishing on the case, hands, dial, and bracelet could make this a come-from-behind challenge to pieces from brands like IWC (I wonder why). One thing I have to say is that the varying orientation of the date window, hour numerals, and minute numerals all in the same area give me a feeling of knocked over building blocks. I’m just having a hard time unseeing that.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 B01 is going to be available in both steel and gold. There are going to be two steel models, with a blue or black dial available on a bracelet or leather strap. The red gold model will have a bronze dial and will only be available in a brown alligator leather strap. Oh, and all the models will have an exhibition caseback but no images of those yet, sadly.
Next up is the other chronograph in this collection of five new Navitimers, the Navitimer 8 Chronograph. Marketed as the more price-conscious (Breitling’s words, not mine) chronograph, this model uses the less “illustrious” (again, their words not mine) Breitling Caliber 01 movement, which unfortunately for those of us plagued with minds that demand design symmetry has sub-dials at 6, 9, and 12 o’clock. The caliber 01 operates at 28,800bph and has a 42 hour power reserve, which is passable if the value is there.
Measuring the same 43mm wide as the Navitimer 8 B01, the case is a little thicker at 14.17mm wide and water resistance is the same at 100m. You’re not going to get the bells and whistles like an exhibition caseback here, either, as we are told to expect a solid screw-down caseback. In addition to the chronograph sub-dials, there is a day of the week aperture and date aperture at 3 o’clock.
The Navitimer 8 Chronograph is also going to be available in stainless steel or a black DLC case on bracelet with either a blue dial or black dial.
This is the most simple of the new Navitimer 8 models, the 3-hand and date Automatic version. Inspired by on-board clocks used by pilots, this simple and clean model wisely measures 41mm wide and retains the bi-directional rotating bezel, which has a pointer that can be set to measure time. Using the caliber 17 movement, the Navitimer 8 Automatic operates at 28,800bph with a 40-hour power reserve.
As I mentioned, the case is 41mm wide and 10.74mm thick with 100m of water resistance. Again, the caseback is solid, which is completely fine as this movement is not the best looking (though tried and reliable). As with the other Breitling Navitimer 8 watches, it’s available in a steel or black DLC case with a blue or black dial on either a steel bracelet or leather strap. Overall, the package could come off a little bland to those like myself but the right price combined with the Breitling heritage sans-Air Force Travolta attitude could be a winning value proposition.
Designed with travelers in mind, the Navitimer 8 Unitime immediately recalls a pared-down version of the far overpriced $11,200 Transocean Unitime. Here, the world time indication is used by moving the hour hand forward or backwards via a crown which also adjusts the date window as well as the time. By positioning the city which corresponds to the timezone selected at 12 o’clock, the counterclockwise rotating 24-hour ring allows you to tell the time in each of 24 time zones based on local time. We’ll share this system in action once we get our hands on these watches.
This Navitimer 8 Unitime (named so to stand for “Universal Time” mind you) measures 43mm wide and 14.38mm thick and features an exhibition caseback. The watch uses the Caliber B35 movement which has a 70-hour power reserve. The Unitime comes in either a black or silver dial, but I have to say that the legibility on the silver-dialed model seems very lacking so unless something drastically changes when we get this watch hands-on, I imagine suggesting to go for the black dial.
The Navitimer 8 Day & Date is the one that least elicits any emotion from me, with a day window at 12 o’clock and date window at 6 o’clock. Measuring 41mm wide and 11.10mm thick, this Navitimer 8 solves the problem that I’m sure must exist for someone out there of a day window being too small. Using the caliber 45 movement, it operates at 28,800bph and has a 40 hour power reserve. The bi-directional rotating bezel has a pointer that can be used to set reminders, as with every Navitimer 8. The caseback is a screwed down steel piece and the watch has 100m of water resistance.
Keeping with the color schemes in this collection, the steel watch will be available with a blue or black dial on either a bracelet or leather strap.
The entire Breitling Navitimer 8 collection will be available Summer 2018. Stay tuned for detailed pricing and our hands-on impressions coming very soon.
Breitling Navitimer 8
The Navitimer 8 Automatic 41 makes a style statement. It is clearly a direct descendent of Breitling’s legendary watches from the 1930s and 1940s. Inside the steel case with its rotating bezel and pointer is the Breitling Caliber 17. With a bidirectional rotor winder, it delivers more than 40 hours of power reserve. Aviator 8 The watches in the Aviator 8 family are the bold new faces of an iconic collection. They are brilliantly contemporary interpretations of the design DNA and technical features of Breitling
The Breitling Navitimer 8 is a new interpretation of an iconic pilot’s watch. Lacking a slide rule bezel, this line is focused on what’s essential: tracking the time. Top models feature in-house calibers with chronograph or world time functions. The Navitimer 8 is named after Breitling’s “Huit Aviation” department that Breitling had set up in 1938 specifically to design and produce cockpit instruments and “wrist chronographs”
The Navitimer 8 is named after Breitling’s “Huit Aviation” department that Breitling had set up in 1938 specifically to design and produce cockpit instruments and “wrist chronographs” for military use.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 B01 is going to be available in both steel and gold. There are going to be two steel models, with a blue or black dial available on a bracelet or leather strap. The red gold model will have a bronze dial and will only be available in a brown alligator leather strap.
The caseback is a screwed down steel piece and the watch has 100m of water resistance. Keeping with the color schemes in this collection, the steel watch will be available with a blue or black dial on either a bracelet or leather strap. The entire Breitling Navitimer 8 collection will be available Summer 2018.
Inspired by on-board clocks used by pilots, this simple and clean model wisely measures 41mm wide and retains the bi-directional rotating bezel, which has a pointer that can be set to measure time. Using the caliber 17 movement, the Navitimer 8 Automatic operates at 28,800bph with a 40-hour power reserve.
Breitling Navitimer 8 Chronograph. Next up is the other chronograph in this collection of five new Navitimers, the Navitimer 8 Chronograph.Marketed as the more price-conscious (Breitling’s words, not mine) chronograph, this model uses the less “illustrious” (again, their words not mine) Breitling Caliber 01 movement, which unfortunately for those of us plagued with minds that demand design …
The Breitling Navitimer Aviator 8 SWISS Limited Edition Watches – Building on an Aviation Heritage Among Willy Breitling’s many celebrated achievements was the establishment of the Huit Aviation Department in 1938. He was aware of the strict requirements for military and civil aviation, and the department’s name – the French word for
The Navitimer 8 Automatic 41mm makes a style statement. It is clearly a direct descendent of Breitling’s legendary watches from the 1930s and 1940s. Inside the steel case with its rotating bezel and pointer is the Breitling Caliber 17. With a bidirectional rotor winder, it delivers more than 40 hours of power reserve. The eye-catching dial is available in black or blue.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 is a possible answer to this issue. Smaller, or at least more comfortable on the wrist, less hardcore-aviation-oriented, slightly more modern and more subtle, it is designed (but not only) to gain market share in Asia. In addition to that, the number 8 isn’t completely innocent (8 is a lucky number in China). …
The Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph has a very different profile from most modern Breitling watches. Our first glimpse into the “new” Breitling is the Navitimer 8 collection, launched with much fanfare a few weeks ago, as part of a worldwide road show.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 was initially released in five different models with five different movements. One thing that was immediately striking was that only two of the five were chronographs. Of these, the flagship model boasts Breitling’s acclaimed in-house automatic, the B01, a gorgeous column-wheel vertical clutch with 70 hours of power.
8 Breitling Navitimer Alternatives (Homage & Affordable Watch Options) If you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Details. The Navitimer Collection by luxury watchmaker Breitling is amongst the most sought after timepieces worldwide. The iconic circular slide rule design made it the go-to watch for pilots …
There are five impressive new models just released, the first new Breitling models to be released since Georges Kern left Richemont and became the CEO of Breitling. Navitimer 8 B01. First up is the Navitimer 8 B01, powered by the in-house Caliber 01, this watch boasts an impressive 70-hour power reserve.
Breitling Navitimer 8 Automatic Day & A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by a watch strap or different type of bracelet, together with metal bands, leather-based straps, or some other form of bracelet. A pocket watch is designed for an individual …
That’s why the Navitimer 8 features a number of elements from Breitling watches produced in the 1930s and ‘40s, like a rotating bezel. The limited edition issued in the summer of 2018, since renamed the Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph, was equipped with markers and even-numbered numerals in addition to the existing orientation triangle.