It was in July last year when Georges Kern, one of the stars from the watchmaking world, exited the Richemont group to become the CEO of Breitling and help the brand find a new direction. After a lot of anticipation, the watchmaker has finally introduced not one but five new watches created under the new leadership. The fresh product line named Navitimer 8 is a vintage-inspired range of watches created to evoke manufacture’s glory days as a supplier of aviation instruments. The name comes from Breitling’s Huit Aviation department (huit is 8 in French) which was set up in 1938 to make cockpit clocks and other dashboard instruments for aircraft. The most important watch of the new collection is the Navitimer 8 B01 timepiece which has been designed with pilots in mind. The design of the watch mirrors the aesthetic of vintage Breitling pilot’s pieces with its coin-edge bezel and a reverse panda dial. The 43mm chronograph comes with a chronometer-certified, in-house Breitling 01 movement with a 70-hour power reserve.
The Breitling Navitimer 8 Unitime is the world time edition timepiece of the new collection which differs from the rest of the watches in the Navitimer 8 line-up in several ways. The stainless steel case measures 43mm and the dial is available in either silver or black finish. There are 24-hour and cities rings around the edge of the dial, allowing you to tell time in 24 different time zones all at once. The world time is set via the crown, which moves the cities disc, hour hand, as well as 24-hour disc in one hour steps, both forwards and backwards. The date window at 6 o’clock advances automatically. Powering the watch is caliber B35, which was Breitling’s very first non-chronograph in-house movement when it was released back in 2015. The Navitimer 8 Unitime costs 7950 Swiss francs (approximately $8500 USD) on strap and 8650 Swiss francs (approx. $9250) on steel bracelet, with deliveries starting October.
[Via:Ablogtowatch]
