Review: Breitling Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph
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Ever since George Kern took over the helm at Breitling, the brand had seen some interesting developments – both in its concept, as well as the philosophy of the brand The new Navitimer collection is a glimpse into what the new Breitling is all about.
Breitling is a brand that is synonymous with aviation Its deep history is perhaps entrenched in one of its most iconic collection: the Navitimer.
First launched in 1952, the Navitimer is one of the watches that many pilots swears by – especially with its signature slide rule complication that serves as a back-up in terms of calculations in the event that flight computers were down.
The new Navitimer 8 is an interesting prospect The collection pays homage to Huit Aviation Department, which was incepted in 1938 to produce cockpit flight instruments and classic pilot’s watches “Huit”, which stands for 8 in French, is notably a reference to the 8 days power reserve that these flight instruments possess
There are a total of 5 new additions to the Navitimer 8 collection, covering a plethora of complications.
This includes the chronograph, day-date, automatic, and the world timer For today’s article, we will be taking a look at one of their most popular pieces: the Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph.
The Case, Dial, and Hands
The new Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph, together with the classic Navitimer 1.
The Navitimer 8 is a new collection altogether, and it is significantly different from the typical Navitimers that most of the collectors are used to One of the most obvious difference is the omission of the slide rule complication.
The slide rule is one of the signatures of the Navitimer, but the Navitimer 8 has done away with that We reckon the reason behind it is the fact that Breitling wants the Navitimer 8 to be a simpler entry-level collection for younger collectors, and the Navitimer 1 will remain as the flagship for its pilot’s watch collection While many collectors have reservations behind this, we feel that the new Navitimer 8 is a breath of fresh air, and in fact is historically correct.
In fact, we feel that the simple design is rather appealing and aesthetically-pleasing as well.
A close up of the dial The clean design is surprisingly aesthetically-pleasing to the eyes.
The 43mm timepiece has a simple dial layout It features 3 sub-dials, of which two is used for the chronograph function and the other for the seconds indicator.
There is also a date indicator which lies at the 4:30 position It is accompanied by the sword-shaped hands, with a white-tipped chronograph hand for the seconds display.
The dial is available in three different colours for the stainless steel pieces: either black, silver, or blue There is also a special bronze dial, for the 18K rose gold model.
The sub-dials and numerals are in contrast, to allow for better legibility We personally prefer the blue dial variant – in which we feel that the sunburst dial adds a new dimension to the watch itself We might have []
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