Breitling Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar automatic ice blue dial steel bracelet 43 mm

Breitling Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar: finally in steel!

Last year, Breitling celebrated its 140th anniversary by unveiling a new chronograph caliber with a perpetual calendar, the B19. This exceptional movement was first introduced in a limited series of three models in rose gold. Today, Breitling is pleased to add this remarkable caliber to its permanent collection with the Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar, a watch combining steel and platinum.

The Navitimer: THE pilot's watch

The link between Breitling and aviation is above all a story of passion. Passion for flying, for precision, for adventure. This passion, shared by Breitling pilots and watchmakers, has given rise to exceptional watches, designed for aviation enthusiasts the world over. In 1937, the brand set up the Huit Aviation production department, dedicated to the manufacture of timing instruments for the RAF and its Allies, products that had to be transported from neutral Switzerland to France and the United Kingdom in a clandestine manner.

In 1952, the brand designed an innovation that made a particular impression and would become the world's first pilot's watch equipped with a circular slide rule: the Navitimer. Intended for the world's largest flying club, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots' Association (AOPA), it became the official watch of its members once production was launched two years later.

Presented as an “on-board computer”, the Navitimer (a contraction of the words navigation and timer) revolutionized the pilot's chronograph with its ability to perform all the necessary flight calculations, including average speed, distance traveled, fuel consumption, rate of ascents and descents, and conversion of miles into kilometers or nautical miles. And the watch's reputation spread far beyond aviation: celebrities of the time, such as the musician Miles Davis and Formula 1 drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill, also wore the famous Navitimer.

In 1962, it even became the first Swiss wristwatch to travel into space, on the wrist of astronaut Scott Carpenter, during the orbital flight of NASA's Aurora 7 capsule.

Steel and platinum

The Breitling Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar is a timepiece that inspires admiration with its complexity and meticulous aesthetics. This watch, which combines a chronograph and a perpetual calendar, comes in a 43 mm stainless steel case, whose dimensions (49 mm from horn to horn and 15 mm thick) ensure a comfortable presence on the wrist.

One of the most remarkable elements of this model is its platinum rotating bezel, which adds a touch of elegance and blends harmoniously with the glacier blue dial. It attracts attention with its sunburst brushed finish and its tone-on-tone azure counters. The black slide rule, meanwhile, creates a high-contrast frame, improving the legibility of the information. Finally, two additional shades of blue enhance the aesthetic appeal of the dial: a dark sky blue for the moon phase indicator and a bright saturated blue as an accent color for the slide rule information. These subtle details testify to the care taken by Breitling in the design of this watch.

Despite the amount of information displayed on this dial, it remains perfectly legible, thanks to the clever integration of the chronograph counter and perpetual calendar indications. The Navitimer's DNA is there, with its applied baton hour markers and the slide rule bezel that is emblematic of the collection. A perfect blend of yesterday and today. As a little extra, Breitling has decided to make the moon phase a fairly realistic interpretation of the satellite, a nod to the origins of the Navitimer as a scientific tool.

This Breitling is available with two strap options: a seven-row stainless steel bracelet, faithful to the classic style of the Navitimer, and a black alligator strap with contrasting white stitching.

The B19 caliber: a new benchmark

Breitling is one of the few independent watchmaking companies to produce its own manufacture movements. It launched in 2009 with the Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01, then gradually expanded its range of chronograph calibers: the B02 with 24-hour function, the B03 with split-seconds and the B04 with GMT function. Many other innovations followed. The new Caliber B19 is the brand's first exclusive perpetual calendar movement, and true to its DNA, it is also a chronograph. Equipped with a full calendar and a moon phase display, it automatically corrects for 28, 30 and 31-day months and leap years, guaranteeing optimal operation for nearly a century without any major adjustments. To top it all off, it offers a comfortable power reserve of approximately 96 hours. In addition to the rigorous independent precision tests required to obtain COSC certification, the B19 caliber is subjected to a 16-year aging simulation which includes, among other things, 100,000 crown windings, 3,456,000 weight rotations and 60,000 shocks at 500G.