Breitling model

Breitling Navitimer: history, generations and official videos

The Breitling Navitimer is the pilot's chronograph with a circular slide rule on the bezel, developed in 1952 and adopted by the AOPA in 1954. This page explains its generations, the Cosmonaute and what drives the value of a Navitimer today, and shows the official Breitling videos.

Designed: 1952; AOPA's official watch from 1954
Signature: Circular slide-rule bezel
Space flight: Cosmonaute, worn by Scott Carpenter in 1962
Sizes today: 41, 43 and 46 mm (2022 chronographs)

Breitling | Navitimer Miles Davis Edition – official video by Breitling on YouTube

Where the name Navitimer comes from

The Navitimer is a pilot's chronograph. Its name combines "navigation" and "timer". Willy Breitling developed the design in 1952, and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) adopted it as its official watch in 1954. Early watches carried the AOPA winged logo on the dial. Sources differ on the exact start of public sales, between 1954 and 1956, so treat any single "launch year" with care. The watch's signature is the circular slide rule on the bezel. Breitling had patented a slide-rule chronograph bezel in 1941 and first used it on the 1942 Chronomat. On the Navitimer, pilots use it to calculate fuel consumption, flight time and distance.

Generations of the Navitimer

The Navitimer has been in production for decades, so there is no single "original" watch. These are the best-documented stages.

Series	Years	References	Case	Movement
AOPA original	1954 – 1955	No model reference on the caseback	Stainless steel (most watches)	Valjoux 72 in the first batch of about 1,100
Reference 806	from 1955	806 (Mk. 4 from 1964)	40 mm, stainless steel	Manual winding, Venus 178 (earlier Valjoux 72)
Cosmonaute	from 1962	809	Wider, higher bezel	24-hour dial
Chrono-Matic	late 1960s	8806	Small case, date at 6 o'clock	Automatic Caliber 11
2022 collection	since 2022	New references	41, 43 and 46 mm	Caliber 01, COSC, about 70 hours

The first batch of about 1,100 AOPA watches, made from July 1954 to January 1955, had no Breitling model reference on the caseback and no Breitling logo on the dial. In 1963 the Reference 806 appeared with white sub-dials next to the all-black dial. In 1964 the beaded bezel gave way to a milled edge and the "twin-jet" logo appeared for the first time, a version collectors call the Mk. 4. The first automatic Navitimer chronograph came from a consortium of Breitling, Heuer, Hamilton-Buren and Dubois-Depraz, which filed its patent in September 1967.

The Cosmonaute and other notable versions

In 1961 the astronaut Scott Carpenter asked Breitling for a watch with a 24-hour dial. He wore it on the Aurora 7 flight in 1962, and Breitling then sold a version as the Cosmonaute (Reference 809), recognizable by its wider, higher bezel. Collectors also look for the 1960s Chrono-Matic with its date at 6 o'clock, and for the large 48 mm Reference 1806 of 1969.

In 2022, the model's 70th anniversary, Breitling redesigned the collection. It has a flatter slide rule, a domed crystal and the date inside the 6 o'clock sub-dial. The AOPA wings returned to 12 o'clock. The chronographs use the COSC-certified Breitling Caliber 01 with about 70 hours of power reserve, in 41, 43 and 46 mm cases. Today the family also includes GMT, automatic and perpetual-calendar models.

What is a Breitling Navitimer worth?

The value of a Navitimer depends above all on the era and reference, the dial and bezel, the movement, the condition and whether box and papers are present. Because the name covers 70 years of watches, prices range widely. Early manual-winding watches with a clean original dial are the most sought after, and a heavily polished case or a replaced dial lowers the value. Two documented results from Phillips show the range for steel watches from the 1950s and 1960s: a 1955 Navitimer with a Venus 178 movement sold for CHF 15,000 in Geneva on 14 May 2016, and a 1964 Reference 806 Mk. IV sold for HK$44,450 in the Hong Kong Sessions online auction of September 2026. Modern watches are valued differently: look at the model, size, material and the original papers.

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Official Navitimer videos

All videos come from the official Breitling YouTube channel. They cover the Navitimer's history, the B01 and B19 models, the Cosmonaute-style editions and the watchmaking details of the movement.

More Breitling videos, sorted by model: all official Breitling playlists.

Sources (6)

SwissWatchExperts is not affiliated with Breitling. Brand and model names are trademarks of their owners; the videos are embedded from the official Breitling YouTube channel.

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Frequently asked questions

When was the Breitling Navitimer introduced?

Willy Breitling developed the design in 1952, and the AOPA adopted it as its official watch in 1954. Sources give 1954 to 1956 for the start of public sales.

What is the slide rule on a Navitimer for?

The circular slide rule on the bezel lets pilots calculate fuel consumption, flight time and distance. Breitling had patented a slide-rule chronograph bezel in 1941.

What is the Navitimer Cosmonaute?

A Navitimer with a 24-hour dial, made after astronaut Scott Carpenter asked Breitling for one in 1961. He wore it in space in 1962, and the commercial version is Reference 809.

How big is a Navitimer?

The Reference 806 has a 40 mm case. Current chronographs are 41, 43 and 46 mm.

Which movement is inside a Navitimer?

Early watches used the Valjoux 72 and then the Venus 178, both manually wound. The late-1960s Chrono-Matic used the automatic Caliber 11. The 2022 chronographs use Breitling's own Caliber 01.

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