The Breitling Navitimer Watch History

The Breitling Navitimer replica was designed to help pilots coordinate time and navigation. The watch was equipped with a built-in circular slide rule that let pilots calculate critical measurements such as fuel consumption, drift angle and ground speed with- out carrying a slide rule into the cockpit. The Navitimer made it easier to perform calculations in-flight and ensured that a slide rule was always close at hand. The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) chose the Navitimer as its official watch. In the 1950s and ’60s, many Navitimers had the AOPA logo.

The original Navitimer’s 40-mm case was large by 1950s standards, but the numbers on its scales were still tiny. The Navitimer 01, which debuted in 2011, had a larger, 43-mm case. (It also contained Breitling’s first manufacture movement.) And the newest version of the Navitimer 01, our test watch, is even larger, at 46 mm. It was introduced in 2014.

The larger dial naturally offers better legibility: the slide rule has bigger numerals that are easier to read. And it’s easier to operate the slide rule on the larger watch. But the scales and contrasting subdials show so much data, the wearer may have trouble deciphering it all, even on the larger dial. Legibility would be better if Breitling eliminated the dial’s tachymeter scale, which isn’t absolutely necessary on a pilots’ watch.