INTRODUCTION
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NAVITIMER IS THE CONTRACTION OF TWO WORDS CORRESPONDING TO THE MAJOR FUNCTIONS OF THE WATCH: NAVIGATION AND TIMER, HENCE A TIMER (CHRONOGRAPH) INTENDED FOR AIRBORNE NAVIGATION.
NAVITIMER is a distinctive, almost military-sounding name. A strange moniker that has enjoyed an exceptional destiny, shaped by extraordinary and visionary actors: such is the story told in this book.
From the beginning of its existence, which dates back to 1884, Breitling specialized in time measurement, namely the development of timers and chronographs, which resulted in the filing of numerous patents. These included a “Vitesse” pocket watch serving to measure the speed of a vehicle; the first pusher independent of the crown; independent zero-resetting enabling the user to perform several successive measurements without stopping the chronograph; and finally the second independent pusher, affording enhanced user-friendliness and forming the basis of the modern chronograph. Breitling also developed split-seconds chronographs very early on, allowing several intermediate times to be measured with the same instrument.
In addition, a group of associates including Breitling was behind the first self-winding micro-rotor chronograph in 1969, which was the subject of fierce competition from its competitor Movado-Zenith.
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This exceptional expertise in this specialty naturally brought the brand into close contact with several fields of activity, such as motorsports, cycling and aviation. The latter has been a major partner throughout its history.
The relationship with the aeronautical world began in the 1930s with the development of onboard chronographs for aviation, a sector so important to Willy Breitling that in 1938 he founded the Huit Aviation Department, whose aim was the continuous development of onboard instruments for aviation.
After World War II and the reconstruction that followed in the second half of the 1940s, the 1950s represented a period of prosperity and optimism, accompanied by technological innovations enabling people to push their limits by exploring new territories such as the bottom of the oceans, the highest points of the globe, intercontinental travel and even space. In addition to professionals, there were more and more private travelers and travel itself became faster and faster.
This represented a particularly important opportunity for the watch industry, with the possibility of developing new instruments, and mainly wristwatches adapted to these new types of users. Breitling thus directed its endeavors towards three distinct universes: Air, Land and Sea.
It was within this context that the Navitimer was created.
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THE NAVITIMER OFFERED WHAT NO OTHER WATCH MANUFACTURER HAD PREVIOUSLY DONE: A SLIDE RULE COMBINED WITH A CHRONOGRAPH, ENABLING PILOTS TO PLAN OR CALCULATE CERTAIN PARAMETERS OF THEIR FLIGHT.
This revolutionary chronograph stems from collaboration between Breitling and the American Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the largest association of pilots and aircraft owners (around 40,000 members in 1954), with branches and members all over the world.
Its revolutionary slide rule enables its user to perform a multitude of calculations including:
• arithmetic operations, such as multiplications or divisions;
• distance unit conversions between kilometers, land miles and nautical miles;
• aeronautical calculations such as average speeds, flight times, fuel consumption, or climb and descent rates.
The Navitimer immediately won the hearts of a large number of professionals, sportspersons and amateurs. It was also the choice of famous standard-bearers in disciplines as varied as motorsports, showbusiness, aviation and even space.
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One of the first personalities won over by this model was a super-professional: Lieutenant Scott Carpenter, selected from hundreds of applicants to be one of the “Original Seven”, the first seven American astronauts in NASA’s Mercury Program, which ran from 1958 to 1963.
Having seen this astonishing watch on the wrists of Australian Air Force pilots, Carpenter had the intelligence and audacity to contact Breitling directly to ask them to modify their Navitimer in order make it compatible with a trip into orbit where day and night are relative, i.e. providing a time reading over 24 hours instead of 12. This marked the birth of a distinctive Navitimer, the Cosmonaute.
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Scott Carpenter (right) talking with Walter “Wally” Schirra (left) and Virgil “Gus” Grissom (center) shortly before the flight of Aurora 7 in 1962. On his wrist is the Cosmonaute that Breitling had just delivered to him, fitted with a stainless steel stretch bracelet.
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Article from L’Univers Automobile magazine about Swiss racing driver Jo Siffert, whose picture clearly shows a Navitimer on his wrist.
Soon after, the Navitimer also became a favorite with other celebrities, notably including Formula 1 drivers Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Jo Siffert and Jackie Olivier between 1967 and 1968. Interestingly, they all drove Lotus cars, either from the famous official “Team Lotus” or from private teams.
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Jim Clark (right) takes a break with Graham Hill, his Team Lotus-Ford teammate, during practice for the 1967 French Grand Prix at the Bugatti circuit in Le Mans. He is wearing a Navitimer.
©IMAGO / Motorsport Images
The new Breitling icon was worn by jazz legend Miles Davis in the second half of the 1960s.
But it was also the choice of many film stars such as Tony Curtis, Alain Delon and Yves Montand, the latter even wearing it in the 1974 movie Chance and Violence . What better choice than the Navitimer for Commandant François Derval, the NATO pilot in the 1965 James Bond film Thunderball ? The other watchmaking star of this movie in which the hero is played by Sean Connery was another Breitling in the shape of a modified Top Time model.
Both watches were filmed in close-up during several scenes. Gregory Breitling, Willy’s son, told us that his father had in fact approached the film’s production team for what we would now call a “product placement”, which was totally unusual at the time. Willy Breitling was definitely a visionary.
Serge Gainsbourg, the famous French singer-songwriter of the 1960s to the 1990s, a brilliant lyricist who was as provocative as he was refined, and a great lover of luxury objects, was particularly fond of watches. He bought a Navitimer (reference 81600) and asked Breitling to provide him with a custom-made rally-style bracelet. Legend has it that the bracelet was made of platinum. Gainsbourg was photographed many times with his Navitimer on his wrist.
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© AFP /
Miles Davis wearing his Navitimer on a wide wristband during a concert at the Salle Pleyel in Paris, November 3, 1968.
Eleonore Bakhtadze
CHRONOMAT: FIRST CHRONOGRAPH WITH A SLIDE RULE
In 1941, Breitling introduced the Chronomat (Chronograph for mathematicians), the first chronograph with a circular slide rule.
This slide rule consists of two adjacent logarithmically graduated scales. The inner scale is on the dial and indicates time. The outer scale, which indicates distance (telemetry), is placed on the rotating bezel. The two scales are graduated in opposite directions.
This innovation proved to be very useful, as it enabled calculations of telemetry (by the military), production (by engineers), yield (by financiers) and speed or average (by sportsmen, and mainly car drivers).
The patent application was filed in August 1940 under the number 217012 which was inscribed on the dial for some time.
The watch is usually equipped with the mechanical manual-wound Venus Caliber 175, enabling time measurements up to 45 minutes. There is a very rare three-counter version, serving to measure times up to 12 hours, equipped with Venus Caliber 178.
The Chronomat is considered the forerunner of the Navitimer.
44 1941
The Chronomat is the first watch with a circular slide rule, extremely useful for all kinds of mathematical calculations of speed, average, exchange rates, etc... This very rare example with three counters, Reference 786, dates from 1945. The patent number 217012 is displayed on the dial.
45
Collection Fred
S. Mandelbaum –@Watchfred
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Above left, an article in the 1963 Europa Star magazine announcing the news, kept secret by NASA until then, of the watch worn by Carpenter: a Breitling Navitimer. Above right, John Glenn’s Cosmonaute sold by Phillips Auction House in December 2019 in New York.
Opposite: June 1963, the “Original Seven”, the seven astronauts selected for the Mercury program. From left to right: Gordo Cooper, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, DK Slayton and Scott Carpenter with his Cosmonaute.
ORBITER 3: AROUND THE WORLD IN A BALLOON
The Breitling Orbiter 3 is a Rozier balloon, named after its inventor Pilâtre de Rozier, who in 1784 devised this type of balloon with two compartments: a sealed one containing a lighter-than-air gas, generally helium, and an open one containing air that is heated with a burner, generally propane. On board the Breitling Orbiter 3, Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones made the first non-stop round-the-world flight between March 1 and 21, 1999. They took off from Château-d’Œx in Switzerland and landed in Egypt, thus covering a distance greater than a circumnavigation of the globe.
Equipped with a Breitling Emergency watch each, the crew broke several records:
• Flight duration: 19 days 21h 47min
• Maximum altitude: 11,755 meters
• Maximum ground speed: 240 km/h
• Distance traveled: 45,755 kilometers
• Number of countries overflown: 26 countries
Its gondola is now on display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
82 1999
The extraordinary feat of the Breitling Orbiter 3 project, which in 1999 completed the first round-the-world balloon flight. This achievement was partly due to the ground team, in particular the meteorologists, and perhaps also to their Breitling Emergency.
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THE FIRST NAVITIMER
REF: no Ref. / Classification: NAVI Mk 1.1
The very first Navitimer, considered as a pre-production model, was issued in a run of 100. It differs from the following models by its lugs with truncated tips.
138 1954
Collection Fred
S. Mandelbaum –@Watchfred
REF: no Ref. / Classification: NAVI Mk 1.2
During the first year of production, the Navitimer housed the Valjoux 72 movement. The AOPA logo on the dial indicates that this execution was intended for AOPA members. The lugs are of standard size and shape.
139 1954 PRE-806
Collection Nicolas Chambron
NAVITIMER. A mysterious name at first glance. It is in fact a contraction of two words, which correspond to the two major functions of a revolutionary watch: NAVIgation and TIMER. A chronograph designed for airborne navigation. But much more than that, an exceptional destiny, shaped by extraordinary and visionary actors.
From the very beginning of its existence, in 1884, Breitling specialized in time measurement, namely the design of timers and chronographs. It was in the 1930s that the foundations of a close relationship with the world of aviation and aeronautics were laid, under the aegis of Willy Breitling. These ties have remained unbroken ever since.
In 1952, in collaboration with the AOPA, the largest aeronautical association of the time, Breitling launched the development of the Navitimer, which offered what no other watch manufacturer had ever proposed: a chronograph combined with a slide rule for aircraft pilots. The Navitimer was available only to AOPA members in 1954, and then marketed to the general public in 1955.
For 70 years now, the Navitimer has enjoyed glory, flown into space and weathered crises, integrating numerous evolutions without ever losing its original DNA. It has appealed to several generations of professionals, celebrities and lovers of exceptional watches, undoubtedly earning its status as an icon of watchmaking history. This second book in the WATCH STORIES series, dedicated to the history of emblematic timepieces, traces its heroic and unique destiny from its creation to the current models.
WATCH STORIES COLLECTION
1. A Moon Watch Story – The extraordinary destiny of the Omega Speedmaster
2. Navitimer Story – The epic saga of the Breitling chronograph
ISBN 978-2-940506-45-3
