Breitling Unveils its Most Complicated Navitimer at a Price You Won’t Believe

Last year, Breitling quietly released a trio of Perpetual Calendar Chronograph watches in celebration of the brand’s 140th anniversary. The watches featured gold cases and housed the Caliber B19, an exclusive manufacture movement built on the B01 movement Breitling launched in 2009 (which also gave us Tudor’s Caliber MT5813), with the addition of a perpetual calendar complication set atop the chronograph works. The anniversary references, which included a Navitimer, a Super Chronomat, and a Datora, were each limited to 140 examples, naturally. This week, we’re getting a first look at a standard-production Navitimer Perpetual Calendar Chronograph, using the same movement, housed in a steel case. 

The newest Navitimer is also the most complicated, boasting a full triple calendar that self-adjusts to account for leap years alongside the traditional chronograph timing complication and slide-rule bezel that the Navitimer is famous for. There’s a lot going on here, though Breitling has managed to pull everything together in a clear, legible manner by nesting the timing functions within the calendar functions on the subdials. The running seconds indication sits within the day-of-the-week indication, with two hands sharing the same hand stack, while the 30-minute totalizer hosts the date indication at its perimeter. The month and leap-year indication are set at 6 o’clock, with a moon-phase display tying everything together at the top of the dial. 

Everything is clearly marked and easily understood thanks in part to the uniform, ice blue sunburst dial. The subdials are sunken to differentiate themselves without the need for contrasting backgrounds, which would have likely exacerbated the crowded feeling on the dial. Instead, it feels light and unintimidating, like some perpetual calendar watches can. Adjustments to the calendar can be made via pushers along the left-hand side of the case. 

The Navitimer has never been a small watch, as its roots have always been in the aviation space as a usable tool in the cockpit; its broad, wide dial is a defining feature. This Navitimer is no different, using a 43mm steel case that measures a hair under 15mm in total thickness, just over a millimeter more than the standard 43mm Navitimer Chronograph. The B19 has a modular construction rather than an “integrated” one, so keeping things tucked under 15mm is no small feat. Additionally, this isn’t a watch really intended to be graceful formalwear, so the relative size shouldn’t really be all that concerning for fans of the Navitimer. 

This is a non-limited edition, and will be priced just under $30,000, at $29,000 on a strap, and $29,500 on a bracelet. All things considered, this Navitimer Perpetual Calendar Chronograph represents a value play when it comes to this rather peculiar feature set, not often seen outside of very high-end or independent watchmaking. For reference, the Patek Philippe Ref. 5270 (from a lineage that put the perpetual calendar on the map) is priced well into the six figures. 

In all, this is a welcome addition to the historic Navitimer collection, and it’s done in a manner that retains the strong character of the model. It’s also nice to see such complicated watches produced in steel, a relatively rare sight. I have a feeling this isn’t the last we’ll be seeing of Breitling’s Caliber B19.