Breitling, one of the most fabled watches manufacturers in the world, was founded in 1884. Their expertise and experience can be vastly noticed within the three different categories of watches they’ve created so far: the Breitling for Bentley, Navitimer and SuperOcean.
The Swiss manufacturer has brought extremely important innovations to this respective market, with a huge impact in the watch making business. Besides, their role in the development of the wristwatch chronograph is unimaginably serious, as Breitling is the only major watches manufacturer in the world to equip all its models with chronometer-certified movements.
The first watch brand ever to enter the outer space was Breitling, with the Navitimer Cosmonaute chronograph, accompanying the Aurora 7 flight more than half a century ago, on the 24th of May 1962. To celebrate the fabled event, the brand has now released a limited edition Navitimer Cosmonaute.
The Mercury Space Program has taken place sometime during 1961, with Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter as one of the original astronauts taking part at it. He had approached Breitling with the idea of embodying a 24-hour dial, instead of a regular 12-hour one. Thus, the 24 hour Navitimer Cosmonaute has come to life, being worn in 1962 by Mr. Carpenter along the Aurora 7 flight, during which they’ve orbited the Earth three times.
The watch has been manufactured and assembled entirely within the company’s workshops, incorporating a high-tech Manufacture Breitling movement. It boasts a 24-hour display in order to make it easier to distinguish between nights and days, a manual-winding mode and two nods to the genuine 1962 chronograph
. It also features the Aurora 7 mission insignia stamped on the back case, which also includes a handy Fahrenheit / Celsius degree conversion scale. Based on the Caliber 02, the “world’s best chronograph movement” was meticulously created by Breitling’s engineers and watchmakers, its ultimate precision being confirmed through a chronometer certificate proven by the Swiss Official Chronometer Testing Institute aka COSC.
It serves a pilot best, having included the fabled circular slide rule in order to assist airborne navigation-related operations. The strapping can be chosen from crocodile leather, Navitimer or Barenia leather.
This anniversary limited edition will be available in 1962 pieces worldwide, sporting a black dial with silver counters. It includes a dial motif created using a “par epargne” process, with sterling silver at its base. The watch’s power reserve can last for as long as 70 hours, while the steel case can resist to pressures up to 3 bars.
The bi-directional rotating bezel, with an imprinted circular slide rule along with cambered sapphire crystal, anti-reflective on both sides, definitely makes it something very pleasurable to look at.
[BornRich]
