Breitling has recently introduced the Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Artemis II, a limited edition that revisits one of its more unusual, and arguably more purposeful variants of the Chronograph 41.
The Cosmonaute goes back to 1962. Scott Carpenter needed a Navitimer that would work aboard Aurora 7, where time doesn’t behave in a familiar way. In orbit, the sun rises and sets every 90 minutes. That’s why a standard 12-hour dial quickly became ambiguous.
So Breitling made a simple adjustment. The watch was reworked with a 24-hour display — not as a novelty, but as a necessity.
The latest version keeps that defining feature. The 24-hour display remains, now powered by the manually wound Caliber B02, Breitling’s in-house chronograph movement with a power reserve of about 70 hours. It’s a familiar movement at this point, but still appropriate here — especially in hand-wound form, which suits the origins of the model.
Carpenter wore it during his three orbits of Earth on May 24, 1962. That detail tends to get repeated often, though what matters more is that the watch did exactly what it was meant to do. The “first Swiss watch in space” label came after.
The case measures 41 mm, which is consistent with the modern Navitimer. It wears as expected. Not small, not excessive either.
Most of the design is unchanged. The slide rule bezel is still there, even if few will use it as originally intended. The tri-compax layout remains intact, along with the AOPA wings on the dial. These are fixtures of the Navitimer, and removing them would change the watch more than updating it.
The dial, however, is new.
Breitling has opted for meteorite, etched to reveal its internal structure. The result is irregular, slightly chaotic, and difficult to reproduce — which is the point. Each dial ends up looking a little different. The blue tone layered over it helps unify the surface, though it shifts depending on the light.
It’s a strong visual choice. Maybe a bit literal, given the space theme, but still effective.
Legibility holds up reasonably well. Red accents break up the dial just enough, and the sub-dials remain easy to distinguish despite the textured background. It’s not the cleanest Navitimer, though that’s not really the intention here.
The watch is fitted with a blue alligator strap, which feels predictable but appropriate. A bracelet might have made it more versatile, though less cohesive.
On the back, the Artemis II connection comes into play. The caseback is sapphire, showing the movement along with the mission insignia. There are also engravings noting the limited production — 450 pieces in total.
It’s handled with restraint. The watch doesn’t lean too heavily on the space program branding, which is probably the right decision.
The Cosmonaute has had a quiet presence in space beyond Carpenter’s flight. John Glenn owned one, while James McDivitt used it during the Gemini and Apollo years. Later on, Claudie André-Deshays wore one aboard Soyuz TM-24.
More recently, astronauts like Robert Hines and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski have continued wearing Breitling watches in orbit. It’s not a formal partnership, but the association has persisted.
Georges Kern has described the Cosmonaute as a watch that was always meant for space. That’s mostly accurate, though its relevance today is less about function and more about continuity.
The new Cosmonaute watch doesn’t change the concept. It refines it slightly, adds a more expressive dial, and ties it to a current mission. The core idea — a 24-hour chronograph built for an environment where time behaves differently — remains intact.
