The Breitling Navitimer is an evolution of the 1942 Breitling Chronomat, with its typical slide rule bezel. Breitling decided to improve this highly practical bezel and in 1952, the ‘Navi’ was born. This slide rule bezel was used to calculate complicated operations without any other tool. The 1942 Chronomat came with an out-sourced movement, the Venus 176. It was long time used by the united states Air Forces. The bases of the Breitling were settled: a brand dedicated to http://ift.tt/1osGlIE pilots.
In 1884, the 24-years-old Léon Breitling, who was already a trained watchmaker, arrived in Saint-Imier to create his first chronograph. That same year is also considered as the official founding year of Breitling. In 1892 the young company moved to La Chaux-de-Fonds and produced chronograph pocket watches under the name “G. Léon Breitling SA Montbrillant Watch Factory”. Within the years, Breitling had seen an increasing demand for dashboard clocks (in planes) and for military chronographs. In 1915, Breitling introduced its first wrist chronograph with central seconds and a 30-minute counter, allowing the pilots to achieve basic calculations.
In 1923, Breitling introduced the first chronograph with pusher (usually, start and reset of the chronograph was made through the crown). In 1934, Willy Breitling, the successor of Léon, came with an idea that http://ift.tt/1uZoyul is the norm for decades now, the two pushers chronograph – one to start and pause the chronograph and one to reset timing. But Willy wanted to go further in the idea of a calculation tool and asked the mathematician Marcel Robert to create a slide rule bezel that could perform complex logarithmic calculations. He created a scale with the 3 most important units for pilots: STAT for standard mileage, KM for kilometres and NAUT for nautical miles. This on-the-wrist computer (remember that the pilots in the 40s were working only with digital tools) allowed pilots to calculate fuel consumptions, average speeds or climbing speeds.
In 1952, the very first Navitimer adorned the “Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association” (AOPA) emblem on its dial (the typical double-wing logo) and by 1960, a real cooperation with the AOPA began. The “Navitimer” name is the contraction of “navigation” and “timer”. The first edition to be sold was the reference 806, powered by a manual http://ift.tt/1yobf5m chronograph movement with column wheel mechanism, the Venus 178. These early specimens are now highly collectible, and depending on the condition and the edition (AOPA or not, gold filled or stainless steel, full black or reverse panda dial), they can reach between 2. 000Eur and 10. 000Eur. The stainless steel versions are among the easiest to find but also the most sought-after. The later gold plated editions are less popular. Some very rare 18K solid gold editions can even reach up to 10. 000Eur. One special feature for the year 1954: the 806 were equipped with a Valjoux 72 and thus, are among the most collectible ones.
