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Flying high with the launch of the Navitimer

Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling gets «on board»
Dina Aletras
Augusto BassieDina Aletras
21.05.2022 06:00

In all my years of attending watch presentations, I had never been exposed to a new collection in mid-flight. Yet we know how post conventional Georges Kern is, in his corporate strategy as well as in his communication. We met up with him in Milan to direct, star and produce the latest from Breitling (a brand founded in 1884 in Saint-Imier by Léon Breitling) where he has been CEO since 2017. We find him in uniform, sporting his four golden stripes on his wrists denoting the rank of commander.

And we watch him descend the escalators of Zurich airport, leading a crew that will take us to Geneva along with a press delegation and partners of the brand, revisiting the history of aeronautical watchmaking through its benchmark timepiece: the Navitimer. Though it wasn’t Kern himself who flew the Airbus of the Swiss fleet on which we boarded (the company for which Breitling is official onboard timekeeper), he did however guide us through the onboard discovery of the new references of the Maison’s signature model, which will turn 70 in 2022. First introduced in 1952 as a navigational timer capable of gauging speed and fuel consumption using a circular slide rule, it became the official timepiece of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, then the protagonist of space flights on the wrist of Malcolm Scott Carpenter, and later one of the sports chronographs whose charisma has crossed continents and eras, alluring brilliant artists such as Miles Davis and Serge Gainsbourg.

A 70 year legend

With a glorious aeronautical history behind it, the Navitimer is back in 2022 with a more refined and lively collection. The case has a flattened slide rule and convex crystal for added compactness. Shown here is a 43mm steel example, mint green dial and crocodile strap

Today, it is returning in a less sophisticated form with attractive proportions, colors and contents even for those who are not used to handling altimeters and hyper setters. Available in three diameters, 41-43-46mm, it looks more attractive on the wrist, and the smaller version will also appeal to the ladies. While the bezel is easy to grip at all times thanks to its characteristic serration’s, the profile is refined by alternating workings of the steel, brushed and polished, and a finer slide rule. The dials have an entirely new chromatic vibrancy, which ranges from blue to copper, as well as preserving the customary black with its three white chronograph counters, while the anniversary is marked by the return of the AOPA wings at 12 o’clock. The Breitling caliber 01 is a testimony to in-house mechanical expertise. Visible through the sapphire caseback, it features a sleeker oscillating weight, 70-hour power reserve and Cosc certificate. Of the various declinations, I really liked the 41 mm diameter, 13.6 thick steel one with a mint green dial, but I always succumb to the allure of the 43 mm red gold classic with black crocodile strap. Our flight is on time and we land in Geneva where Georges Kern, assisted by legendary explorer and scientist Bertrand Piccard, shares with us the true spirit of the new Navitimer collection: to explore the itinerary of life.