Released in 1954, the Breitling Navitimer has been in production longer than any other sporting chronograph. Complex yet elegant, you're bound to get lost in the dial… …which is probably not a good thing if you're a pilot using it to navigate while flying, but we digress. Over the decades, the Navitimer has seen countless variations that offer a wide range of design features, materials, complications and casing materials. This particular Navitimer, a Navitimer 8, eschews the complex dial of the 1950s original with its myriad timing scales for a clean, highly legible, time-and-date design that allows for quick registering of the information that matters most. Housed in a 41mm stainless steel case with a sapphire crystal, a signed crown, and a bi-directional steel bezel, it features a luminous sunburst blue dial with printed ‘Arabic’ indices, a matching handset, an outer ‘railroad’ minute track, and a date window at 6:00. Everything you need; nothing you don't. Power by the Breitling Calibre 17 — a workhorse ETA 2824-2 automatic movement — it comes paired to a stainless steel slant-link bracelet with a signed fliplock clasp and includes its factory goodies. Representing one of the first releases from the George Kern-led Breitling era, it’s an important model in Navitimer history, and a fantastic everyday watch from a beloved marque.
