Breitling is a watch company founded in 1884 by Leon Breitling.  Many horologists and watch enthusiasts  would agree that Breitling has a very rich history. But recently, the company seemed to be moving in different directions with the release of many designs that seem to have the same flair of mass market producers like Movado or Tag Heur. It appears that Breitling has been trying to broaden its appeal to a wider audience by enlisting celebrities in what they dub as the "Spotlight Squad." It remains to be seen if this advertising move will bring Breitling the market share this company is seeking. 

Several decades ago, Breitling was considered one of the frontier pioneers in the watch making world. Today, Breitling  is lagging in the innovation and pioneering department. The competition is very fierce among the luxury brands and it is highly unlikely that celebrity endorsements  will help Breitling fix this problem.

First introduced in 1952, the Navitimer was a hit with aviators, having all the necessary “wrist instruments” needed to calculate flight speed, fuel consumption etc. Over the years the Navitimer has evolved through several iterations, but still managed to maintain several distinct features that remains part of its DNA. Namely, the 40-43 mm watch face with the distinct rotating bezel with an integrated slide rule. The first year Production of Navitimers were powered by Valjoux 72, and from here up until late 2000s, several advanced iterations of ETA movements can be found in most Breitling watches. For a more detailed look at Navitimers throughtout the years, visit Monochrome-watches.

Featured here is the Navitimer Heritage Model A35340, produced in June 2004. It has a Cal. 35 based ETA 2892-A2 movement, consisting of 21 jewels and 28,800 bph. Estimated to have a 42 hour power reserve, it remains a classic timepiece that collectors willingly seek to add to their watch collection. The complication is a flyback chronograph, Stainless Steel bracelet with a flip lock clasp, bi-directional slide rule bezel, silver dial in a 43 mm stainless steel case with a 15 mm height and lume hour markers. Three black sub dials at the bottom half of the watch dial called "totalizers," totals the  running seconds, minutes and hours. All Navitimers are chronograph COSC certified chronometers.

The Sapphire crystal gives this Navitimer a distinct bold look, coupled that with a white dial with so many numbers that seems as if it's made just for mathematicians. But this is also what is so cool about the Navitimer - you know that you are wearing the first "smart" watch ever invented. A Phd in Mathematics is not needed to figure out how to use this dial. It's fairly straightforward to do simple division, multiplication addition and subtraction. 

The main dial is based on the tachometer which is essentially a logarithmic scale that uses this formula to compute speed: TACHOMETER=3600 / Elapsed Time in Seconds.

The Navitimer Bezel mirrors the E6B Flight Computer, which is based on the principle of the slide rule. The unit of measurement is the base 10 logarithms (Log 10). In order to master the scale, it is important to note that the numbered "tick" marks represents a range of values. An example of this would be to look at the scale on the face of the watch, the number 30 to the left of the word "NAUT" can represent 3.0, 30, 300 or 3000. The nine "tick" marks between 30 and 35 each represents 1/10 of the distance between 30 and 35, or between 300 and 350. Therefore each "tick" between 30 and 35 would yield 0.5; between 300 and 350, each tick would represent 5 and so on.

When performing computations, the rotating bezel on the Navitimer will represent the time and the face/dial will represent units (distance, pounds gallons etc). 

 It is safe to say that the Breitling Navitimer Heritage is a very unique timepiece that withstood the test of time, and still manages to be very appealing to a wide range of audiences - audiences who fully appreciates the complexity of this timepiece.

Breitling introduced the M1 Chrono Super Quartz Avenger in 2002. It was manufactured from around 2002-2008. Our showcased selection has a Production Year of approximately 2008. It is a very beautiful timepiece, constructed out of Titanium. The Titanium pushers are innovatively designed, allowing this watch to be in the professioanl category of a serious dive watch. Breitling pioneered this Titanium push design to function at 1000 meters or 3300 FT depth. This is achieved by isolating the chambers behind the Titanium Pushers from the rest of the watch. Communication occurs by using a  series of magnets and an intricate mechanism, which activates the respective components the wearer has activated. The crown and pushers are sturdily built and are all made of Titanium . The build quality starting with the case, caseback, pushers, crown and bracelet feels like they are built to last. The bracelet is also made of Titanium. The Avenger shown here has a customized diamond bezel. The original M1 Avengers were not manufactured with diamond bezels. 

The Chrono Super Avenger M1 exemplifies the R&D that Breitling has been  known to invest in. The form and functionality, and attention to detail was what many watch enthusiasts had come to expect from Breitling. The design was bold and innovative. It stood out from the rest of the dive watches of other leading  manufacturers, probably with the exception of Omega. The midnight blue dial is very attractively designed, offset with the white totalizers, and lumes on the minute and hour markers.  Breitling later on released various versions with yellow dials, black dials and white dials. Many watch enthusiasts would agree that this Chrono M1 Avenger Super Quartz Breitling timepiece was a successful hit. 

The disadvantage of this success for Breitling is the proliferation of fakes and replicas. Some fakes are not so easy to discern, as the illegitmate manufacturers go to great lenghs to conceal these  knock-offs and entice buyers with ridiculously low price ranges. Now is a good time to publicly announce: Buyer Beware. There are many Youtube videos revealing fake watches, and some reputable secondary market dealers have also posted videos showcasing the differences between the real Avenger M1 and the fakes. 

The 44mm Titanium case houses the "B73" movement. Otherwise known as Breitling's trade marked  "Super Quartz" name. According to Breitling's website, this "Super Quartz" is supposed to be 10 times more accurate than a regular standard quartz movement.  

It just seems to me that Breitling spent an awful lot of time and money to just invent a quartz that is only 10 times better than a standard quartz.  I am sceptical as to whether this was just a marketing gimmick. But I will give Breitling the benefit of the doubt with regard to their claims about this "Super Quartz."

The performance metrics of the Super Quartz has been confirmed to have very high accuracy, and Breitling quartz movements proliferated from B50 series all the way to B80. In the B series, its unclear if all movements were Super Quartz . Please feel to share this information with me if you  happen to know the answer. 

The business decision to utilize quartz movement was not without controversy. There are a substantial number of horologists and watch enthusiasts who remain bitterly divided on this quartz issue. Some believers feel that the true art of a sophisticated timepiece is in the development of its mechanical movment.  Anything else should not be up for consideration in the "classical" department.

This discussion has some merits, and I dont have sufficient space nor time to do justice to this argument. But most watch collectors would agree that they are a select few timepieces that are iconic because of the passion they invoke, and the influence it has had over time. 

The Chrono Avenger definitely falls into this category.

In May 2017 CVC Capital Partners took ownership of Breitling.  This Corporate Venture Capital Equity investment firm has approximately over 110 billion of assets under management. We can hope that Breitling has some exciting innovative design in store for the watchmaking industry.