BREITLING NAVITIMER 8 B35 AUTOMATIC UNITIME 43
Promising to revamp and simplify the Breitling line up while easing its intense devotion to aviation, the first evidence of CEO Georges Kern’s new strategy is the Navitimer 8 collection that takes cues from its oft overlooked rich archives of watch designs. Embodying an era of older vintage aviation watches compared to the classic Navitimer (now renamed Navitimer 1), the Navitimer 8 line is modelled after cockpit instruments and vintage pilot’s watches produced by Breitling’s Huit Aviation Department set up in 1938. What this means for Breitling enthusiasts is a new collection of pilot watches that offers vintage design codes and greater legibility on the dial. Relying on the original Navitimer case with bevelled lugs and notched rotating bezel, the Navitimer 8 dial incorporates several elements found in its vintage predecessors, including a railway minute track and large, luminescent Arabic numerals. Another notable element is the updated logo that features a singular italic ‘B’ without wings. Among the array of new timepieces, we find ourselves drawn to the Navitimer 8 B35 Automatic Unitime 43, which splendidly blends the legible pilot’s watch design with the functionality of a true world timer. The world time (indicated by an independent hour hand) is set with the crown, which also moves the cities disc, hour hand and 24-hour disc in one-hour increments. The remarkable COSC-certified manufacture Calibre B35 automatic movement inside a sizeable 43mm stainless steel case offers an impressive power reserve of more than 70 hours, along with jumping local hour changes that are coordinated to the 24-hour display. Available in black or silver dials, the Unitime 43 is a handsome world timer designed for superb efficiency while travelling.
