Breitling Editorial Hands-on Reviews New Releases New Watches New Watches 2022

New Breitling Navitimer B01 Hands-on Review and Comparison – A Variety Tale Of 70-years, 28-references, 14-models, 10-dial variations, 3 Sizes, 2 Materials, 1 Legendary Icon 

Trust Georges Kern to take charge and present Breitling lovers with a bouquet of legendary Navitimers. Caution: with choices for everyone, you will be spoilt with a plethora of variations. Colourful chronograph mania ahead.

Editor’s note: We are delighted to finally share our hands-on review of the new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection for 2022. For our other detailed hands-on reviews, please head to our dedicated reviews section here. This is not a sponsored post.

new Breitling Navitimer B01

Variety is the Spice of Life or Reactions to new Breitling Navitimer B01

English poet William Cowper is credited for “Variety’s the very spice of life, That gives it all its flavour”. 

Chronographs can be tedious sometimes to appreciate. Busy dials and same old colour combinations can take the spice out of these tool-esque sports watches. Thankfully, Georges Kern and Co decided to infuse some flavour into this style, and what we have are some stellar looking chronographs reinvigorating the legendary Navitimer name. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01
Breitling Navitimer 2022 60
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41_Ref. AB0139211L1P1 (mint -green dial and gold-brown alligator leather strap) & RB0139211G1P1 (in 18 k red gold with a silver-coloured dial and brown alligator leather strap) | Copyright © Breitling

The new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection for 2022 is all about variety. The 2022s revamped and updated new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection is being offered in different sizes, materials and colours. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
L to R: 46mm, 41mm, 43mm

My first reaction on being presented these earlier this year was to take in a long breath and just marvel at the expanse that lay in front of me. The next reaction was to appreciate the different case sizes, given watch enthusiasts sometimes have a tendency to whine a little on forums about the lack of size options. And third, I was just blown away by a coupe of colour executions of shades I have rarely seen before in watches (and more on those in a bit). 

new Breitling Navitimer B01

Overall, the new Navitimer B01 collection for 2022 impresses, and makes an excellent case in defence of the idiom of ‘variety is the spice of life’. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01

A Change Is Always Nice or Multiple Models

A total of 14 new models have been announced, spread over 28 references — courtesy the choice of a semi-shiny alligator strap or seven-row metal Navitimer bracelet with a butterfly clasp —  and two case materials (steel and 18-karat red gold). In addition to the colour choices, the star feature is Breitling deciding to release in sizes of 46mm, 43mm and 41 mm.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
new Breitling Navitimer B01

New Breitling Navitimer B01 – 41 

Lets’s start with the smallest of the lot, 41mm. Given my rather slim ~16cm wrists, even 41mm is usually a stretch. But frankly, if I was to get one of these for myself, I might go for either this or the 43mm.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
43mm on bottom left and 41mm rest of them

There is not that much of a difference when wearing between the two given the similar thickness and the same lug interhorn spacing. And the 43mm models also get one of the two of my favourite colours from the entire new Navitimer B01 collection for 2022. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
41mm on left and 43mm on right

Coming back to the smallest of the new Breitling Navitimer B01, it measures at 41mm in diameter and 13.6mm in thickness, with a short 46mm lug-to-lug spacing and 22mm lug interhorn spacing.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
41mm on my ~16cm wrist

These come in a choice of three steel cased beauties or one red gold model:

  • SS body with blue dial with black contrasting counters and black circular slide rule bezel
new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • SS body with silver dial with tone on tone counters and circular slide rule 
new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • SS body with mint-green with contrasting silver counters and circular slide rule
Breitling Navitimer 2022 42
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41 mint-green dial and gold-brown alligator leather strap Ref. AB0139211L1P1 | Copyright © Breitling
  • Gold case with silver dial with tone on tone counters
Breitling Navitimer 2022 45
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41 in 18 k red gold_silver-colored dial and brown alligator leather strap Ref. RB0139211G1P1 | Copyright © Breitling

Out of the 41mm new Breitling Navitimer B01, my pick for those with even slimmer wrists than my ~16cm would be the blue dialled version, given the black peripheral bezel and counters make it visually appear smaller.

Breitling Navitimer 2022 36
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 41 blue dial and black alligator strap Ref. AB0139241C1P1 | Copyright © Breitling

For those who like different colours, the mint-green variation is my pick, though it looks much better — and the one I would go for personally — on the 43mm model with a black bezel and black counters. The ‘mint’ part of that shade of green really comes out alive on that version. As for the remaining silver dial options, and of course taste is subjective, but the combination of silver-beige with red gold is pretty freaking stellar. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
43mm on left and 42mm on right

New Breitling Navitimer B01 – 43

Compared to the smallest version, this middle sized new Breitling Navitimer B01 measures at 43mm in diameter and nominally 0.09mm larger 13.69mm in thickness, with a still on the short side 48mm lug-to-lug spacing (and the same 22mm lug interhorn spacing).

new Breitling Navitimer B01

These are spread across the most, providing the choice of five steel cased beauties or one red gold model: 

  • SS body with classic reverse-panda look with black dial and white contrasting chronograph counters
Breitling Navitimer 2022 56
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 black dial and black alligator leather strap Ref. AB0138211B1P1 | Copyright © Breitling
  • SS body with silver dial with contrasting black counters and black circular slide rule 
Breitling Navitimer 2022 41
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 silver-colored dial and black alligator leather strap Ref. AB0138241G1P1 | Copyright © Breitling
  • SS body with ice-blue dial with contrasting black counters and black circular slide rule 
Breitling Navitimer 2022 43
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 ice-blue dial and black alligator leather strap Ref. AB0138241C1P1 | Copyright © Breitling
  • SS body with mint-green dial with contrasting black counters and black circular slide rule (my second favourite of the collection) 
new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • SS body with copper dial with contrasting black counters and black circular slide rule
Breitling Navitimer 2022 46
Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43_copper-colored dial and black alligator leather strap Ref. AB0138241K1P1 | Copyright © Breitling
  • Gold case with classic reverse-panda look with black dial and white contrasting chronograph counters

Mint-green is obviously my pick but that traditional reverse panda model in stainless steel is also a show-stopper. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01

New Breitling Navitimer B01 – 46

The largest of the new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection measures at 46mm in diameter and still relatively similar 13.95mm in thickness, with a 51mm lug-to-lug spacing and larger 24mm lug interhorn spacing.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
Despite the 46mm diameter, it’s not oversized on my ~16cm wrist

Like the 41mm version, these again come in a choice of three steel cased beauties or one red gold model:

  • SS body with classic reverse-panda look with black dial and white contrasting chronograph counters and bezel 
new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • SS body with dark green dial with black counters and matching circular slide rule 
new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • SS body with blue dial with contrasting silver counters and circular slide rule
new Breitling Navitimer B01
New blue 46 with outgoing blue 46
  • Gold case with silver dial with black counters and black circular slide rule bezel
new Breitling Navitimer B01

Overall, if I was to chose between the three sizing collections as a whole, the 46mm diameter performs the best. All 4 models look amazing in their own rights. That said, my favourite out of all the new models is that green version. The shade of green is simply to die for. Hot damn and sexy. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01

“A change is always nice,” wrote the Greek dramatist Euripides. 

The new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection for 2022 with these multitude of options is a welcome change, one that ensures that every watch enthusiast, no matter their brand or sizing or colour allegiances, should definitely have something nice to say. And that’s rare.

Breitling Navitimer 2022 65
Breitling’s new Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 References AB0138241C1P1 (ice-blue), AB0138241L1P1 (mint-green), AB0138241K1P1 (copper-colored), AB0138211B1P1 (black) and AB0138241G1P1(silver-colored) | Copyright © Breitling

Nostalgia Bites 

A bit about the history of this iconic model. As many of you might know, the Breitling Navitimer is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, having been introduced by Willy Breitling in 1952. Two years later in 1954 came its breakthrough moment, when the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), the largest aviators’ club in the world, announced the Navitimer equipped with the Valjoux Caliber 72 as its official timepiece. AOPA’s winged logo was placed at 12’o clock, a feature now repeated again on the new versions for 2022. 

As a side note, this Valjoux Caliber 72 was substantially different than the new Calibre B01, with the legendary movements origins dating to as far as the Valjoux 22 from 1914. It was roughly the same diameter though coming in at 31.5mm but beat at a much lower frequency of of 2.5Hz and featured a climb wheel and 30-minute counter.

In terms of similarities and genesis of some key elements found in the new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection for 2022, here are the key moments: 

  • 1963 saw the production of Navitimer with contrasting counters as seen in the modern versions today
  • 1964 saw the shift from beaded to notched bezels
  • 1969 saw the appearance of the date function on the dial 
  • 1989 was when different coloured dials were introduced, just like the plethora of colour variations of the new Breitling Navitimer B01
  • 2010 saw the use of in-house movements
Breitling 70 Years 6
1950s advertisement for the Breitling Navitimer Ref. 806 | Copyright © Breitling

Through history, especially even in Navitimer’s early days, its design made fans out of not only aviators and the general public since 1955 with the iconic 806 reference, but also celebrities of the day such as Miles Davis, Serge Gainsbourg, Jim Clark and Graham Hill.

Breitling Navitimer History And Most Iconic Models 7
Copyright © Breitling

The Specifications of Breitling Navitimer B01

All 14 models of the new Navitimer B01 feature the same Breitling Manufacture Caliber 01 movement.

new Breitling Navitimer B01

This 30 x 7.2mm COSC-certified column-wheel and vertical clutch — hand jumping on the chronograph function activation is now removed — movement with ball bearing comprises 346 components and 47 jewels, beats at the frequency of 4Hz, and provides an impressive 70-hour power reserve. It features an instantaneous date-changing function and has a modular design that is aimed at making the servicing easier.

new Breitling Navitimer B01

B01 is the base movement on which other Breitling calibers such as B09 found in the Breitling Premier Chronograph 40 Burgundy are based on. It is also the Breitling version of the Tudor Manufacture Chronograph Calibre MT5813.

Breitling Premier Burgundy 11

Quotable

“We don’t throw the term ‘icon’ around lightly. The Navitimer is one of the most recognisable watches ever made. It’s on collectors’ lists of the greatest watches of all time. What began as a tool for pilots has gone on to mean something profound to every single person who has had this timepiece along on their personal journey.”

Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling
new Breitling Navitimer B01

The Hands-on Experience or Variety Is The Soul Of Pleasure

Given the movement is the same as the revamped Breitling Chronomat collection from 2020, and the design DNA is the same as the outgoing Navitimer B01 such as ref. AB0121211B1P1, no doubt that the new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection looks familiar. 

The tri-compax layout is still present, but now instead of the date aperture being at that ungodly 4.30 as in the ref. AB0121211B1P1, it is now somewhat hidden at 6’o clock, just like on the revamped Breitling Chronomat. As far as similarities go, the Chronomat B01 42 Bentley ref. AB01343A1L1A1 with a green dial and black contrasting chronograph counters bears roughly the same visual aesthetics as that of the new Navitimer B01 46mm in SS body with dark green dial with black counters and matching circular slide rule. The Chronomat B01 features a different case size measuring 42mm x 15.10mm (with an increased 200m (20 ATM) water resistance). 

07 Chronomat B01 42 Bentley With A Green Dial And Black Contrasting Chronograph Counters
Copyright © Breitling
new Breitling Navitimer B01

So those of you who like me have slim wrists but love the green dial now the new Breitling Navitimer B01 46mm fret not, you can have something very similar in the Chronomat B01 42 Bentley (as long as you weren’t specifically after a Navitimer). 

Besides the date window change, there are other differences between the outgoing and incoming Navitimers. Take for instance the outgoing Navitimer B01 Chronograph ref. AB0127211B1P1 and the new B01 with the same classic reverse-panda look with black dial and white contrasting chronograph counters and bezel. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
New

For starters, given the date wheels match the dial colour, the older version features a black one while the new version sports a white date wheel.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
Outgoing

The pump pushers are the same but the case dimensions have changed, with the old one reading at 46 x 14.5mm as compared to the more streamlined 13.95mm. The sleeker look is also accentuated courtesy swapping the convex sapphire crystal with a domed sapphire crystal and also featuring a flattened slide rule.

new Breitling Navitimer B01

Finally, the new models feature a brushed case-band but polished lugs that further help with creating a slimmer look. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01

The lug interhorn is the same for both at 24mm but the biggest difference is in the lug-to-lug spacing: the new Breitling Navitimer B01 46 measures at 51mm while the outgoing version comes at a greater 52.4mm. On the dial, not only has the font changed, but Georges Kern & Co have also re-introduced the AOPA wings logo at 12. 

new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01

When it comes to the 41mm models, the design of the dial has notably changed, with the 12,6,9 counter configuration substituted for the more uniform 3,6,9 configuration.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
Left New, Right Outgoing

The outgoing Navitimer Chronograph 41 model also didn’t feature an in-house movement until now, with the calibre Breitling 13 — with a lower 48-hour power reserve — driving them. These were also larger with a 14.4mm thick case and 48.1mm lug-to-lug spacing.

Breitling Navitimer 2022 Hands On 21
41mm but due to larger sizing doesn’t fit as nice as the new version
new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01 41 fits much better

In person, some of the colours introduced in the new Navitimer B01 collection for 2022 are rather unique and distinct, and I am sure that watch enthusiasts will appreciate the variety and the subtle shade differences  especially between blue and green versions.

new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01 41mm

“Variety is the soul of pleasure,” said the dramatist Aphra Behn. The new Breitling Navitimer B01 collection is indeed a variety tale that spans 70 years, comprises 28 references spread over 14 models, and features 10 dial colour variations that see watch collectors being given the pleasure to pick from three size and two material options. Truly, one legendary icon.  

new Breitling Navitimer B01
The new Breitling Navitimer B01 43mm

To find out more about the new Navitimer B01 collection and other Breitling timepieces, please head to their website here. All images unless otherwise stated are ©WatchYaGonnaDoAboutIt. 

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