Created in collaboration with MR PORTER, one of their major partners that sells all things luxury, the 2018 Breitling Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 is limited to just 1000 pieces. The limited edition packs an in-house chronograph caliber, and, as real estate agents like to say, is priced to sell in a market over-saturated with equally elegant pilot’s watches produced by well-established brands like Omega and IWC.
Overall Impression
The vintage-styled Aviator 8 collection is not new. Breitling has first introduced the line back in March 2018 during the Baselworld 2018 trade show. Released as a chronograph and a three-hander (a standard approach for any major brand,) it was received enthusiastically not only by experts, but also by collectors, and, well, normal persons simply interested in a nice vintage-styled timekeeper with a modern in-house movement that is offered at an *ahem* affordable price.
The chronograph immediately became a great alternative to the good old Omega Speedmaster, while the three-hander was simply a great “field watch” for those who consider the Hamilton Khaki collection too plebeian for their *ahem* refined taste.
At some point in time, Mr. Porter, a major retailer of luxury items, decided that it would be a great idea to have a limited-edition run of the chronograph that would be exclusive to their clientele.
Featuring an expertly blended mix of colors (very light beige for the dial, very dark purple for the sub-dials, and the traditional light-green for the luminous elements covered by the Superlumivoa compound,) the new gadget channels that natural “old-school-cool” aura that only watches created during the 1940s-1950s possess.
The finely printed minute track, the Arabic numerals, and even the rectangular date window look contrast enough to read in any lighting scenario, while, surprisingly, not elbowing their way through each other to get your attention. Everything looks so balanced, serene, and visually perfect that it almost hurts.
What can I say? I am impressed by this beautiful gadget.
Case, Bezel & Strap
Breitling is often associated with their daringly -almost to the point of poor taste – oversized chronograph and military-style watches that look sort of ridiculous housing standard ETA calibers within huge cases that sometimes measure close to fifty millimeters in diameter (yes, I’m talking about their Breitling for Bentley series that is primarily aimed at insecure persons.)
Luckily, they also have a couple of collections based on their historic models. Featuring more sensible dimensions, sporting high-grade “manufacture” calibers, and being a lot more impressive in the readability department, they are serious competitors to living legends like the aforementioned Omega Speedmaster and all sorts of classic “pilots” offered by its arch-rival IWC.
This particular model belongs to the latter breed.
Coming in a slightly oversized body some 43 mm in diameter and just a tad shy of 14 millimeters thick, it still is a bit too large, especially if you compare it to the sub-40mm size of the original ref. 768 model that this gadget pays homage to. Yet, the Aviator 8 B01 is still relatively compact after all those “sporty chronographs for modern active men” that are getting rather old (the chronographs, not men…oh, whatever) after all these years.
As far as exterior finish is concerned, there’s nothing groundbreaking here: mirror-polished surfaces are used strategically to give the case a more “carefully sculpted” appearance while making the machine-brushed ones look especially elegant and refined if you don’t mind the cliché.
Perhaps, the only thing I don’t care much for is the setting/winding crown and the chronograph push-pieces.
It is difficult to put it into words, but they look sort of alien (not subpar or cheap, just alien) to the overall level of refinement that this watch shows in almost every other little detail.
When it comes to the crown, it has something to do with the relative proportions of the crown and the case: while the former seems to be of the same size as the part on the 1941 model, the latter is about ten percent larger than the body of the WWII-era watch.
Here, ergonomics issues, too, come into play: gentlemen with shorter, stubbier fingers may find the crown a bit too short for their liking. Those are just minor flaws, although some may find them annoying. Also, this is why I decided to give it four points out of five in the “usability” part of the rating.
This limited edition comes on a premium leather strap with elegant contrast stitching and has that familiar look of a product made by the skilled hands of an experienced craftsman, not by a soulless machine. Still, I’d probably swap the stock strap for something more ‘authentic’, be it distressed leather or even a high-quality synthetic NATO textile strap to give this aviator an even more rugged appearance.
Mechanism
It’s been around a decade now since Breitling originally introduced the Caliber B01 automatic chronograph movement: their first modern in-house mechanism developed after dozens of years of relying on ETA blank movements and third-party complication modules. Officially launched back in April 2009 together with their then-new Chronomat B01 Chronograph, the mechanism featured a superb combination of a column-wheel switch and vertical clutch: a privilege of high-grade chronographs.
Although there was certain merit to using mass-produced calibers manufactured by ETA (low maintenance costs and superb serviceability probably being the most important factors here,) there also was a noticeable disparity between the cost of a movement and the final price of the watch as a whole.
Apparently, at some point, Breitling decided that the brand needed a nice in-house caliber capable of increasing the perceived value of their watches, and -voila!- here comes the B01!
While there was a fair share of owners complaining about reliability issues plaguing the first batch of B01-equipped chronographs, it seems that the issues were ironed out pretty fast and it is now one of the best chronograph movements that you can buy in this price range. Yes, I am confident that it won’t beat the legendary Rolex caliber 4130 in terms of long-term reliability and accuracy, but it certainly beats it now in terms of perceived value for money.
Also, it looks like a good alternative to the classic ETA Valjoux 7750 as well as its numerous derivatives: not only from the usability perspective (the B01, for example, allows you to change the date display closer to 12 o’clock without causing any sort of unnecessary stress on the mechanism,) but when it comes to accuracy, too.
Visually, the mechanism doesn’t look mind-blowing: there is the usual combination of polished, machine-brushed, and guilloched surfaces that Breitling (and dozens of other international brands) use to decorate their movements, but nothing more. I don’t see this as a problem, though: the caliber plays nicely with the subdued exterior of the Aviator 8.
Dial & Legibility
It is the dial that draws attention if you are one of those customers who mostly associate Breitling with military-styled divers and over-complicated pilots with busy dials and the usual logarithmic bezels.
It may not look as dramatic as their other collections, but it surely looks elegant, while also doing a good job at telling time: like most timekeepers, again and again, recycling the same time-proven design of a classic “aviator”, it is extremely easy to read with just the right combination of colors, textures, and shapes. The nighttime legibility is also impressive thanks to the copious amounts of quality Superluminova covering the three main hands, as well as the large Arabic numerals on the main chapter ring.
I can’t say the same about the secondary chapter ring on the bi-directional rotating bezel and the chronograph sub-dials, but I also understand the reasoning behind the decision: after all, it’s primarily a pilot-styled dress watch, not a professional tactical instrument for the military personnel (Breitling has several other options designed for this type of customers.)
So, this one deserves at least four and a half stars out of five in the Overall Legibility department.
Pricing & Availability
Produced as a model exclusive to Mr. Porter, the Navitimer Aviator 8 B01’s total production number is limited to just 1000 individually numbered pieces.
It has officially came on sale at mrporter.com on June 4, 2018 at a price of £4916.67 (approximately USD $6500) and will only be offered while supplies last. While the price tag is nothing to sneeze at, I still think that the watch sports great value due to its winning combination of great caliber, elegant exterior, and relatively low number of pieces on offer.
See also: Breitling Transocean Chronograph 1915
Photos: Breitling / MR PORTER
WWR Verdict
Originality 4/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4/5
Overall Legibility: 4.5/5
Nighttime Legibility: 4.5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 4.5/5
Breitling Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph 43 MR PORTER specification
Price: £4916.67 (Retail)
Winding: Automatic (self-winding)
Movement: Caliber B01, COSC-certified chronometer, in-house, Swiss Made
- Jewels: 47
- Cadence of Balance: 28,800 vph
- Power Reserve: Approx. 70 hours
- Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph, date, second time-zone (on the unidirectional rotating bezel)
Case: Stainless steel
Shape: Round
Size: 43.00 mm
Case height: 13.97 mm
Lug width: 23 mm
Water resistance: 100 meters
Dial: Beige
Numerals: Arabic, luminous (Superluminova)
Hour markers: Luminous
Hands: Luminous
Strap: Brown Alligator leather strap with contrast stitching, steel buckle with Breitling logo
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective on both sides, domed
Back: Sapphire, screw-down