Breitling Navitimer Rattrapante

The Navitimer is an iconic pilot’s timepiece with timeless style that has been in production since 1950s. Since then the collection has been refine with major upgrades done mainly to the movement. From the beginning until the late 60s, the timepiece came equipped with a manual movement.

And It was not until 1969 when Breitling finally equipped the Navitimer with an automatic chronograph movement, the legendary caliber 11. Finally in 2009, the brand release the first In House Movement, caliber B01.

In 2017, the brand wanted to add more functionality to the mix and create the Navitimer Rattrapante. The timepiece has an in-house chronograph movement with split-seconds complication which happens to be one of the most sophisticated horological complications you can get in a mechanical wrist watch.

The purpose of the split seconds is to measure multiple intervals simultaneously. This is achieved by using 2 central chronograph hands.

Unlike traditional chronographs that come with 2 pushers, this complication has 3.It’s a very a unique complication and rare to see. The 3rd pusher is housed in the crown and serves to stop and restart the split second hand as often as desired.

The polished stainless steel case of this timepiece is large, which is not unusual for a Pilot’s watch. The measurements are 45 mm in diameter by 15.7 mm in thickness and 52.2 mm from lug to lug. And you can’t forget about the famous bi directional circular slide rule bezel which was first seen in the original Navitimer. This was added to the timepiece to allow the pilots to perform all necessary flight calculations easily on their wrist.

The case comes paired with a 24 mm black leather strap and comes paired with a stainless steel deployant clasp. But is also offered with tang buckle.

The dial on this Navitimer looks very elegant. It has a silver background (that look more like a cream color) and black for the chronograph sub-dials.

Under the hood is the exclusive caliber B03. This is a COSC certified Swiss chronometer movement that works at 4 hertz using 46 jewels. The B03 is automatic and has a power reserve of 70 hours and features, hacking seconds for precise time adjustment, vertical clutch with column wheel and 30m of water resistance.