Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute

Continuing in its tradition of excellence, the Breitling Watch Company introduced its Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute wrist watch series when American space flight was still in its infancy. When you look back at Breitling evolution (considering the company’s niches were the military and civilian aviation), it was only natural that this phase of the evolution would eventually occur. As each Breitling watch has its own unique aspect, the Navitimer Cosmonaute also has a unique feature that is different from the rest of the Breitling wrist watches.

The Navitimer Cosmonaute main focus is on being a space (versus aviation-oriented) wrist watch. To accomplish this functionality, the Breitling Company implemented 24 hour dial divisions to discern between day and night. Obviously, in space, it would be impossible to determine if it was 10:00 in the morning or 10:00 in the evening, so this functionality was vitally important in making this watch useful for a space environment.

As with most theoretical solutions, until a solution is tested in a realistic environment, it cannot be relied upon. Luckily, the Navitimer Cosmonaute has been proven. Back in May of 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter wore the Cosmonaute on his Aurora 7 space flight (Lt Cmdr Carpenter requested Breitling make a special version of its watches for space flight). As you can imagine, his wrist watch worked almost like a charm (as his version was not water tight, a little damage did occur to his watch).

Another interesting aspect of the Navitimer Cosmonaute is its flyback mechanism. Very simply, if you are conducting successive timing operations, you do not need to stop the watch, return it to zero, and then restart the watch. You can simply continue with your timing operations from where you currently are.

There are three primary Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute wrist watch versions. The first version is the steel case. This version comes with a silver dial and black subdials. Additionally, this Cosmonaute version has a leather strap and a tang type buckle.

The second version of the Navitimer Cosmonaute is the steel and 18 karat rose gold case version. This model comes with a silver dial and gold subdials. Similar to the steel case version, this model comes with a leather strap and a tang type buckle.

The third primary version is the Limited Edition Red Gold self winding wrist watch. In this version, the chronograph comes with an 18 karat red gold watch case with a black dial and silver subdials. Furthermore, the watch comes with a Croco strap and an 18 karat red gold tang type buckle.

As for the Navitimer Cosmonaute’s technical specifications, it is a self winding watch that uses a Breitling 22 Caliber mechanical movement. Additionally, the Cosmonaute uses 38 jewels, which operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour.

Similar to the other Navitimer chronographs, the Cosmonaute is able to operate under 100 feet underwater. Additionally, the Navitimer Cosmonaute comes with the bidirectional rotating sliding bezel. This tool, which is basically an analog mechanical computer, can be used to complete trigonometry and logarithms calculations. By using the rotating slide bezel, you can calculate your speed (preferably while in an airplane) to determine your position.

The Navitimer Cosmonaute also comes with a glare proofed, sapphire crystal which allows its owner to view the time. Additionally, this Navitimer version uses a dial aperture for its calendar functionality. Lastly, the Cosmonaute comes with a 42 hour power reserve and has a screwed in case back.

If you have any other questions about the Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute or any of the Breitling Navitimer wrist watches, please feel free to look around the Breitling Navitimer Watch Guide.

Sunday, June 7, 2009

Breitling Navitimer World

One of the greatest things about the Breitling Watch Company is the fact that they consistently raise the bar in the luxury, high end wrist watch market. Most chronograph companies would have stopped innovating had they developed a high end watch like the Breitling Navitimer Watch. But the Breitling Watch Company continues to improve and innovate, while churning out collector pieces at every turn. As a result, Breitling has come up with the Navitimer World watch. And what a beautiful and aesthetically pleasing watch it truly is. Without a doubt, this watch will become highly sought after as a collectable.

Breitling took the standard Navitimer watch, and build upon its frame a newer, more functional watch. At first glance, it becomes readily apparent that the Navitimer World is about 10% bigger than the standard Navitimer. To quantify that a little, the original Navitimer has a 41.8 mm case diameter and the Navitimer World has a 46 mm case diameter. Of course, you may be wondering why Breitling introduced a bigger wrist watch (as most bigger watches tend to be cumbersome to their owner). First, let me tell you, the bigger Navitimer World simply feels just right. Even though it is a little bigger than the standard Navitimer, you really cannot tell the difference in weight.

The real distinction in between the Navitimer World wrist watch and the original is the Navitimer World permits its owner to instantly know the time in two different places anywhere in the world. The Breitling Watch Company has implemented a very readable, second hand (which has a little red arrow) that indicates the hour position in a second time zone of your choosing. All you have to do is set the Navitimer World once, and then you will be able to tell what time it is (on a 24 hour scale) in two different time zones.

The Navitimer World wrist watch comes in two primary versions. The first is the steel case version. This very sharp looking version has a black dial, a leather strap, and a tang type buckle. While this version looks amazing, the second version, which has an 18 karat rose gold case with a black dial. Additionally, this watch has a Croco strap and an 18 karat rose gold tang type buckle. This version of the Navitimer World is absolutely stunning. On both versions, Breitling installed three monochromatic sub dials.

Another difference between the original Navitimer Watch and the Navitimer World are the watches’ mechanical movements. The original Navitimer has the Breitling 26 Caliber, while the Navitimer World has the Breitling 24 Caliber. Furthermore, the original Navitimer uses 38 jewels and the Navitimer World uses 25 jewels. Both watches operate at 28.8 vibrations per hour.

Similar to the original, the Navitimer World can be operated at a depth of 100 feet underwater. Both watches also have a 42 hour power reserve. Additionally, the Breitling Navitimer World wrist watch is glare proofed on both sides of its sapphire crystal lens. This last feature is extremely useful to the average user.

True to its heritage, the Breitling Navitimer World wrist watch can be used to aid in navigation. One of the best features of the Navitimer is its bidirectional, rotating slide rule bezel, which can be used if there was a need to calculate your position while flying. You would be able to calculate your position by first indentify your ground speed, and then taking your last known position and plotting where you currently are.

I am sure some of you are asking, what is a slide rule? Very simply, a rotating slide rule an analog, mechanical computer that can be used for calculations such as trigonometry, logarithms, and roots. The slide rule can also be used for multiplication and division, but cannot be used for the basic arithmetic functions of addition and subtraction.

There is one last unique feature that we are going to discuss. If you were to look at the back of the Navitimer World Watch, you will notice that Breitling has engraved the names of 24 cities on the back of the watch to represent the various time zones. This is a very efficient use of blank space that would otherwise be considered useless.

As always, when seeking information on the various versions of the Breitling Navitimer Watch, feel free to visit our Breitling Navitimer Watch website.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition

Due to its long and proud heritage, the Breitling Watch Company has released a 125th Limited Edition of the Breitling Navitimer Watch. As you can imagine, with a limited release of this popular watch series, it has become one of the most highly sought after watches of our time.

As most people know, Breitling was first established in 1884 in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland. Due to their founders ingenuity (especially Gaston Breitling), the company quickly became a primary supplier to the Royal Air Force, and then later, to the United States Armed Forces.

In 1942, Breitling released the Chronomat, which was the first aviation oriented watch that contained a slide rule bezel. Due to the popularity of the Breitling Chronomat, the company chose to release the first Breitling Navitimer Watch in 1952. As such, Breitling has been manufacturing the Navitimer for more than 55 years. While this is a an amazing feat for any wrist watch maker, the Navitimer Watch has also been selected by the Aircraft Owners and Pilot Association as their official time piece.
Once of the greatest things about the 125th Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition watch is that the stainless steel version will only be produced in a lot of 2009.

Additionally, there is another version of this special watch, which will be the 18 karat red gold version. This version will only have 125 pieces produced. With the stainless steel version of the Navitimer, the dial is either black or bronze. With the 18 karat red version of this limited edition, the watch possesses either a black or silver dial. Of course, Breitling provides a glare proof sapphire crystal to make your viewing more pleasurable. Regardless of which version you choose, you will be extremely happy.

All Breitling Navitimer watches are driven by mechanical movement. Specifically, the Breitling 26 Caliber, 38 jewel is the work horse that makes this watch function with a high degree of precision. Similar to the other versions of the Navitimer, this limited edition is also Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres certified. Additionally, the watch operates at 28.8K vibrations per second. Furthermore, the Navitimer contains a 42 hour power reserve. Lastly, this limited edition watch is capable of operating up to 30 meters underneath the ocean.

While there is not much of a requirement for it today, the Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition watch has a slide rule rotating bezel. Similar to the original 1952 Navitimer watches, the owner can use it to compute different calculations. Of course, the odds of someone doing any calculations is very small considering there are numerous computer programs which can do it much faster and far more accurate.

Also, Breitling chose to place the watch’s date functionality in the six o’clock position. As a result, the watch not only looks cleaner, but also provides a tough of elegance that only a well engineered product could provide.

Another special feature of the Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition Watch is the “Air Race” bracelet. This bracelet is rigid, which a design that seems like it came directly from the 1960s. The most distinguishable trait of this fashionable bracelet is the holes. This design makes the watch look very masculine, yet very elegant at the same time.

If you have any additional questions about the Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition Watch, or simply want to know more about the various aspects of the Navitimer watch, please feel free to continue to explore this site.

Sunday, May 24, 2009

Breitling Navitimer Watch Review

As one of the premiere high end luxury brands, Breitling is known for introducing high quality, very aesthetically pleasing watches. One of the more popular watch series is the Breitling Navitimer Watch. Part of this watch’s popularity lies in its longevity, with the series being around for more than 50 years now. Additionally, this model is the world’s longest continuously produced wrist watch (it was first produced in 1952).

The Navitimer is a Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres (COSC) certified chronometer. The COSC is the official Swiss organization that is responsible for ensuring Swiss wristwatch accuracy and precision. As with practically any wristwatch, the Navitimer tells its user the time with its hour, minute, and seconds hands. Additionally the watch has three counters for its chronograph functionality. Furthermore, the Breitling model uses a dial aperture for its calendar functionality.

The Breitling Navitimer uses an automatic, self winding mechanical movement. One of the great aspects of this watch is that it uses a 42 hour power reserve function. Further technical specifications are that it uses a Breitling 23 caliber with 25 jewels. Also, the watch has a cambered sapphire, glare proofed crystal for viewing. Lastly, the mechanical movement runs at 28.8K vibrations per hour.

The Breitling Navitimer case comes in 3 different cases. The cases are either in steel, two tone steel and 18 karat gold, or simply 18 karat gold. For the steel case, the Navitimer has a black dial, silver subdials, a leather strap, and a tang-type buckle. For the steel and 18 karat case, the watch has a silver dial, golden subdials, a leather strap, and a tang-type buckle. For the 18 karat gold case, it has a black dial, silver subdials, a Croco strap, and an 18 karat gold tang-type buckle.

Lastly, the Breitling Navitimer watch is the official watch of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association. As a result, it has achieved cult object status. If you need any further information on the Breitling Navitimer, please continue to review the other Breitling Navitimer Watches webpages.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Orgins of Breitling Navitimer Watch

When one thinks of an extremely reliable high end luxury watch, the Breitling Navitimer Watch is one of those that immediately comes to mind. Besides its extremely fashionable styling, it is also extremely user friendly as well as possesses an assortment of useful features.

Before we discuss the Breitling Navitimer Watch, it is useful to look at the origins of the company itself. Breitling was established as a Swiss company, which still makes it components in Switzerland today. The company was founded in 1884 in Saint-Imier, which is located in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland by Leon Breitling. In 1892, Leon moved his little workshop to La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland. During this timeframe, this region was Switzerland’s primary watch making center. In 1914, ownership of the company transferred to his son, Gaston Breitling. A year later, in 1915, Gaston created the first wristwatch chronograph.

In 1932, Gaston’s son, William took over the company. Under his tutelage, Breitling will become an official supplier to the Royal Air Force in 1936. The company remained under Breitling leadership until 1979, when Ernest Schneider took over the company.

During the last one hundred twenty five years, Breitling has consistently set the standard for accuracy in chronographs. As an example, in 2001, Breitling introduced the Superquartz, which is 10 times more accurate than standard quartz watches. Additionally, this watch was the only quartz watch to meet the Contrôle Officiel Suisse des Chronomètres standards. The COSC is considered the Official Swiss Chronometer Testing Institute, which is tasked with certifying the precision and accuracy of Swiss wristwatches.

In addition to accuracy and exquisite styling, Breitling watches are extremely functional. As a brief example, in 1995, the company introduced the Breitling Emergency. This watch contains a built in micro transmitter that transmits on the aircraft emergency frequency. Because of this function, numerous lives have been saved.

If you would like to find out additional information on Breitling watches, including the Breitling Navitimer, visit the informative discount Breitling watches site.