Good Kit

Breitling has changed and seeks to steer the business in a new nonaviation territory with an expanded portfolio including adventurers and surfers. The major casualty with this shift in focus is the clipping of the famous Breitling wings from the company’s logo. Will its newest offering, the Navitimer 8, continue to pull at the aviator’s heart strings?

The Navitimer 8 Backstory

Willy Breitling was only 19 years old when he assumed leadership of the company that bore his family name.

In 1932, chronographs were very much at the heart of Breitling’s business, but chronograph wristwatches were still operated by a single pusher. Willy Breitling saw this as a deficiency, and, in 1934, he filed a patent for the world’s first two-pusher chronograph. In 1936, the young entrepreneur introduced a speciallydesigned aviator wrist chronograph with a black dial and luminescent numerals and hands.

Instruments For Professional Aviators

Among his most celebrated achievements was the establishment of the Huit Aviation Department in 1938. Huit is the French word for “eight” and the name was chosen in recognition of the eight-day power reserve offered by onboard clocks and other dashboard instruments of the time. During World War 2 the company was approached, by the Ministry of Defence and subsequently received a large order for onboard chronographs from the Royal Air Force for its legendary fighter planes.

While we all fear change, it looks to us that Breitling has reinforced it’s aviation pedigree with the Navitimer 8. Willy Breitling’s Huit Aviation Department has a very special place in Breitling’s history, and it is the inspiration behind the name of the brand’s newest watch family, the Navitimer 8, which is certain to carry on the Huit Aviation Department’s proud tradition. There are five different Navitimer 8 models released in Australia this year, all bearing design features that give a nod to Willy’s legacy.