We visited Breitling’s booth at the Baselworld 2018, to have a look at the famous aviation watchmaker’s novelties and their new heritage oriented brand.
Many of the Breitling fans will surely be missing the wings and the anchor that was dropped from the Breitling’s logo this year, but the new looks are about respecting the heritage of the brand and a return to the roots of Breitling – when everything was still simple and plain. The new Breitling logo has now just a letter B in it and also the typeface is simplified back to the looks of the old days. Besides the marketing material the new simple looks can also be found in the Breitling watches. All this years models has been updated according the new looks.
Besides the element air and pilot watches, Breitling wants now to have stronger presence also at the land and the sea. Navitimer line up was still in the spotlight, but as a reminder there is also Superocean for sea and Transocean for land.
Since the aviation is still on the top of Breitling’s table, we saw a newest member of the Navitimer 8 -collection: The Navitimer Super 8. This new pilot watch is based on Breitling Reference 637 timer watch that was used by World War II bomber pilots on bombing missions. We were lucky to get some wristshots with this “bomber” prototype that was brought to Basel. The design comes directly from the old WW II timer which distinctive features are large crown and coarse serration of the bezel. The pilots had to be able to use the watch’s functions with their rugged gloves, so these features are based directly on usability.
Navitimer Super 8 size with bezel is whopping 50 millimetres. The case is 46 mm wide and 14,40 mm thick. The overall design is very simple and uncluttered and the harmony is only disturbed – in a good way – by the rugged looking bezel and huge crown, that is placed on the left side of the case. Breitling’s inhouse B20-movement offers 8 days power reserve and yes, the 8 in the Super 8’s name markers exactly that.
Despite of its huge size, the Super 8 is actually quite elegant and equipped with stylish vintage bracelet it could also be used in some formal occasions. The green dial comes to life beautifully when the watch is rotated. The watch will definetly raise some discussion at the cocktails, at least among watch enthusiastics. The Super 8 is a remarkable vintage sprited watch, that has a little piece of WW II history in it.
Breitling’s other Baselword novelties among other things are Navitimer 1 Automatic 38 mm, 44 mm Superocean Héritage II and Chronomat B01 Chronograph 44 mm.
