“Special Editions for Pan Am, TWA and Swissair”
Breitling is regarded by watch connoisseurs as the quintessential pilot's watch brand. That reputation owes much to the precise and reliable aviation chronographs from the Grenchen manufacture, which are used and valued by several air forces and civilian airlines as well as by countless private pilots and aviation-minded watch enthusiasts. With a special capsule collection, Breitling pays tribute to some of the best-known airlines of the 1960s and 1970s. Here we introduce the special models from this collection released so far.
Breitling's Capsule Collection: Limited, but Not Numbered
In a sense, the capsule collection is also a limited run, but it differs from conventional limited editions in one respect. When the Airline Editions were launched, Breitling CEO Georges Kern explained exactly where the difference lies. The capsule collection, he said, is limited in time and therefore indirectly in quantity as well, but the individual pieces are not always numbered, as is customary with a limited edition.
The aim of the capsule collection, he said, is to reference selected moments in Breitling's corporate history or in the history of its core collection.
Limited editions, by contrast, would continue to serve their original purpose: being restricted to a small number of pieces fixed in advance. For fans and collectors, this means in plain terms that the individual models of the Breitling Navitimer 1 Airline Edition, each conceived as a homage to a famous airline of the 1960s and 1970s, will only be produced for a limited period and are therefore likely to be rarer than watches from Breitling's regular collections.
How many pieces of the Navitimer 1 Airline Editions will ultimately reach the market, however, is not known in advance and can at best be determined after the fact, should the manufacturer ever publish figures. For anyone who doesn't specifically value the exclusivity of a numbered piece from a "true" limited edition, but is simply looking for a high-quality watch with an individual touch, this issue is likely of purely theoretical interest. For them, the Navitimer 1 Airline Editions offer a selection of pilot's chronographs that combine the proven technology of a classic with a particularly appealing, distinctive design and fresh colors.
A Homage to Swissair: The First Model of the Navitimer 1 Airline Edition
With Swissair, Pan Am and TWA, three different airlines have so far been honored with a Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition from the new special collection. The Swissair model kicked things off. Swissair Schweizerische Luftverkehr-Aktiengesellschaft, headquartered in Kloten, had been Switzerland's national airline since its founding in 1931. Over many decades the company grew very successfully and enjoyed a high reputation both within Switzerland and internationally. Thanks to its financial solidity, it was long even considered a "flying bank." After the turn of the millennium, however, an evidently overly risky and ultimately too costly expansion strategy led to financial problems that required a debt moratorium in October 2001 and finally resulted in the company's liquidation from March 2002 onward.
Given the emotional attachment many Swiss felt to "their" once so successful airline, it was widely perceived as a national trauma when the aircraft with the white Swiss cross on their red tail fins were suddenly grounded on October 2, 2001, because the airline no longer had the funds to keep operating. The watch from the Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition, intended to keep the memory of the legendary Swiss carrier alive, bears the airline's famous logo on its transparent caseback.
It consists of the distinctive black lettering combined with a stylized red tail fin bearing a white cross.
The three colors black, white and red also appear on the dial. There, the three white subdials stand out in sharp contrast against the black background. The same goes for the three red central hands for the hours, minutes and chronograph seconds, with the hour and minute hands additionally fitted with a white luminous insert. The small seconds hand at 9 o'clock is black, while the 30-minute and 12-hour counters have red hands. The tachymeter scale encircling the dial is also red, and it in turn is framed by a white and a black slide rule scale. To perform calculations, the outer black scale can be adjusted in both directions using the rotating bezel.
The first model of the Airline Editions is powered by Breitling's in-house Manufacture Caliber 01. Its automatic movement offers a power reserve of around 70 hours. If you opt for the Navitimer 1 B01 Chronograph 43 as the Swissair Edition, you can choose between a stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet and a black vintage-style leather strap.
Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition Models Honoring Pan Am and TWA
The second model of the Airline Editions, dedicated to the legendary American airline Pan Am, differs from the first version in that the areas of the dial that are black there are blue here, and the caseback shows Pan Am's logo, likewise in blue, with its familiar stylized globe. In addition to a stainless steel Milanese mesh bracelet, this version can also be paired with Breitling's Air Racer bracelet or a brown vintage leather strap. The third model of the Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition honoring famous airlines commemorates Trans World Airlines (TWA), originally known as Transcontinental and Western Air. It was acquired by American Airlines in April 2001 and subsequently integrated into that company.
This model differs from the first two with its white dial background and anthracite subdials; in addition, both slide rule scales are white here. The red accents, on the other hand, are the same as on the Swissair and Pan Am versions, and the sapphire crystal caseback bears the TWA logo. Technically and in terms of functions, the three versions of the Airline Editions are identical.
Breitling Navitimer Limited Edition Honoring Swissair, Pan Am and TWA: At Retailers from April 2019
The three models of the new capsule collection are slated to be available worldwide from April 2019.
They are likely to appeal not only to lovers of fine Navitimer pilot's chronographs, but also to fans of 1960s and 1970s design, which is especially popular right now amid the retro wave.
At the presentation of the Airline Editions, Breitling Chief Marketing Officer Tim Sayler pointed out that the design of the various capsule collection models deliberately draws on the styles of those years, which he said are particularly relevant today and have a major influence on current design trends. Since this isn't a limited edition in the classic sense, your chances of securing one of these colorful pieces are relatively good. Still, you shouldn't take too long to decide, because Breitling will only offer the Navitimer 1 Airline Editions for a limited period. If you hesitate too long, you may miss out once the end of production actually turns the Airline Editions into a limited edition one day – albeit without numbers. Another great Navitimer edition is the Navitimer 1959 Edition, which closely follows the original model visually but offers modern technology.