In another half a month, we will enter 2020. In this period that is coming to an end, it is exactly 60 years since the golden age of the Swiss watchmaking industry, so many watch brands in these years have launched related commemorative works. For example, Omega’s trilogy of 1957 (Hippocampus 300, Speedmaster, Ironmaster) launched in 2017, and Tudor’s Black Bay 1958, which was released in 2018… In 2019, Breitling also brought out the Navitimer AOPA 1959.
In 1952, a watch still representative of today was born, and that was the Navitimer. Its name is derived from the words “Navigation” and “timer”. It is equipped with Breitling’s first aviation-specific flight slide and has been favored by pilots, airlines and aircraft manufacturers since its introduction.
In 1954, the AOPA Aviation Association of the United States found Breitling to produced an official watch based on the Navitimer. The 60th-anniversary replica of Breitling launched this year is based on the 1959 version, so it is called “Navitimer AOPA 1959”.
This watch continues the Navitimer’s iconic rotating slide. It first appeared on the Breitling Chronomat watch released in 1942. It aims to provide pilots with a variety of flight data conversions, including airspeed, fuel consumption, flight time, distance and Kilometers of nautical miles and gallons per liter of fuel conversion.
The bezel is provided with fine ball particles, the purpose of which is to increase friction so that pilots can easily rotate and use the flight slider after wearing gloves.
In order to better comply with the design of the year, the ball beads of this watch do not only have the same size as the original antique watch, but also 94 in number.
The position of the dial at 12 o’clock, like the original antique watch, does not carry Breitling’s own brand logo but uses the “shield + flying wing” of the AOPA Aviation Association. More unique is that this logo is not made in print. Instead, Breitling scanned the original antique watch pattern, then laser-engraved the gold leaf, and finally fixed it on the dial. Not only shinning but also has a three-dimensional texture.
The dial’s luminous material is made of Super-LumiNova®, which not only does not contain reflective radiation, but also does not decay, and can emit green light in the dark. In order to reproduce the radium luminescence used in the original version, Breitling has tinted it so that it will show a simple brownish-yellow luster under the sun. As a re-edition watch, its mirror material is not sapphire but adopts acrylic plastic. It is lightweight, and it is not easy to scratch the dial and hands after accidental damage. In addition, it is convenient for modeling. The arched acrylic watch glass will have a beautiful halo under specific light.
In order to completely stay in the original design. The watch uses a 40.9mm steel case and a 22mm lug width. The most remarkable thing is that the thickness of the case is 12.86mm, which is exactly the same as the original antique watch.
The reason why the case size can be so legendary is that Breitling uses a self-produced B09 movement.
This watch is limited to 1959 pieces worldwide and the official price is about $ 10,000. Do you think it’s really worth it? If the answer is no, a good suggestion is that you can wait for the high-end replica Breitling Navitimer AOPA 1959 timepiece.
