Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition

Quick specs Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition
Price: € 21.500 | CHF 21’500 | $ 22,000 | £ 17,900
Size: 41 mm
Reference: RB12302A1L1P1 – limited to 250 pieces

To celebrate their 140^th anniversary the Swiss brand launches the Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition. Together with two “regular” Navitimers. All these watches have a link to Breitling’s firsts. The first pilot with a chronograph, and this Cosmonaute was the first (Swiss wristwatch) in space. Being the first (or biggest, or deepest, or thinnest, and more) creates a story that can be used for marketing campaigns to sell watches.

That is why you can endlessly read about the first watch on the moon (take a guess). Or the first nonstop flight across the North Atlantic Ocean by aircraft. Or the first to be rated for a depth of 1,000 meters / 3,300 feet. Or the first GMT. What about the first nonstop balloon flight around the world? Yes, sometimes it can be far-fetched, but it also reminds us of great(-ish) moments in history.

The first watch in space (is not a Breitling)

A great moment in history is the first watch in space. Which is not a Breitling, and they don’t claim that, if you read carefully. Breitling claims to be the first to have a Swiss wristwatch in space. On the 24^th of May 1962 astronaut Scott Carpenter took off for NASA’s Project Mercury with the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission wearing a Breitling Navitimer Ref. 809 Mark 1.

This 40-millimeter chronograph aboard the Aurora 7 spacecraft was equipped with a hand-wound Venus 178 movement. Per Carpenter’s request it was converted to a 24-hour display, which makes it easier to distinguish day from night in orbit.

The first watch in space might have been worn by Soviet pilot Yuri Gagarin who spent 108 minutes in orbit on the 12^th of April 1961. And he was probably wearing a Sturmanskie watch in his Vostok 1 ship. But some sources also link to a Rodina watch during this trip in space, like this article on the Sturmanskie website.

An advertisement from Breitling’s catalogue from 1964

The first watch in space (is not a Sturmanskie)

Then there is a claim of the brand Podeba to have the first watch in space on the 9^th of March 1961, when a dog was launched in the Sputnik 4 satellite. Apparently, a watch might have been put in the satellite as well, and this Podeba came from the Petrodvorets Watch Factory. Which would later become the Raketa brand and was also known as the First Russian Watch Factory or First Moscow Watch Factory.

That was a sort of conglomerate of watch producing companies under the Russian and Soviet communist leadership that also had brands like Poljot and Sturmanskie. Basically, those names are just labels on watches with different designs. Anyway, let’s get back to the Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition, the first Swiss wristwatch in space.

The Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition has a power reserve of 70 hours

As said, the Navitimer Ref. 809 Mark 1 worn by Carpenter in 1962 was converted to a 24-hour scale. The new Cosmonaute follows that 24-hour concept and is driven by the Breitling caliber B12. It also features a column-wheel chronograph that measures times up to 1/4^th of a second, and has 30-minutes and 12-hours totalizers on sub dials, together with small seconds. At 6 o’clock there is a date, and the green dial features the typical slide rules for aviation as seen on all Navitimers.

The movement can be seen through the sapphire case back and offers a power reserve of 70 hours. This Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Limited Edition comes on a black alligator strap with red gold folding buckle. And this boutique-only model is limited to 250 pieces.