Introducing The Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute 50th Anniversary

50 years ago Lt Commander Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth in the Aurora 7 spacecraft with a Breitling Cosmonaute ref. 809 on his wrist. It was Lt Cmdr Carpenter who first mooted the idea of a 24 hour version of the classic ref. 806 Navitimer in the late fifties because it enabled him to keep track of the time while in space. 

To mark this anniversary Breitling unveiled a limited edition Cosmonaute at Baselworld 2012. The new Cosmonaute still retains the classic Cosmonaute look with the 24 hour dial, which I like, but with the addition of a date and applied Breitling logo, which I don’t as they clutter up the dial.

I’ve always liked the Cosmonaute, I own a sixties ref. 806 Navitimer, but this edition is a bit too busy. Breitling made the Cosmonaute in the nineties, including a Scott Carpenter edition, which were closer to the original.

Applied Breitling logo

Inside this edition is the in-house Breitling Caliber 02 movement, hand-wound with column wheel and vertical clutch. Case is 43 mm in diameter. Limited to 1962 pieces. – SJX

Aurora 7 logo on the case back
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