Introducing: the all-new Breitling Navitimer 8 collection
Breitling is a brand better-known for its chronographs and tool watches, but according to new CEO Georges Kern, those aren't the best-sellers.
The watch world has seen a huge range of interest in vintage-inspired watches, and it should come as no surprise that Breitling would too benefit from the change in wrist-friendly fashion. According to Kern, it's the Breitling Super Ocean Heritage range that does the best on the shop floor.
As such, the new Navitimer 8 range – announced ahead of Baselworld 2018 – might offer a look at where Breitling might be headed under Kern, who was given the top job at Breitling after the brand's sale last year to CVC Capital Partners.
The Navitimer 8 range features a dialled-back face (gone are the hundreds of tiny numerals and functions), and the famous 'Flying B' logo has been replaced by an earlier iteration, with a single B in words.
This no doubt fits in with Kern's overarching goal to simplify the brand down to just three pillars; land, air and sea. Each pillar will be further segregated into three parts; elegant, elegant-yet-sporty, and super-sports. Each will be chronometer-certified-mechanical timepieces – marking the end of quartz production for Breitling.
In the case of the Navitimer 8 (so named after the Breilting department responsible for producing cockpit timers and early pilot's wristwatches), it's part of the air collection. There are five models in the collection (including a UTC world-time model), and all are readily identifiable by a shared scalloped bi-directional rotating bezel.
All the watches go on sale in May and will cost between US$4,000 and US$12,000 depending on case material and complication. And stay tuned to further new collections launching over the next few weeks at Baselworld.
