"In 1952, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) - an American-founded non-profit and the world's largest aviation organization - approached Willy Breitling, scion of his family's eponymous watchmaking brand, to commission a timepiece for its members. Specifically, AOPA needed a chronograph that would allow its user to easily compute important information like speed, distance, fuel consumption and other calculations crucial to flying before the advent of flight computers."
"As of February 5, 2026, Breitling is now the official watch partner of both Aston Martin and the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One team, marking the watchmaker's official return to one of the world's most popular sports. Having been worn by famed drivers Jim Clark and Graham Hill, the Navitimer is cemented in the minds of both automotive and horological aficionados, and the brand itself pushed its race-worthy bona fides in period advertising."
In 1952 the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association commissioned Willy Breitling to create a pilot's chronograph capable of computing speed, distance, fuel consumption and other flight calculations. Breitling adapted the logarithmic slide rule from the WWII-era Chronomat into a rotating bezel, paired it with an oversized 41mm stainless steel case and powered it with a hand-wound Venus movement, releasing the Navitimer with the AOPA logo. The reference 806 debuted three years later with Breitling's winged logo. Over seven decades the Navitimer has appeared in gold, platinum, automatic and ana-digi forms, and in 2026 Breitling produced its first traditional titanium Navitimer amid a new Aston Martin and Aston Martin Aramco F1 partnership.
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