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Did you know that the first Navitimer from 1952 didn't carry a Breitling logo on its dial? Instead, it bore the emblem of AOPA, the world's largest pilots' association, without which the legendary chronograph would never have existed. Now, as the world-famous pilot's watch turns 70, hopes are rising for a reissue of the legendary Breitling AOPA. We assess the odds for this eagerly awaited limited edition and explain what ties the Swiss luxury brand to the American organization.
The Commission: Willy Breitling and AOPA
It's no secret that Breitling's most famous chronograph is linked to aviation like no other watch. But why does this close relationship actually exist? For the answer, we have to travel back to 1952, when then company head Willy Breitling (1912-1979), grandson of brand founder Léon Breitling, was commissioned by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) to develop a new chronograph for its members. The result arrived that very same year, and it was spectacular: fitted with the famous logarithmic slide rule that the Navitimer still features today, the instrument allowed for a wide variety of precise calculations above the clouds. In addition to average speed and distance traveled, the 41 mm timer, an enormous diameter by the standards of the day, could be used to work out fuel consumption as well as rates of climb and descent.
Converting between units, for example from (nautical) miles to kilometers, was also among the Breitling's key tasks in the mechanical cockpits of the 1950s. Visually, the early pilot's watch, like its modern descendants, was defined by a black dial with luminous Arabic numerals, and the grippy beads on its rotating bezel gave it a feature that still fuels its iconic status today.
Undercover: The First Models Were for Pilots Only
What makes the first Navitimer AOPA special: it has no reference number and makes no mention whatsoever of the Swiss manufacturer on its dial. There is no Breitling brand name or logo to be seen; instead, a winged AOPA emblem sits proudly below 12 o'clock, one that could be mistaken from a distance for the similar-looking Breitling logo. The reason for this anonymity lies in the total focus on AOPA's specifications; marketing was essentially unnecessary, since from 1954 the chronograph was issued exclusively to members of the American pilots' association. These watches distributed to the organization's members feature a signed wings logo.
From 1955, a version with an unsigned AOPA emblem joined the lineup. It was available on the open market and proved a big hit with the celebrities of the day - alongside jazz legend Miles Davis, film star Serge Gainsbourg and Formula 1 great Graham Hill also opted for a Navitimer AOPA. Only from 1956 was the pilot's watch officially marketed under the Breitling name and without the AOPA logo. It received the reference number 806, which is a sacred number among Breitling enthusiasts today.
Pilot Scholarship: Kicking Off the Anniversary
With the start of 2022, the watch world's eyes are once again on AOPA, because the association's one-time standard instrument is celebrating a milestone anniversary. 70 years of the Navitimer is reason enough for a big party - the only question is how the grand occasion will be celebrated. The watch brand and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association delivered a cautious opening to the festivities in December 2021, when they jointly announced the Breitling Scholarship for pilots. Until February 11, 2022, young aviators from the US could apply for the chance to have their pilot training fully funded. This partnership is the first collaboration between the two allies to mark the 70th anniversary, and Breitling already stressed last December that it won't be the last.
Will 70 Years of the Navitimer Be Celebrated with a Special Edition?
So it's certain that enthusiasts can look forward to more surprises. What remains unclear is whether this vague announcement refers to a reissue of the Navitimer AOPA, which could potentially appear as a limited edition. The catch: while a comeback of the pilot's watch without a Breitling logo seems plausible given its precise origins in 1952, the Navitimer's history is long and offers numerous other reference points an anniversary model could draw on. Still, the mere fact that the scholarship has Breitling and AOPA working together again strikes us as a strong hint of an upcoming special model. Why would the two successful partners join forces for a scholarship only to scale back their contact again right afterward? That makes no sense. Whether the eagerly awaited watch will be a limited edition and which logo it will carry on its dial is of secondary importance for now.
It Wouldn't Be the First AOPA Limited Edition
Looking at Breitling's more recent history, the signs of an imminent AOPA Limited Edition grow stronger. Back in 2015, the Grenchen-based brand launched a Navitimer AOPA limited to 500 pieces that showed clear differences from the classic Breitling Navitimer. Like the 1950s original, the limited edition carried the AOPA logo on its dial, though not on its own: it was accompanied by the Swiss brand and model lettering. Red accents, such as a "Limited Edition" inscription above the 6 o'clock totalizer, defined the look of the special edition. A preview of the upcoming AOPA watch? Probably, since these days marketing a watch entirely without visible Breitling branding wouldn't be the smartest move from a marketing perspective.
Plausible Assumptions About the Upcoming Special Edition
What will likely change compared to the 2015 model is the movement. While that AOPA reissue was powered by a modified ETA-Valjoux 7753, in-house movements carry greater weight today and are especially likely to be found in important anniversary models. As for dimensions, we don't expect a 46 mm behemoth, but rather historically plausible diameters between 40 and 42 mm. In 2015, Breitling went with 42 mm, which in the Breitling universe of the time would have deserved a mention for being particularly compact. So will the 2015 AOPA return with an in-house movement and a light facelift? We don't know, but it's certainly a plausible assumption.
