Geneva Watch Days: Breitling Releases Three Limited Edition Perpetual Calendars to Celebrate Its 140th Birthday

Anniversary celebrations were a mini-theme of this year’s Geneva Watch Days. However, with the release of perpetual calendar-equipped limited-edition anniversary models of three of its most iconic creations – the Premiere, the Navitimer, and the Chronomat – the way Breitling has chosen to celebrate its 140th birthday might also be the most newsworthy.

While each new anniversary chronograph has a very different outward design, all three come equipped with the new COSC-certified Calibre B19, Breitling’s first-ever perpetual calendar movement.

Let that sink in a bit. Here, we have three very different flavors of perpetual calendar-chronograph hybrid, from elegant to super-sporty, yet they are all equipped with the same benchmark movement. Why did Breitling do this?

“The Premier, the Navitimer, and the Chronomat are the most impactful collections in Breitling’s history,” Georges Kern, CEO of Breitling, said in the press release. “We couldn’t single one out to showcase the new Calibre B19 for our anniversary – it had to be all three.”

As they all share the same Calibre B19 movement (which has a 96-hour power reserve, by the way), this trio of anniversary perpetual calendars share the same dial layout and pusher placements:
• At 12 o’clock is the moonphase indicator,
• At 3 o’clock is the two-handed combination date indication and chronograph tallier sub-dial,
• At 6 o’clock is the two-handed leap year and month indicator sub-dial,
• At 9 o’clock is the two-handed sub-dial for the second chronograph tallier that also serves as the day-of-the-week indicator, and,
• At 2 o’clock and 4 o’clock are the chronograph pushers.
 

If you’re worried that their identical layouts will result in boringly similar looks, don’t be: Font alterations, differing pusher design, and model-specific dial detailing provide more than differentiation among the models to give each watch its own look and feel.
 

The B19 movement isn’t the only commonality this trio shares. These anniversary limited editions are also tied together by the tantalizing use of celebratory red gold, again, with appropriate variations among each model.

Long considered one of the brand’s most elegant “gentleman’s” watches, the Premier brought the chronograph out of the cockpit and out into “polite society” when it launched in 1943.
 

When a re-envisioned version debuted last year, the modernized Premier recaptured the spirit of the original by looking like an evening watch but functioning like a tool watch.

The new limited-edition Premier B19 Datora 140th Anniversary model is made even more elegant by the use of 18-karat red gold for its 42mm case, moonphase indication, crown, flat pushers, outer dial ring, hands, and indices.
 

This model also features a large, show-stopping red gold rotor visible through the exhibition caseback and engraved with the facade of Breitling’s historic Montbrillant Manufacture in Chaux-de-Fonds. And while it’s true that all three anniversary models sport this bold rotor, the Premier wears it particularly well.
 

With its unmistakable knurled bezel and highly technical circular slide rule gauging, Brietling’s Navitimer has become the pilot watch of choice for many civilian and military aviators (and even some astronauts).
 

Since being revived in 2022 for its 70th anniversary with a host of case size options and some particularly spectacular dial colors, the Navitimer’s popularity has grown beyond the aviation community, enticing watch collectors and celebrities whose general proximity to a cockpit doesn’t go past the First Class seats.

Now, the Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary is a wash in glimmering 18-karat red gold, from its burly 43mm case, crown, and mushroom-shaped pushers to its distinctive bezel edge to the entirety of its dial surface.
 

You might think that a monochromatic sub-dial approach on such a technically detailed watch would make it difficult to read. However, this model’s more modern moonphase design and thin, modernist font for the indicator numbers and letters create a perfectly legible and balanced presentation.

First launched in 1983, in the middle of the Quartz Crisis, the mechanical Chronomat was originally the official timepiece of Italy’s high-flying aerobatic team, Frecce Tricolori. It has since come to define a more modern and stylish translation of a pilot watch.
 

Unlike the other two anniversary models, the Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary edition downplays some of the red gold elements that are more prominent on the other, especially on its 44mm case, bar indices on the bezel and dial, and capped pushers.

The large black ceramic bezel insert further dampens the red gold elements, while the Super Chronomat’s signature four tactile raised rider tabs at the 15-minute intervals provide some drama.
 

While the black rubber strap version of the model’s classic Rouleaux bracelet is this visual drama’s second act, this Super Chronomat’s grey skeletonized dial serves as its curtain call. It makes the rose gold-framed and bridged black sub-dials perfectly legible without disrupting the overall sporty design zeitgeist.

The new Premier B19 Datora 140th Anniversary, Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary, and Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary editions are each limited to, of course, 140 executions.
 

For information, including pricing, check out Breitling’s website.