Breitling Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary Celebrates Space Pioneer

While we all know that the Omega Speedmaster was the first watch worn on the moon, the first Swiss watch to actually make it into space came a few years earlier in the form of the Breitling Navitimer. Though it wasn’t just any Navitimer, it was a custom model created at the request of astronaut Scott Carpenter with special adaptations ready for orbit. Its design is known as the Navitimer Cosmonaute, becoming a staple model in the Navitimer range over the years. On the 100^th anniversary of Scott Carpenter’s birth, Breitling are remembering his horological legacy by releasing the Breitling Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary.

The most famous aspects of the Cosmonaute are the ways in which it has been specialised for space travel. Instead of a 12-hour scale that uses the position of the sun in the sky to indicate whether it’s day or night, the watch features a 24-hour scale allowing it to keep time with ground control on Earth without relying on solar indicators. Afterall, in orbit the day-night cycle takes about 90 minutes and it would be very easy to lose track of the days.

Other changes include a wider bezel with more pronounced grip so that it can be utilised while wearing the thick gloves of a spacesuit. For similar reasons its traditional bracelet option is a stretch metal option so that it can fit over top of a spacesuit. As the Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary is decidedly terrestrial bound, they’ve been able to swap out that super practical bracelet for a more luxurious blue alligator leather strap in blue to match the blue sunray brushed dial.

Luxury is really a byword for this model because while the case may look like it’s made from a traditional tool watch material like steel, it’s actually made from platinum. Making this an even more exclusive version of the Cosmonaute than 2024’s gold edition. The case itself measures 41mm in diameter with a thickness of 13mm, well inside the ballpark for tool watches, if such a label can be applied to a platinum watch.

As I mentioned briefly, the dial features a sunray brushed blue colour paired with white, snailed chronograph subdials. The same white colour has been used for the slide rule bezel. I really like the lighter tone of the display with the blue and white considering that over the past four years or so every iteration of the Navitimer (Cosmonaute or otherwise) has had black as a primary colour somewhere on the display. It’s a breath of fresh air.

Powering the Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary is the Breitling Manufacture Calibre B02. It’s a manual-winding column-wheel chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve and COSC chronometer certification. It’s a beautifully finished movement with radial Côtes de Genève emanating from the exposed balance wheel. There are also a series of engravings commemorating Carpenter’s historic flight such as ‘Aurora 7’ and ‘3 orbits around the Earth’. Around the edge of the exhibition caseback there are additional inscriptions dedicating the watch to Scott Carpenter and marking it as a limited edition of just 50 pieces.

Due to its exclusive nature, platinum case and high quality movement, the Breitling Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary comes in at a price of £34,000. Between the historic connection to Carpenter and space exploration, it’s quite possible that the Cosmonaute is my favourite Breitling model.

More details at Breitling.

​Oracle Time 

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