The 15 Best Breitling Watches You Can Buy in 2024
From outsize pilot watches to lightweight sports models
Breitling has been producing seriously-made, aesthetically pleasing watches since 1884.
It is best known for its technical, highly accurate chronographs – the Aviator 8, for example, or the Transocean Ultimate Pilot, which offered simultaneous readings in all 24 time zones.
Its close links with aviation date back to the Thirties.
The association saw it produce cockpit clocks, sponsor aviation groups and oversea its own aerobatics team. Today it is the only luxury watch brand that can carry the Red Arrows insignia on its watches, a partnership with the Royal Air Force that dates back 25 years.
During the Fifties Breitling began to innovate with clever use of marketing and ambassadors, something that continues to this day. It developed a campaign that targeted groups of pilots, creating a demand for its chronographs. In addition, it became the official supplier for several major airline companies – the dashboard instruments in a Boeing 707, for example, were made by Breitling. It added authority in other categories too, notably driving and diving, launching its popular Superocean line in 1957. Five years later it was in space. American astronaut Lt. Commander Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth three times while wearing a modified Breitling: the Navitimer Cosmonaute.
Despite being one of the world’s most recognisable luxury brands, Breitling is in the unusual position of being independently run. In 2017, former IWC Schaffhausen boss Georges Kern took over as CEO and ushered in significant changes, including a rebrand, an overhaul of Breitling's shops and the appointment of new ambassadors, ranging from Brad Pitt to Kelly Slater, organised into ‘squads’ reflective of the brand's key pillars.
He also streamlined nearly all the collections. Most notably he reorganised the products into three focused main categories – air, land, and sea – designed to extend Breitling’s reach beyond the aviation crowd. Using those categories as a guide, he established seven distinct collections: Aviator 8, Navitimer and Avenger for ‘air’, Superocean Heritage and Superocean for ‘sea’, and Premier and Chronomat for ‘land’.
The years since Kern’s appointment have been hugely successful, as Breiting forges ahead as a complete lifestyle brand, producing highly sought after and desirable watches that appeal equally to style-conscious and sporty audiences. Almost 140 years into its history, you get the sense Breitling has plenty more left in the tank.
Here are the 15 best Breitling watches you can buy today.
Classic AVI
A new-for-2023 family known as the Classic AVI, with firm roots in Breitling’s aviation past. The collection comes in four versions that refer to classic planes of yesteryear: a black dial on a gold brown leather trap (inspired by the Mustang, shown here), a blue dial with a black strap (the Corsair), a khaki dial with a brown strap (the Warhawk) and a black dial with a ceramic bezel on a brown strap (the Mosquito). They all come with the option of steel bracelet. (Breitling has also made an 18k gold version of the Mustang too, just for good measure.)
£7,150; goldsmiths.co.uk
Premier B01 Chronograph 42
Chronographs can be dressy, too. Breitling’s aptly-named Premier collection is the place where the traditional tool watch becomes a proper style statement, introduced by founder Willy Breitling in the 1940s as the line with ‘the unmistakable stamp of impeccable taste’. Today’s Premiers come with a first-class self-winding movement – the COSC-certified Manufacture Calibre 01 – plus wonderfully legible dials. This deep blue version is our pick of the bunch.
£7,150; goldsmiths.co.uk
Top Time Deus
This Top Time Deus marks the third time Breitling has collaborated with the Australian custom motorcycle, surf and streetwear brand Deus Ex Machina, a partnership that began in 2021.The latest 41mm model comes in a stark monochrome design featuring a black dial with white sub-dials and is available either on a black leather strap or a mesh bracelet. ‘Pops’ of colour come via touches of red on the dial – most noticeably on the chronograph hand which, as with previous Top Time Deus editions, is designed like a lightning bolt.
£6,250; goldsmiths.co.uk
SuperOcean Automatic 42 Kelly Slater
Breitling recently revamped its flagship dive watch, the SuperOcean, introducing 28 new models across four sizes, from 36mm to 46mm. The breadth of choice was matched by a broader mission statement: the new SuperOcean was designed equally for swimming, surfing or sipping something cold at the beach bar. American pro surfer Kelly Slater was the face of the new models, designing his own limited edition, a colourful tribute to the watch his late father wore.
£3,900; jurawatches.co.uk
Aerospace Red Arrows Limited Edition
Breitling and the Red Arrows had one of the longest running relationships between a watch brand and a military display team. It supplied the RAF since the 1930s and arguably done more than anyone to elevate the pilot watch category with its iconic Navitimer, among others. This limited-edition version of its Aerospace, a chronograph from the 1980s, is its latest Red Arrows model. It comes in a 43mm titanium case with crown-activated functions including (but not limited to) a 1/100th of a second chronograph, a countdown timer, a second time zone, an alarm, an audible time signal (or minute repeater) and a backlit LCD display. Plus, of course, the endorsement of the Red Arrows.
£3,500; goldsmiths.co.uk
Navitimer Chronograph Cosmonaute
Omega makes a lot of noise about its NASA-endorsed Speedmaster being ‘the first watch on the Moon’, which seems fair enough – it’s quite the achievement. But it’s not the only watch brand that’s been into orbit. The astronaut Scott Carpenter wore a modified Navitimer when he rounded the Earth three times in the Mercury-Atlas 7 in 1962. Fifty years later that model was reissued as the Navitmer Cosmonaute. Finally, in 2022 it got the 60th anniversary treatment, with updates including a platinum bezel, plus a new movement visible through the sapphire caseback, revealing the words ‘Carpenter’, ‘Aurora 7’ and ‘3 orbits around the Earth’. A 362-piece limited edition, one for each circumnavigation of our planet performed during Carpenter’s mission, it’s your chance to own a watch with a space story all of its own.
£9,300; breitling.com
Superocean Heritage
This 2020 capsule collection paid tribute to both an original 1957 Breitling watch and the laid-back lifestyle of America’s west coast surfers of the era. (Developed to equip professional and military divers, the original Superocean was soon adopted by leisure divers and style-conscious watch geeks.) The tactile ceramic bezel spins both ways while the oversized indices echo Sixties geometric designs.
£4,650; goldsmiths.co.uk
Premier Heritage Duograph
The Heritage Premier is a vintage-inspired line of three chronographs in swashbuckling colours, including on-trend lime green and salmon, a vintage favourite. The standout is surely the Duograph which comes with a rare, rattrapante function that enables the wearer to measure two elapsed times simultaneously.
£8,800; goldsmiths.co.uk
Endurance Pro
Breitling can do sophisticated and grown-up. And it can do tough and sporty, too. This lightweight sports chronograph is aimed at athletes or those with a “sporty lifestyle” and comes in vibrant pop colours. The case is made of Breitlight, a material the brand developed itself, and is nearly six times lighter than stainless steel.
£2,800; goldsmiths.co.uk
Navitimer
The definitive pilot’s watch. Originally designed in the 1950s to measure flight times and give a heads up for refuelling, it’s now considered a design classic. Available in a variety of styles and colours, we recommend this handsome regal blue version with a date window between 4 and 5 o'clock, three chronograph pushers and luminous markers.
£7,000; goldsmiths.co.uk
Premier B01 Norton
A limited edition produced in collaboration with Norton, the Steve McQueen-endorsed Birmingham motorbike brand that helped supply troops during the Second World War. Featuring a black Arabic dial with silver chronograph counters, the trademark tachymeter scale can be used to measure speed over distance travelled – useful if you’re bombing along on your 1971 Norton Commando.
£6,700; mrporter.com
Chronomat
Breitling’s unapologetically weighty sports chronograph is a mixture of pilot and diver’s styles. The watch line comes in 42mm cases and features the Chronomat’s signature glove-friendly ‘rider tabs’ at 3, 6 and 9 o’clock. These serve several purposes: they are visual markers, grip aids and also protect the domed sapphire crystal. It also comes on a stainless steel integrated ‘Rouleaux’ (or ‘bullet’) bracelet – a nod to its Eighties origins.
£6,650; mrporter.com
Super Avenger
Men’s watch sizes have edged downwards in recent years. But there’s still a substantial group of guys for whom a watch is a non-negotiable opportunity to make a big, bold statement. The 48” Super Avenger Chronograph fits that bill. Robust and shock resistant it has been made with adventurers in mind – the pushers have been designed to work while wearing thick aviation gloves. Hardy.
£4,690; ernestjones.co.uk
Top Time Shelby Cobra
Another capsule collection, this one paying tribute to classic American sports cars of the 1960s. It comprises the Top Time Chevrolet Corvette in red and black, based on the design of the Corvette C2, noted for the ground-breaking aerodynamics of its exterior and sheer speed. A green and brown Top Time Ford Mustang version, inspired by the sporty coupe and popular culture touchstone. And the Top Time Shelby Cobra in blue and brown (shown here), in tribute to the design initiated by retired American racing driver and car designer Carroll Shelby, who added a British AC Cobra V8 engine to his existing design and invented one of the most lusted-after cars of all time.
£4,950; goldsmiths.co.uk
Aviator 8
A black and gold recreation of a pilot's watch from 1953, the Aviator 8 comes with Arabic numerals, a tone-on-tone small seconds and a 12-hour chronograph counter. An unusual, vintage-inspired model at a great price.
£7,150; goldsmiths.co.uk
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