Should any brand ever be required to prove its authentic connection to flying, having a product known as the ‘Co-pilot’ probably isn’t a bad thing to have up your sleeve.
Breitling launched its 765 AVI in 1953, apparently in a doomed bid to sell a watch to the French Air Force [better-connected brands Breguet, Vixa and Auricoste all won contracts]. It didn’t matter. The hand-wound chronograph with striking mid-century military design, complete with rotating 12-hour bezel to record flight times, became a hit with aviators anyway. It was soon rebranded the AVI ‘Co-Pilot’. (Breitling had been making cockpit clocks and other dedicated flight instruments since the 1930s, as commercial air travel began to quite literally take off.)
Although the watchmaker has found inspiration from almost any lifestyle angle you can think of in the 70 years since – recent collections have been inspired by rugby, surfing and American cars– Breitling is still the brand most readily associated with aviation. Its Navitimer, complete with its information-packed slide rule dial, remains the quintessential pilot watch.
In 2021, the AVI ‘Co-Pilot’ became the inspiration for a new model, the Super AVI, a three-watch collection of whopping 46mm wide chronographs with colours and designs that played to the brand’s current playbook of releasing capsule collections that riff on classic vehicles of yesteryear – in this instance, borrowing design elements from “four of history’s greatest aircraft”: the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang, the Vought F4A Corsair, the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk and the de Havilland Mosquito.
Today, Breitling is releasing a bunch of watches that celebrate both the original AVI ‘Co-Pilot’ and its Super AVI spin-off.
First there’s a smaller version of the Super AVI, that de-beefs the 46mm case to a more reasonable 42mm, by removing the former’s GMT function and using a slimmer movement. This new family is known as the Classic AVI. It comes in four versions that refer to the above-mentioned planes: a black dial on a gold brown leather trap (inspired by the Mustang), 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.
“Not everyone has the wrist to pull of the extra-large size,” says Breitling CEO Georges Kern.
(Though that doesn’t stop people giving it a go. At 5’ 6” the famously slight Ben Stiller just about gets away with his beloved 46.2mm IWC Schaffhausen Big Pilot, a watch that’s as subtle as it sounds.)
“The Classic AVI trades some functions to achieve the paired-down format our customers have been asking for. The Classic and Super models will now live side by side, providing more choice.”
Then there’s the Super AVI Mosquito Night Fighter, which pays tribute to the Night Fighter 2, a blacked-out two-seater version of the de Havilland Mosquito, intended for night-time missions and, like other Mosquitos, constructed from three layers of birch and balsa wood, making the so-called ‘Wooden Wonder’ both super-fast and super-light.
This one comes in an appropriately stealth-inspired black ceramic case, black dial with anthracite sub dials and a black military strap.
Finally, there’s a re-edition of the original ‘Co-Pilot’. Perhaps because Breitling already reissued the 1953 model in 2020, this one is inspired by a 41mm version that came out in the 1960s, by which time, say the brand, the AVI had become more of a lifestyle accessory. “With a black bezel and reverse-panda dial [it] was a favourite of celebrities and sports stars including French skier Jean-Claude Killy, who famously wore it when he won gold in all three alpine skiing events at the 1968 Winter Games.”
Originally released in 1964, the re-edition adds a 21st Century diamond-like carbon finish to the bezel but keeps most of its forebear’s features in place – including the crystal made of soft hesalite and lumed pencil hands. A limited edition, it comes with ‘One of 164’ engraved on the back.
That’s a lot of details about a lot of watches. Pick one?
Okay, assuming you’ve got the wrists to pull it off, and/or the charisma of Ben Stiller – let’s go with the blacked-out Super AVI Mosquito Night Fighter.
Prices range from £5,050 to £31,000
