SpotlightCharlize Theron Is The Face Of The Sleekest Breitling Navitimers Yet: The Navitimer 36 And 32
Making their debut at Geneva Watch Days 2023, the new Navitimers from Breitling have been released this week in steel and gold versions, with myriad hues and mother-of-pearl dials. Featuring traceable, responsibly-sourced gold, and lab-grown diamonds, in some variations, here are the 2023 Breitling Navitimer watches in 36 and 32mm
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Long gone are the days when an aviation watch was only for professional pilots. Even though watch manufacturers have aviation watches today that are true tool timepieces, which may even be called ‘professional instruments’, the genre transcended that utilitarian aspect and has gone on to become much more. Probably the best example of a collection of aviation watches that now includes elegant, ‘lifestyle’ timepieces even, are the Breitling Navitimer 36 and 32 watches, unveiled during Geneva Watch Days 2023. In sizes that one wouldn’t imagine in Navitimers from even a few years ago, these new editions widen the appeal of the aviation collection tremendously.
Aviation Evolved: The Navitimer 36 And 32
A soaring evolution of the collection that first began in 1952, with true instruments for professionals, the new Navitimer 36 and 32 watches interpret classic elements of the Navitimer line. These include the knurled bezel and the slide rule. Presented in the new Navitimer 36 and 32, these details are presented in a sleeker and more elegant fashion. The knurled bezel gives way to a beaded bezel, which lends the timepieces the appeal of fine jewellery.
Further to that, the circular slide rule—a signature element of the Navitimer line—is seen here in a more minimalistic form. The scale, which was used traditionally by pilots as an analogue calculator, helps the Navitimer 36 and 32 maintain the unmistakeable appearance of the line, even though this additions are vastly different from the mainstream tool editions. On the periphery, the scale still blends in with the graceful features of the dial, including the sleek hour markers and hands, and the finely finished bases of the dials themselves, in a variety of hues. Among them are versions in mother-of-pearl. And for the first time Breitling have introduced blue and pink mother-of-pearl in the Navitimer 32. All mother-of-pearl dials—including the white one of the 36mm—feature diamond hour markers. But what’s special about these is that they are lab-grown.
The Sustainable Elements Of The Navitimer 36 And 32
Continuing a long-term initiative that was announced by Breitling last year at Geneva Watch Days 2022, the Navitimer 36 and 32 present these lab-grown diamonds, which are completely traceable to producers who are certified with an ‘SCS-007 Sustainability Rated Diamonds Standard’. Also announced last year was Breitling’s effort to move entirely towards only using traceable, responsibly-sourced gold for all their watches, by the year 2025. The gold editions of the Navitimer 36 and 32 reflect that. This ‘better gold’ comes from small-scale mines that ‘meet the Swiss Better Gold Association’s criteria for social and environmental impact’.
Housed Within The Navitimer 36 and 32
In all-gold, steel-and-gold, or all-steel versions, the cases of the Navitimer 36 house the automatic Breitling calibre 17, which offers a 38-hour power reserve, and comes with a COSC certification, as a chronometer movement, as all of Breitling’s mechanical calibres are. The Navitimer 32, on other hand, runs on the thermo-compensated SuperQuartz Breitling calibre 77, which offers a battery life of three to four years.
The Navitimer 36 And 32 And Charlize Theron
No matter how small these Navitimer 36 and 32 watches are, they will most certainly remain utterly identifiable as Breitling Navitimers. “You can spot someone from across a room and know they are wearing a Navitimer. It’s just that recognisable,” says Breitling CEO Georges Kern, who even likens the impact of the Navitimer to Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron, who is the face of this edition, and also a brand ambassador. “Charlize Theron so wonderfully represents this line because she too is an icon known the world over for her strength, beauty, talent, and powerful journey.”
Just as the Navitimer has seen a long and storied evolution, so has the journey of Charlize Theron, who went from remote South Africa to becoming an international A-list star. Theron has received critical acclaim and accolades, including an Oscar for Monster (2003), as well as popularity in mainstream Hollywood. “My journey has always been about being up for any challenge,” she expresses. “I travelled from South Africa to Los Angeles when I was quite young and both that physical journey and the journey of being open-minded and ready for new experiences has served me well personally and professionally.”
While she’s come a long way from South Africa, Theron remains connected with her roots. Quite in the same manner, the Navitimer 36 and 32 remain firmly rooted in what the collection and the brand are all about, even as the evolution of the Navitimer line is sure to go on. A tool watch evolved, the Navitimer 36 and 32 timepieces are the series in its most elegant avatar, while remaining to be quite functional timekeeping instruments, even if they cannot be considered as aviation tools.
