Introduction
When you think of the classic chronograph replica watches online, a few names instantly spring to mind: Omega’s Speedmaster, the Rolex Daytona, Zenith’s El Primero, and the ne plus ultra of pilot’s watches, the luxury fake Breitling Navitimer.
Not only is the cheap replica Breitling Navitimer probably the first name you think of when talking about pilot’s watches, it’s the first watch you think of whenever super clone Breitling UK is mentioned. And it’s one of the best examples of a purpose-built timepiece for aviation: The Navitimer truly put the “tool” in “tool watch”. And flying was my introduction to the Navitimer. My father was a pilot, and he wore a best 1:1 replica Breitling Ref. 806 in the days before computerized navigation. So how did the Navitimer reach the stratospheric heights of Icon status?
Early History
You’ll need to travel back more than 100 years to find one of the first wrist-worn chronographs, a 1915 Swiss made replica Breitling pocket watch with a strap and, importantly, a single pusher. A few years later in 1923, AAA fake Breitling introduced a chronograph with two pushers, one at 2 o’clock, and the other in the crown. It’s this watch that made it possible for a stopwatch to measure multiple times in sequence, a truly revolutionary moment in timekeeping.
By WWII, high quality replica Breitling UK had become renowned for their chronographs, and in 1940, introduced the first one featuring a slide rule bezel, the Chronomat. With that one feature, pilots could perform mathematical calculations without relying on the circular slide rules used up until that point. Then in 1952, the company was approached by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) to come up with a specific tool copy watch for the pilots of their membership.
The result? The very first Breitling fake for men, with an all-black dial, 41mm stainless case, chronograph movement (supplied by both Venus and Valjoux at varying times), winged AOPA logo, and that all-important bidirectional slide rule bezel.
This slide rule specifically catered to pilots, making it convenient to calculate average speed, distance traveled, fuel consumption, rate of climb or descent, and the conversion of miles to kilometres or nautical miles. With the convenience the cheap fake Breitling Navitimer offered, it was a hit with pilots.
With that success, the top quality fake Breitling Navitimer, now known as the Reference 806, was released to a wider audience in 1956, this time with a Breitling brand above the “wings” logo.
Rise To Fame
It wasn’t long before the Breitling Navitimer replica for sale sent ripples throughout the rest of the world. Astronauts of the United States’ nascent NASA program started wearing it too, with Lt. Cmdr. Scott Carpenter requesting one in 1962 with a 24 hour dial (the “Cosmonaute”), to distinguish day from night in the blackness of space during his orbital mission. By this time, the wholesale copy Breitling Navitimer’s subdials had switched from black to silver, or “reverse panda”, for easier legibility.