REBIRTH OF A LEGEND

On May 24, 1962, Breitling officially claimed the title of the first Swiss wristwatch in space after astronaut Scott Carpenter orbited the Earth three times while wearing the Navitimer Cosmonaute on his Mercury-Atlas 7 mission. For the 60th anniversary of that mission, Breitling has launched a special release, limited to 362 pieces, which recognises both the spacecraft’s circumnavigations of the Earth and the year the mission made history. What sets the Cosmonaute apart from the Navitimer family is its ability to tell 24-hour time, thanks to the Breitling Manufacture Calibre B02. While the 41 mm watch is a faithful reproduction of the original with an all-black dial and black alligator strap or stainless-steel bracelet, it boasts new features. These include a platinum bezel and its open sapphire crystal caseback that provides a view of the B02 movement with its special bridge inscriptions to mark the occasion: “Carpenter”; “Aurora 7”; “3 orbits around the Earth”; and the name of the group of seven astronauts chosen for NASA’s first human-crewed spaceflights, Mercury 7. The caseback is also engraved with the date of Carpenter’s mission, “One of 362”, as well as “First Swiss wristwatch in space”.