From the cockpit to outer space – how a pilot’s watch made aviation and aerospace history
For over a century, pilot’s watches have been more than just wrist accessories. They are tools, built for precise navigation and calculations: flight time, range, rate of climb and descent, fuel consumption. Long before the digital age, they were standard equipment for any aviator.
In those days, timekeeping crossed a threshold — from the skies of flight into the boundless realms of the cosmos.
In the 1960s, mechanical wristwatches experienced their next evolutionary leap: they accompanied the first humans into space. The most famous among them is undoubtedly the Omega Speedmaster, the Moonwatch, worn by Buzz Aldrin during the first manned Moon landing in 1969.
But the Breitling Navitimer, too, made space history — not on the Moon, but in orbit. Its role may be less well known, but it is no less fascinating: an aviator’s watch that left the clouds behind.
Willy Breitling and the birth of the Navitimer
As early as 1952, Breitling introduced the first Navitimer, a chronograph that was more than just a timepiece thanks to its integrated slide rule bezel. Based on the Chronomat, it allowed pilots to perform essential calculations en route — speed, fuel consumption, descent times. Its functional design and reliability quickly made the Navitimer the preferred instrument of professional aviators, laying the foundation for a legend that endures to this day.
The Mercury Seven – America’s first space travelers
As the space race gained momentum, timekeeping devices assumed a new role. In 1959, NASA introduced its first seven astronauts: the Mercury Seven. All experienced military test pilots, they became national heroes, symbols of technology, courage, and pioneering spirit. Two of these men — Scott Carpenter and John Glenn — would become connected to the Navitimer in very different ways.
The Mercury Seven – American heroes and space pioneers
Scott Carpenter and the first Navitimer in space
In May 1962, Scott Carpenter launched into Earth orbit aboard the Aurora 7. On his wrist: a specially adapted Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaut 809 with a 24-hour dial, developed in direct collaboration with Breitling. In space, where there is no day-night cycle, this was a logical adaptation.
The watch featured the Venus 178 caliber and a notably wide, fluted bezel — later known among collectors as the “Wide Bezel”. It wasn’t decorative, but purely functional and made the watch a distinctive tool on Carpenter’s space suit. This flight marked the first time a Breitling Navitimer was worn in space.
The Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaut 809 in 1962
John Glenn – myth and misunderstanding
Just three months before Carpenter’s flight, John Glenn made history: on 20 February 1962, he became the first American to orbit the Earth aboard Friendship 7. Images of his spaceflight circled the globe. Glenn became a national icon and the face of American space exploration. But what watch did he wear on that mission? To this day, there’s a persistent claim that Glenn wore a Breitling Navitimer. It fits nicely into the narrative of early space travel — but it’s not historically substantiated.
Neither official NASA records nor Glenn’s personal estate mention a Navitimer. The myth likely arose due to the close timing of events. In truth, Glenn wore a modified stopwatch made by Heuer, model 2915A — a professional chronograph with a central sweep second hand and 12-hour counter, mounted on an elastic strap over his suit. Rugged, functional, and precise. Just what NASA needed for its first orbital mission.
The “Wide Bezel” – symbol of an era
The origin of the frequent mix-up is easy to trace: the Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaut 809 — a model from the same year as Glenn’s historic orbital flight, 1962. With its deep black dial, 24-hour display, and signature wide bezel, it embodied the tension between classic mechanical watchmaking and the emerging space age.
Even without a documented connection to Glenn, the watch continues to be associated with his era — not through verified facts, but as a symbol of technological vision, courage, and the spirit of exploration.
The Breitling Navitimer B12 Chronographe 41 Cosmonaute in 2024
In 2019, a well-preserved Cosmonaut 809 with a “Wide Bezel” was sold at auction. The final bid: $156,250. This made it one of the most coveted Navitimer models ever. What remains is an icon with symbolic power: a watch Glenn never wore, yet one that stands for his era like few others. The Cosmonaut 809 is no longer just a timekeeper: it is a testament to mechanical precision in the face of infinity — where craftsmanship meets the sky’s pioneers.
Between technology, history and fascination
The Breitling Navitimer is more than a classic pilot’s watch. It’s a time capsule, built for practical use, worn by pioneers. From its slide rule bezel for flight calculations to a symbol of an era between sky and space: it fuses craftsmanship, innovation, and a thirst for adventure like few other models. Whether in the cockpit or in orbit, the Navitimer set standards. And it still reminds us how far a mechanical watch can take you.
The first Americans in orbit – John Glenn and Scott Carpenter
John Glenn – The first American in orbit
- Born: 18 July 1921, Ohio
- Died: 8 December 2016, Columbus, Ohio
- Mission: Friendship 7 (Mercury-Atlas 6), 20 February 1962
- Achievement : The first American to orbit the Earth – three times in just under 5 hours
- Watch: Heuer stopwatchmodel 2915A, attached to spacesuit
- Later: US Senator (1974-1999), oldest person in space (STS-95 at the age of 77)
- Breitling reference: Often incorrectly associated with the Navitimer Cosmonaut 809 – not historically proven
Scott Carpenter – Into space with the Navitimer
- Born: 1 May 1925, Boulder, Colorado
- Died: 10 October 2013, Denver, Colorado
- Mission: Aurora 7 (Mercury-Atlas 7), 24 May 1962
- Achievement: Second American in orbit, first Breitling watch in space
- Watch: Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaut 809, with 24-hour dial
- Special feature: Worked directly with Breitling to adapt the watch for use in space
- Later: Oceanographer, test pilot, author – technical visionary with a thirst for research well into old age
Astronaut Scott Carpenter on his way into space
In space, but not in orbit – what’s the difference?
When John Glenn orbited the Earth for the first time on board Friendship 7 in 1962, he made history: he was the first American in orbit. Curiously, however, he was not the first American in space — Alan Shepard had already achieved this pioneering feat a year earlier. How could that be?
The difference lies in the flight path — more precisely, between a suborbital and an orbital space flight. On his historic flight with the Freedom 7, Alan Shepard reached an altitude of over 180 kilometers and thus clearly crossed the boundary into space. But his mission only lasted 15 minutes, he ascended steeply and fell back to earth in a kind of arc. So Shepard was in space, but not in orbit.
Alan Shepard and John Glenn: one pushed open the door to space – the other opened it and went through.
John Glenn, on the other hand, not only reached space, but also the speed required to orbit the earth — around 28,000 kilometers per hour. This meant that he remained in space for several hours and completed three full orbits of the Earth. It is only with this combination of altitude and speed that we speak of an orbit.
In common parlance, these terms are often blurred, but in space travel they are separated by a fundamental physical boundary. Anyone who flies into space has left the earth. Anyone who goes into orbit stays there for a while. And that is precisely what made John Glenn’s flight a real milestone.
The John Glenn Story
140 years of Breitling – Navitimer 41 and Cosmonaute B12
Breitling pays tribute to its aerospace icons to mark the anniversary
