Breitling Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula ONE™ Titanium automatic 43 mm

Breitling and Formula 1: a return rather than a debut

By joining Formula 1® alongside the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team as Official Timekeeping Partner, Breitling is doing far more than placing its name on the grid of the world’s most demanding motorsport championship. The Swiss manufacture is making a genuine return to a universe that naturally extends its own history—one shaped by speed, precision and instruments designed to perform under pressure.

Since its earliest days, Breitling has developed chronographs intended to measure time when every fraction of a second matters. As early as 1907, Léon Breitling introduced the Vitesse, one of the first chronographs capable of measuring speeds between 15 and 250 km/h. Revolutionary for its time, the instrument was so precise that it was adopted by the Swiss police for road speed enforcement. Long before aviation or modern motorsport, Breitling had already laid the foundations for a form of watchmaking dedicated to measurable performance.

This pursuit reached a decisive milestone in 1952 with the creation of the Navitimer, developed as a true mechanical wrist-mounted computer. Thanks to its circular slide rule, the chronograph could calculate speed, fuel consumption, distances and travel times, quickly becoming an indispensable tool for pilots. Yet its scope was never limited to the skies. In the 1960s, two Formula 1® legends—Graham Hill and Jim Clark, both passionate aviators—wore Navitimers on their wrists, naturally transposing its functions from the cockpit to the racetrack.

It is this historical continuity that Breitling claims today. By partnering with Aston Martin and its official Formula 1® team, the manufacture is not forging an artificial link between watchmaking and motorsport, but rather reactivating an authentic lineage between high-precision timekeeping and competition. The Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team thus becomes far more than a special edition. It embodies the first chapter of a global, multi-year partnership and marks the opening of a new phase in Breitling’s contemporary history, where the instrument watch once again finds its full relevance at the heart of racing.

A Navitimer designed for the circuit

An absolute icon of aviation watchmaking, the Navitimer retains all the codes that forged its legend, while undergoing a deliberate reinterpretation for the world of motorsport. With this Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team edition, Breitling renounces none of the DNA of its emblematic chronograph; it simply shifts its centre of gravity—from the skies to the circuit.

The circular slide rule, the Navitimer’s historic signature, remains fully functional. It continues to allow calculations of average speed, travel time, fuel consumption and unit conversions. Functions once essential to aviators find a natural echo here in the world of motorsport, where mastery of time and data remains a central challenge, both behind the wheel and in the paddock.

This more “terrestrial” orientation is also expressed through a resolutely instrumental approach to design. Legibility—crucial in driving conditions—is enhanced by strong contrast between the light sub-dials, clearly defined indexes and hands treated with Super-LumiNova®. The central chronograph seconds hand, highlighted in a lime green inspired by the Aston Martin Aramco team livery, immediately stands out against the dial, facilitating the reading of short elapsed times.

Engraved on the caseback, the phrase “Instruments for Drivers” perfectly encapsulates the spirit of this new-generation Navitimer. Designed to accompany drivers, engineers and motorsport enthusiasts alike, it asserts itself as a true timing instrument, built to measure performance in an environment where every second can make the difference.

Design & materials: the Formula 1 cockpit on the wrist

With the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team, Breitling chooses to translate the world of Formula 1 not through an excess of logos, but through a deep focus on materials, textures and functional details. An approach faithful to the Navitimer spirit, where every design element serves performance above all else.

For the first time on a classic Navitimer, the case is crafted from titanium. Highly valued in motorsport for its exceptional strength-to-weight ratio, this material transforms the wearing experience. Despite its 43 mm diameter, the watch feels remarkably light and well balanced on the wrist, reinforcing both comfort and its vocation as an instrument built for action. Finishes alternate between brushed and polished surfaces, accentuating the sharp, technical lines of the Navitimer case.

The dial adopts carbon fibre, an emblematic material of Formula 1 single-seaters. Its deep texture, punctuated by accents of Aston Martin Racing Green, brings a distinctly contemporary visual dimension while directly evoking the cockpit environment. The light chronograph counters, combined with Super-LumiNova®-treated indexes and hands, ensure optimal legibility in all lighting conditions, including night races.

The Aston Martin Aramco team codes are subtly integrated into the design. The central chronograph hand and the stitching on the strap feature a lime green inspired by the team’s livery, while the textured leather strap recalls a racing harness. These discreet yet immediately recognisable details for connoisseurs reinforce the watch’s sporting character without ever disrupting the Navitimer’s aesthetic balance.

The Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01: precision under pressure

At the heart of the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team beats the Breitling Manufacture Calibre 01, a true benchmark in the world of contemporary automatic chronographs. Conceived, developed and assembled in-house at the Grenchen manufacture, this movement embodies the reliability and precision expected of a timepiece destined for the competitive arena.

The B01 calibre is built on a high-end chronograph architecture, featuring a column wheel and vertical clutch, ensuring smooth and precise activation of the timing functions. COSC-certified as a chronometer, it meets the strictest standards of accuracy—an obvious prerequisite for a watch associated with Formula 1®, where time measurement is decided down to fractions of a second.

With a power reserve of approximately 70 hours, the Breitling 01 offers comfortable autonomy, suited both to daily wear and to a long weekend without winding. Visible through the sapphire caseback, the movement reveals a tungsten rotor coated in matte black PVD, developed specifically for this edition and adorned with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team logo, underscoring the close bond between the watch and the world of elite motorsport.

Engraved around the caseback rim, the inscriptions “One of 1959” and “Instruments for Drivers” recall both the strictly limited nature of the edition and the watch’s primary vocation: to deliver a precise, reliable and legible timing instrument, designed to accompany performance when conditions become extreme.

Limited edition & collector’s spirit

Produced in a limited run of 1,959 pieces, the Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team pays tribute to a key date in motorsport history: 1959, the year Aston Martin first competed in the Formula 1® World Championship. This limitation is more than a symbolic nod; it places the watch firmly within a collector-driven logic, reinforced by its inaugural status within this new partnership.

The first classic Navitimer to feature a titanium case, and the first piece born from the alliance between Breitling and the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One™ Team, this edition marks a contemporary turning point in the evolution of the Navitimer collection. It speaks equally to lovers of iconic chronographs and to motorsport and Formula 1® enthusiasts seeking a timepiece rich in meaning, history and technical legitimacy.

At the crossroads of Breitling’s watchmaking heritage and Aston Martin’s relentless pursuit of performance on the track, this Navitimer already stands as a pivotal piece in the brand’s recent history. A true instrument watch, designed to measure time where every second counts, and destined to become a future classic for discerning collectors.