Just received, my new Navitimer 01

[rionrlty]

Although I have bought many new reps over the last 15-20 years this is my first ordered from a TD since I became involved with the forums about 1 ½ years ago now. Mind you I’ve done many m2m purchases but shied away from buying from a dealer due to some really unpleasant experiences just prior to joining.

Although I own other brands, Breitling has always been my favorite and I have owned many gens as well as reps during that time. Although I am the proud owner of two franken Navitimers, a fighters and a TT, when the new Navitimer 01 was announced I knew I had to have one. I also knew I wouldn’t be able to wait for one to
become available m2m.
 
Although I initially planned to buy one from Angus at Puretime, I eventually ended up ordering from Andrew at Trusty Time mostly due to method of payment limitations. They were nearly the same price with one charging more for the watch and less for shipping and the other less for the watch and more for shipping. It basically evened out in the end.
 
In the end I was extremely pleased with the service I received.  I had needlessly resigned myself to be patient, as the process took much less time than I anticipated. The watch was ordered on March 8th and 5 days later on March 13th I received QC photos. I was unable to find any obvious flaws and approved them the same day. The watch arrived at my home in Southern California 5 days later on March 18th. Communication was excellent all through the process.
 
Upon receipt the watch proved as good as the QC pictures suggested, with no noticeable flaws.


 
All in all I was quite pleased with the look and quality of the watch with just a few qualifying comments. Of course we are still dealing with the sunken date wheel although with the white graphics on the black background it is much less obvious than on previous models. I won’t comment on the font style as I never found this to be a big deal on the earlier reps as some did.

 

The double AR on this model is as good as I've seen on an un-modded rep and the Lume is excellent too in my opinion



I immediately set about resizing the bracelet and was surprised to find that, unlike on previous reps, the bracelet was very supple, without any of the stiffness on previous examples, even with the screws tightly cinched down. Still, just for safety I removed and used Loctite on the screws before re-installing them.


 
I was pleasantly surprised with the fit between the SELs and the lugs, which was much better than on previous models. Also the shape of the lugs, especially the width and beveled outer edges, seemed very close to the gen. This is one of the more noticeable flaws in the earlier models in my opinion.


 
I also re-arched the clasp slightly, as I do on most, so that it fit the curvature of my wrist better and more comfortably.  The marks on the clasp in this picture are lint, not scratches as they appear.


 
I’ve heard others comment about knurled edges of the bezel being wrong on earlier models too, but I never agreed with this as I have compared them with gen and found them to be very accurate. On this newer rep they appear very close to gen pictures although I don’t have a gen to compare directly with.


 
Unlike on the earlier watches the slide rule ring scale matches pretty well with those on the dial.


 
The back cover, to me, is one of the bigger improvements as it appears very close to the shape of the gen, at least in pictures.


 
Additionally, although the watch is stated on the official Breitling site as being 43mm in diameter and 14.25mm thick, the rep measures 42.5mm diameter and 15.5mm thick. I understand the additional thickness because of the date wheel problem, but although this affects the appearance very little I wonder with the amount of effort that must have been put into the design of the watch why the diameter could not have been copied more closely, especially when compared with my Datora, which is spot on.
 
Finally, although there may be very small flaws in the execution, this is a very nice rep with a high quality appearance. When I judge a rep I use this analogy. If this watch were placed in front of an average consumer (not nitpickers like us), on a table side by side with the gen, I doubt that person would be able to tell which was gen and which was rep. It may not be a super rep, but it’s darn nice just the same and I for one am quite pleased with it.
.

[Mike on a bike]

Thanks Mike great review,   as I know you have had a few of these in the past worth getting rid of those to get this one or do feel improvements marginal as you said being the avg. consumer looking at on the table?

[Guest bigdav13]

always liked the nav not a watch i think i could pull off tho maybe when im older 

[pcardoza]

Gorgeous!!!

[rek001]

Very, very nice, congrats.

So this is the low beat movement, I take it? If so, is the seconds hand stutter noticeable?

 

I understand an updated version may be coming out with high beat movement, but I'm not sure I have the patience to wait.

I really want this watch but with dark blue face.

[rionrlty]

MOAB, I have had a lot of Navitimers over the years including the original 38mm version, a gen 70s vintage cosmonaut hand wind and several more recent versions.

 

I don’t currently have a gen, but at one time was able to compare my gen 6,9,12 to the first low beat version of the A7750 fighters from around 10-12 years ago. It looked the part, but performed horribly. I’ve since frankened it with gen parts and a gen Breitling B13 movement.
I also have a franken TT 6,9,12, with a gen 7750 and beautiful gen blue dial. I don’t think I could part with either of these and will probably wear them, one on each wrist to the promised land, ha ha.

 

This new version is quite good and I like it a lot. Only time will tell if I establish a long term connection to it, but for now things look very favorable for it.

[rionrlty]

Bigdav13, I’m older already, but Navitimer has been a favorite of mine for decades. My favorite Uncle was a Military jet pilot for 25 years starting in the Korean Conflict. He wore a Navitimer later in life and still had on when he was laid to rest. I believe my admiration for him cause me to like them. I’ve had many Breitlings of all models over the years, but the Navitimer has always drawn the most attention and comments.

[Mike on a bike]

BIg Dave, Mike and I are more than seasoned enough to wear this! LOL  

[rionrlty]

Rek001, Breitling apparently does not make the gen watch with the dark blue face although it is available as a rep. This watch does have the so called “low beat” movement (21,600bph) and yes the large chronograph hand does stutter slightly, but not the small seconds. The term “high beat” however has always been a relative term IMHO.

 

I’m no expert but I believe that there were many (high end) watches prior to the 1960’s, with accurate chronometer grade movements, which only ran in the 10-11,000 bph range.

 

I still have a Bulova automatic that I purchased new in 1965, which I believe runs in this range. Curiously the large second hand sweeps smoothly and the watch has always been quite accurate, even though it was only serviced once about 30 years ago, plus it has not had an easy life.

 

I believe that one of the first “high beat” movements was produced in the 1960s by Seiko. It ran at 18,800bph. A few years later they produce one that ran at 36,000bph. So, it would seem that while the newer 7750 runs at 28,800, the older version at 21,600bph (while it is slower) in the long term scheme of things should not be referred to as a “low beat” movement.

 

The mystery to me is that when a true “low beat” (11,000bph) movement can reach chronometer grade accuracy why is the high beat version so important?  Wouldn't it just wear out the balance and escapement parts faster?

 

The second hand on this new Navitimer is clearly not as smooth as the one on my fighters, which has an ETA7750 28,800 bph movement. What I can’t seem to figure out is why the second hand on my old Bulova, which runs at less than half that speed, appears just as smooth at the 28,800bph version. Could there be something else at play here besides beat?  

 

I would love to hear others opinions on this.

[coffindodger]

Stunning pics m8 and watch. I have a gen nav and a rep that i got last month but never knew to locktite the screws in now i,m 2 short doh! igot this whitish face 1 cos I wantedA all white face. Waiting for an all white 01 Still 1 of the best watches in the world imo.

[Nightwatch]

Congrats on this beauty. This is the best otb Navitimer I´ve seen including datewheel recessment and font. As the lume is good as well have to rethink if I shouldn´t get one of these sooner or later, it´s the one Navitimer design I like best. Wear it well

[rionrlty]

Guys, thanks for the response.  Here are my 4 current Navitimers. 

 

The Fighters rep on the left is a franken with gen croc strap, gen B13 movement, gen crown, gen stem and gen 18mm deployant.  The case, crown and pushers have been brushed to look like the gen.  All the reps came polished, which is incorrect.
 
TT second from left is a franken w/ gen ETA 7750, gen crown and stem and gen blue TT dial.
 
Third from left is my standard rep Datora.
 
Last, on the right is my new rep Navitimer 01.

[coffindodger]

Yep! could go for all of them. would like a blue one but you need a gen blue dial as the reps are wrong shade.

Edited March 22, 2014 by coffindodger

[rionrlty]

Thing with the new Navitimer 01.  I can't find any evidence that Breitling even make a blue dial on the new Navitimer.

[coffindodger]

They did a ltd ed Blue sky 500 only look at my avatar thats it

[rionrlty]

That looks great.  When did they make it?  Do you have a larger picture of it.  I just checked the Breitling web site and they only list the Black/White version and the all white one, in either stainless or all gold.  I guess they dumped the two tone also, which was a favorite of mine.

[coffindodger]

[rionrlty]

That's beautiful.  I think they list a blue dial one on Puretime and Trusty time, but it has white subdials, which is not listed on the Breitling site.  In fact all Breitling lists are the black dial with white subdials and slide rule bezel.  They do list an all white version as a limited edition.  I'm especially fond of the the blue dial two tone and wish they would bring that back. 

[importr]

The Blue Sky has such a stunning deep metallic blue sheen that the rep makers would never bother to make accurately. Which is such a shame because I would buy one in a heartbeat, even with a sunken dw.

[Vegasvic]

Guys, thanks for the response.  Here are my 4 current Navitimers. 

 

The Fighters rep on the left is a franken with gen croc strap, gen B13 movement, gen crown, gen stem and gen 18mm deployant.  The case, crown and pushers have been brushed to look like the gen.  All the reps came polished, which is incorrect.

 

TT second from left is a franken w/ gen ETA 7750, gen crown and stem and gen blue TT dial.

 

Third from left is my standard rep Datora.

 

Last, on the right is my new rep Navitimer 01.

P3180007.JPG

 

That is a stunning collection sir! I'm seeing more and more guys opting for Breitlings over Rolex in my neck of the woods.  They have tremendous wrist presence no doubt!

[Akilles]

I'm waiting for my Nav 01 to arrive from Josh. When comparing pics/vids on Gen vs Rep I cant help noticing that the lume-material looks different in daylight. The gen is offwhite and this new rep SEEMS to be green-white. First I thought it could be the reflections but even then, the gen should also had appeared green-white in DAYLIGHT pics (not in the dark of course when it glows)!? Can anyone confirm the lume-material/color?