Currents in the Air: Reviewing the Breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph Mosquito


In the continuing retro wave, the Aviator 8 collection reinterprets Breitling’s early pilot watches without simply duplicating them. In this in-depth review, we observe how one of the most recent Aviator 8 models, the B01 Chronograph Mosquito, keeps up in modern everyday life. (Original photos by Olaf Köster.)

Just as a gusty wind can sometimes transition into a storm, the timepieces in Breitling’s Aviator 8 family have experienced a lot of change. Launched in early 2018 as the Navitimer 8, the collection has since transitioned to become the Aviator 8, albeit without making much of a stir. The move now appears to be complete — and the new line reflects the long history that links Breitling with aviation.

A Smooth Transition to the Aviator 8
The phrase “back to the cockpit” heralded the beginning of Georges Kern’s tenure as Breitling CEO in 2017. His aim was to revisit and reinvent Breitling’s first steps in the world of aviation. As early as the 1930s, Breitling produced cockpit instruments for airplanes, long before the first Navitimer with its famous slide rule came on the market in 1952, so it was surprising that the new line was called Navitimer (now “8”) and omitted the model’s characteristic slide rule. And the Navitimer 8 was supposed to be telling the part of Breitling’s pilots’ watch history that existed before the Navitimer.

That’s why the Navitimer 8 features a number of elements from Breitling watches produced in the 1930s and ‘40s, like a rotating bezel. The limited edition issued in the summer of 2018, since renamed the Navitimer Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph, was equipped with markers and even-numbered numerals in addition to the existing orientation triangle.

Deep black and contrasting colors on the dial and rotating bezel identify the B01 as a serious pilots’ watch.

Then came the Curtiss Warhawk, another special edition issued about a year after the introduction of the Navitimer 8, and finally the Aviator 8 that now stands for Breitling’s early connection to aviation. The change was carried out gradually without causing a big stir. Although it’s still possible to find Navitimer 8 models on the Breitling website (and maybe these models will become collectible because of their brief lifespan), the unique models with the slide rule are found under “Navitimer” and the new watches are listed under “Aviator 8.” The Navitimer name on the dial has disappeared.
Our test watch, the Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph Mosquito, came onto the market in late 2019 and reaches “back to the cockpit,” as Georges Kern defined it, and back to the style of cockpit clocks that were designed by the Huit Aviation Department in the 1930s and ‘40s. This department was founded at Breitling in 1938 (huit is French for “eight”) and handled airplane cockpit clocks with an 8-day power reserve.

A Movement with Steady Rates
While the B01 in-house movement doesn’t offer an 8-day power reserve, it does extend over almost three days (70 hours), the current state-of-the-art. The chronograph movement with column-wheel control and vertical clutch was introduced in 2009 to commemorate the 125-year anniversary of the company. Its basic version powers the Chronograph Mosquito, but upon closer inspection there are some slight differences. For example, the eccentric screw for fine regulation is in a different place, and there were a few finishing flaws on the levers for the stopwatch function, which unfortunately were noticeable through the sapphire caseback.
But none of this appears to affect the excellent chronometry of Breitling. The B01 movement runs with very balanced rate results in various situations: on the timing machine, on the wrist or when the chronograph is engaged. The B01 is very reliable in this regard.

Bright yellow on the underside of the leather strap underscores the vintage look. The B01 caliber is visible beneath the sapphire caseback.

It is housed in a 43-mm stainless-steel case like that of the Navitimer, with lugs that are now shorter and more curved and polished edges that give the watch a strong and sporty look, especially when viewed from the side. Breitling often finished its watches with these same facets from the 1930s to the 1960s.

Also historically inspired are the “mushroom” chronograph pushers, which are, like the fluted crown, another Navitimer feature. The column-wheel control gives the chronograph pushers pressure points that are solid but very smooth. The screw-down crown is rather hard to release and secure in place but is easy to pull out to its different operating positions.

A Dashing Pilot Watch in Diamondblack
The grooved bidirectional rotating bezel turns smoothly and is radically different from the Navitimer with a smooth, downward sloping top, white hour markers and numerals, and a red reference point. The grooved section continues a sharp conical downward slope, and in contrast to the Navitimer, the raised portions are not exactly parallel to the grooves. The Mosquito bezel ring is also coated with ADLC, which turns it a deep, dark black unlike the more anthracite color of a DLC coating that Breitling has used for many years.

The “Diamondblack” ADLC coating was developed especially for luxury objects. Its hardness and resistance to impacts and scratches and its elegant black metallic color make this carbon-based coating ideal for watches. The gas-based process and low coating temperatures of less than 200 degrees Celsius are ideal for coating complex shapes and sensitive materials. The 2-to-3-micrometer coating retains the structure of polished or matte surfaces. Diamondblack is hypoallergenic and resistant to acidic and alkaline chemicals and solvents. Thanks to its good friction properties, Diamondblack can also be used as a coating for mechanical watch components. It reduces the need for lubrication and extends maintenance periods. Here, however, it is not used in the watch movement.

The dial glows brightly at night thanks to the generous application of Super-LumiNova.

Colorful Accents Recall the de Havilland Mosquito
The black dial is reminiscent of vintage cockpit instruments and clocks. Bold red-orange accents are designed to recall the insignias and markings on the fuselage of the de Havilland Mosquito, a British multi-use airplane from the 1940s that was one of the fastest planes in the sky during World War II and was built almost entirely of wood — this was the inspiration for the name “Mosquito” used for this Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph.

The eye-catching hands that show the main time with their orange framing dominate above the dial. The same color is repeated on the small hand for the stopwatch function and on the tip of the central stopwatch seconds hand. While these elements are not luminescent, the primary hands, together with the hour numerals and markers and the 12 small triangles on the minutes/seconds track around the edge of the dial, glow bright green in the dark. In daylight, the white Super-LumiNova provides a stark contrast to the black dial, enhancing legibility.

The minute track around the edge of the dial is based on the original reference 634, with triangle markers pointing inward every 5 minutes, extended lines for the minutes, and thinner line markings for the fractions of a second. The large Arabic numerals come from the Ref. 765 AVI, which made a name for itself among aviators and was known as the “co-pilot.” The three silver subdials and the numbering on the bezel can be also found on these earlier models.

Opposite page:
The classic pin buckle fits the watch’s styling and matches the bevels of the lugs.

A Flight Instrument With its Own Identity
The sturdy dark-brown leather strap with a bright yellow underside has a vintage style that matches the character of this watch. Our test watch was equipped with a robust pin buckle whose polished edges match the polished bevels of the case. It’s a well-rounded package — the former Navitimer 8 has found its own identity as the Aviator 8.

SPECS:
Manufacturer: Breitling Chronometrie, Allée du Laser 10, CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland
Reference number: AB01194A1B1X1
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, chronograph (central stopwatch seconds, 30-minute and 12-hour counters), date, bidirectional rotating bezel
Movement: Breitling 01, automatic, COSC certified, 28,800 vph, 47 jewels, Nivarox hairspring, Kif shock absorber, Eccentric screw fine adjustment, 70-hour power reserve, diameter = 30.0 mm, height = 7.20 mm
Case: Stainless steel with ADLC bezel, curved sapphire crystal above the dial with anti-glare coating on both sides, sapphire caseback, water resistant to 100 meters
Strap and cla­­sp: Brown vintage-look leather strap, pin buckle clasp
Rate results (Deviation in seconds per 24 hours, fully wound/after 24 hours):
On the wrist +2.9
Dial up +0.6 / +1.9
Dial down +4.8 / +4.9
Crown up +2.1 / -0.5
Crown down +2.1 / +3.9
Crown left +3.3 / +4.3
Greatest deviation 4.2 / 5.4
Average deviation +2.6 / +2.9
Average amplitude:
Flat positions 290° / 270°
Hanging positions 257° / 242°
Dimensions: Diameter = 42.92 mm, height = 14.17 mm, weight = 114.5 g
Variations: With leather strap with folding clasp (Ref. AB01194A1B1X2; $7,960)
Price: $7,710

No Responses to “Currents in the Air: Reviewing the Breitling Aviator 8 B01 Chronograph Mosquito”

Show all responses
  1. Leonard Martinez

    Sweet! 46 mm would be a perfect size for an aviator’s watch. Better looking than anything Rolex has to offer IMO.

    Reply
  2. tirod3

    IIRC the first aviation watch Rolex issued was the GMT for Pan Am. Not really the same thing. As for their continued use in the military, they fell out of fashion in the ’90s when their step child Quartz became the standard for issue dive watches, as MoD was about the only one still using them. CWC and then Citizen Eco Drive replace the Submariner.

    The size of a watch is mostly the high end watch industry selling a bill of goods about how it should appear in the best situation, under a dress shirt cuff, where civilized people work quietly amassing paper fortunes. Otherwise, you tell time with a watch which has to fit into environments up to and including lethal ones, That may mean large, illuminated and garish displays to communicate the data while negotiating hazardous conditions – which flight, Dive, and military watches perform. Because of that, a lot of trades use them, too, around machinery, on board ship, construction sites, etc. A days pay is the standard there, which means these days about $300 or less – because it will get damaged, stolen, or destroyed eventually. Those watches are rarely heirlooms, no more than a Rolex is. They don’t make the parts or movements to service a 1960’s Rolex – it would be ridiculous to expect Rolex to become simply a refurbishing service for their old watches still in production. The Filipino’s do enough of that, and fakes abound, too.

    A man who chooses a Breitling does more often because it’s a timepiece respected in his profession. Rolexes have become an expression of extravagance now, a statement that money is no object while begging the question if the owner has taste at all or simply follows the masses who believe the marketing.

    Reply
  3. Walter Smith

    Fine, a nine. Very clean. Breitling did it right. Now if they could just get rid of the date window. Then a ten.

    Reply
  4. christopher laverick

    All ways wanted one, got a Bentley, but could not get it working, got my £ back, second hand, will

    Reply
    • Steve Greene

      Many of us who wear Breitlings don’t want a Rolex. No knock on Rolex other than the fact I don’t want to wear what everyone else is wearing. I also consider my Breitlings to be much more uniquely styled which better fit my personality.

      Reply
Leave a Reply to navitimer

Click here to cancel reply.