Breitling

Navitimer Cosmonaute

At the launch of the new Navitimer Cosmonaute, Breitling presented the original “first Swiss space watch” for the first time since its mission in 1962

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the voyage aboard the Aurora 7 spacecraft, this mythical watch with a 24-hour dial will once again take to the skies in a new version, paying homage to its historic mission. To commemorate the occasion, Breitling unveiled the original Cosmonaute to the public for the first time since 1962 and uncovered the watch’s incredible story.

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In the 1960s, Breitling’s aviation chronograph was the undisputed pilot’s watch. But the world’s attention is rapidly shifting from air travel to space exploration, which means another space race is quietly underway. This time, watchmakers are vying to be the first on the wrist of astronauts.

Breitling’s expertise in aviation watches puts the brand at the top of the list. On May 24, 1962, after astronaut Scott Carpenter wore the Navitimer Cosmonaute three times around the Earth during the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission, Breitling was officially awarded the “first Swiss space watch”. title. The watch was a personal request from Carpenter, a variation on the iconic pilot’s watch he encountered during his flight, but with a 24-hour dial that could distinguish day and night in space.

Today, on the 60th anniversary of that mission, Breitling not only unveils Carpenter’s original Navitimer Cosmonaute, but also pays homage to it. This special edition is limited to 362 pieces and is numbered 362 in recognition of the spacecraft’s voyage around Earth and the year the mission made history, marking a key step in human spaceflight. Breitling CEO Georges Kern said: “When we launched our redesigned aviation chronograph earlier this year, everyone was asking the question, ‘What about the Cosmonaute?’ Delighted to finally announce two Cosmonaute revelations: the first public debut of a watch worn by Scott Carpenter in space, and a limited-edition 60th anniversary watch that pays tribute to its history-making pioneer.”

First public viewing of a piece of space history
On May 24, 1962, five hours after launch, the Aurora 7 capsule carrying Carpenter landed safely in the Atlantic Ocean. Recovery operations lasted three hours, with prolonged exposure to seawater causing irreparable damage to Carpenter’s Cosmonaute. Breitling replaced Carpenter’s watch immediately, but that battered and corroded space history remains in the Breitling family archives – unrestored and well known. That is, until today. Now, exactly 60 years after its historic flight, this great space watch is on display for the first time at a space-themed event in Zurich for select collectors, journalists and watch enthusiasts.

It was a dynamic and interactive afternoon co-hosted by Georges Kern and former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly with an impressive lineup of speakers including Carpenter family member Gregory Breitling and historian and collector Fred Mandelbaum. Panelists reflected on the creation of Cosmonaute, the importance of the Carpenter mission, and how both fit into the wider space program context of the time. Also on display is the Cosmonaute, once owned by astronaut John Glenn and acquired at auction in 2019 by Gregory Breitling. high quality fake watches

24-hour watch, monumental, refreshed
The Cosmonaute is a true Navitimer, which means it has all the hallmarks of the Breitling Aviation logo: a circular slide rule for mathematical calculations, the “wing” logo of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and three chronograph subdials . What sets the Cosmonaute apart from the rest of its family is its ability to distinguish 24 hours. The Breitling in-house calibre B02 is designed for this task.

At first glance, the new Cosmonaute is a faithful replica of the original, with an all-black dial and black alligator leather strap or seven-row stainless steel bracelet for a timeless classic. On closer inspection, however, this elegantly proportioned 41mm watch is full of new features. One is its platinum bezel, a premium touch that makes this numbered edition even more of a collector’s piece. The other is its open sapphire crystal caseback, which provides a window for the B02 movement, and its special bridges engraved to commemorate the occasion: “Carpenter”, “Aurora 7” and “3 orbits around the Earth”, among others The words, as well as the brand name, were originally selected by a team of seven astronauts for NASA’s first manned spaceflight, Mercury 7.

While other watch brands claim space firsts, only Breitling can call itself “the first Swiss watch to go into space.” The only other Swiss timepiece to have made it to orbit before was a pocket watch stopwatch with a strap. Meanwhile, the Cosmonaute—a watch to be worn in space and designed to astronaut specifications—maintained those specifications when it went on sale in 1962. Not only did this 24-hour timepiece continue to be popular with collectors, it was regularly featured on the wrists of other astronauts. fake swiss watches

Today’s Cosmonaute takes us back to the origins of space travel, when the stakes are high and each mission is a triumph of human ingenuity. This new watch pays homage to the aesthetics of the original Cosmonaute, with subtle updates that are almost imperceptible, giving it a modern-vintage appeal. As a final tribute, the caseback is engraved with Carpenter’s mission date, the watch number (362 in total) and the words “first Swiss watch in space”.

Corum golden bridge round watch

Like many modern watchmakers, Corum fake has had an interesting time over the past few years. Through ups and downs, brands around 2016 are rediscovering themselves and recalling some of the personalities that make modern brands interesting. When it comes to how people wear modern timepieces, the old Corum (as it was 10 to 15 years ago) is a true innovator in style and fashion. For example, the Bubble (which also returns this year) is a real testament to how high-end watches can be really fun. The Golden Bridge is easily one of Corum’s most unique movement and timepiece concepts, but while the visual presentation is very interesting, it struggles to appeal to Western men.

For 2016, Corum may have found a new sweet spot in the Golden Bridge collection with the new Corum Golden Bridge Round watch. This is the first time Corum has designed a circular case for its linear movement, and the results are quite interesting. The Golden Bridge movement (in this case, the CO 113 movement) is an interesting mechanism designed to have all its components stacked in a cylindrical shape (Corum calls it an “in-line oblong” movement). The bridges that hold all the movement components together are made of 18k rose gold, in this case, with some very attractive traditional hand-engraving. Despite the compact size of the movement, it still runs at 4Hz and has a power reserve of 40 hours – not bad at all. The CO 113 movement displays the time only in hours and minutes.

For the Golden Bridge Round, Corum placed the movement vertically in a round case, leaving some space on the sides of the movement for decoration or other purposes. Corum wanted to get a bit of architectural flair here, so in the otherwise skeletonized case, the bridge work on either side of the movement was (literally) taken from the design of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. So yes, the Golden Bridge watch takes some inspiration from another Golden Bridge…I think it’s interesting. In fact, the Golden Gate Bridge is red, but when the light hits it in the right direction, the bridge appears to glow golden. I’ll note that living near the Golden Gate Bridge, the sun doesn’t shine on it very often (through clouds and fog).

The last time Corum ventured into making a more masculine version of the Golden Bridge was in the Ti-Bridge series (hands on here). The Corum Ti-Bridge places the movement in a horizontal position, turning the timepiece into a modern sports watch. Expensive and with no clear target demographic, I believe the Ti-Bridge will be a collector’s favorite in the future, but during its release, it’s been hard to find a taker as there tends to be a niche appreciation for the concept and competition at this price point .

For the Corum Golden Bridge Round, I think Corum kind of threw in the towel, admitting “yes, a round case might be needed” for the Golden Bridge to be used as a men’s watch. From what I understand, in some parts of the world, tonneau-shaped gold bridge watches are sold to men, but in many ways, the collection has been a more feminine design by Western standards so far. Having said that, the Corum Golden Bridge Round watch captures the essence of sophistication and delicacy that the Golden Bridge concept represents, but gives it a strong artistic feel that I think is ultimately masculine enough to have a more general appeal.

Available in 18k rose gold (and 18k white gold set with diamonds), the Corum Golden Bridge Round is 43mm wide and just 8.8mm thick, sandwiched between two AR-coated sapphire crystals. In addition, the sides of the case are set with curved sapphire crystals, allowing you to once again see the “bridge work” that adorn the inside of the case on either side of the movement. The bottom of the case is the crown of the movement, which is a nice symmetrical position to keep the crowns on either side of the Corum Golden Bridge round case. best quality replica watches

The hands and flange ring try to create a slight contrast and are made of gold-tone brass. There are full hour markers on the flange ring, but by my standards this watch is not super legible – though not too bad for a more elegant watch. Attached to the Corum Golden Bridge Round case is a glossy reddish-brown alligator leather strap that complements the two gold colors on the case and dial. This strap looks killer if you have the right shoe color.

At 43mm wide, there is no doubt that this is a bold timepiece, but with thin and refined features, the result is more dignified and artistic than arrogance. Is this the new golden age of Jinqiao? I didn’t know this, but for those who love the movement concept but haven’t had a proper Golden Bridge replica watches swiss for their wrist until now, Corum certainly makes a convincing new argument for them.

Greubel Forsey jumps out of a helicopter to launch its GMT Sport

How do you make a splash in a week full of world records and groundbreaking new timepieces? Getting your marketing and communications executives out of the helicopter should do the trick.

Greubel Forsey copy is known for its ultra-complex, impeccably finished and very expensive timepieces. While many of its watches have edgy, modern designs, they’re not exactly what you’d call sporty. But as part of a new brand strategy, Greubel Forsey jumped out of a helicopter at Watches & Wonders 2021 with a new GMT watch with a titanium bracelet.

Introducing the Greubel Forsey GMT Sport
The GMT debuted in 2011, but this year, it got a bit of a makeover. Now, Greubel Forsey is debuting a “sporty” look at the GMT Sport with a grade 5 titanium bracelet, the first metal bracelet the brand has ever produced, weighing just over 60 grams. Of course, titanium is very strong and durable, making it the perfect choice for this sporty model. To keep the watch as secure as possible on your wrist, it features a quick-adjustment system so you can adjust it by a few millimeters for the perfect fit.

It also has a new bezel with a hand-finished horizontal grain on the top and smooth polished sides. The contrast of finishes is beautiful, and the bracelet also has a mix of different finishes, including straight grain, frosted, and hand-polished bevels.

The bright blue dial contains a wealth of information and also shows part of the movement. Eyes immediately turn to the skeletonized suspended arched bridges and gear train as well as the 24-second tourbillon.

It still has a large titanium globe that rotates in real time, allowing you to see the time anywhere in the world at a glance. A 24-hour sapphire ring surrounds the miniature globe, which also acts as a day/night indicator, with a light and dark background. If you need to know the precise time somewhere, there’s a spin on the back of the watch that shows all 24 time zones, including Daylight Saving Time and Universal Coordinated (UTC) time — an impressive feat. replica Greubel Forsey

In addition, a second time zone displayed at 10 o’clock can be easily set via the GMT-engraved side button. The 72-hour power reserve indicator is located at 3 o’clock. Finally, the curved hour and minute hands hang from all these features and require a special design to fit the dome watch.

by plane
Then, to emphasize that this new watch can cope with an active lifestyle, Greubel Forsey did something completely unexpected. Greubel Forsey’s head of marketing and communications, Michel Nydegger, played the soundtrack to a much-anticipated action movie in the background, flying in a helicopter through the skies around Switzerland’s Jura Mountains. Wearing a new GMT sports watch, he proved his mettle by parachuting from an airplane and landing gracefully in front of the Greubel Forsey factory in La Chaux-de-Fonds.

A bold strategy for the future
Calce’s appointment as CEO last year marked a new chapter for Greubel Forsey. The brand is known for its haute horlogerie with rare and complex complications, including the Grande Sonnerie, QP à Équation and handcrafted timepieces. However, it reduced the number of unique pieces created each year from eight to three to keep them limited and exclusive.

It will also reinterpret some of its unique movements. luxury Greubel Forsey has launched 30 movements since its launch, many of which were and still are positively groundbreaking and incredibly advantageous. Therefore, instead of constantly innovating at the expense of the movement developed over the years, Greubel Forsey will reinterpret the timepiece with a new look and improve the existing movement as much as possible.

Whether the brand will launch these new products by jumping out of a helicopter, only time will tell, but the bar is already set pretty high.