In the continuing retro wave, the Aviator 8 collection reinterprets Breitling?s early pilot watches without simply duplicating them. In this in-depth review from our October 2020 issue, we observe how the newest Aviator 8 model, 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,...