Breitling celebrates 140th anniversary with its first perpetual calendar movement

As part of its ‘140 Years of Firsts’ celebration, Breitling has just launched three new limited edition watches, equipped with the new Caliber B19 movement. As the most impactful collection in Breitling’s history, the Premier, Navitimer and Chronomat watches have been given a new red gold colouring on the dial, bezel and crown.

Founded in 1884, Breitling has been marking its 140th anniversary by dropping new exciting watches and movements throughout the year. But this newest drop features not one, not two, but three new limited editions of Breitling’s three flagship watches.

The main new addition to Breitling’s collections is its latest Caliber B19 movement. The new manufacture is the brand’s first perpetual calendar chronograph movement, and features a full calendar and moonphase. The new Breitling Caliber B19 movement is made from solid gold and is engraved with the Montbrillant Manufactory to give a nod to the Chaux-de-Fonds watchmaking region.

The dial of each watch features three chronograph counters and a moonphase counter located at the 12 o’clock position. The new movement – which has an impressive 96-hour power reserve – automatically corrects the watches for leap years and different month lengths, including 28, 30 and 31 days.

The new anniversary edition Premier, Navitimer and Chronomat watches have many similar features that are most recognisable from their own collections. Aside from the new movement, the watches also feature 18kt red gold on the dials, bezel and crowns.

The Premier B19 Datora 42 140th Anniversary watch features 18kt red gold on the case, bezel, chronograph pushers and crown. The dial is mostly black and shows off Arabic numerals and the hour numbers are overlapped by the chronographs and moonphase. It’s finished with a black alligator leather strap and an 18kt gold folding buckle.

The most prominent use of the new red gold material is on the Navitimer B19 Chronograph 43 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary. The dial is entirely red gold and is surrounded by a black bezel with the same strap and buckle as the Premier. It’s my personal favourite of the new limited editions as it has that fun scalloped bezel edge around the dial for more shape and texture.

Finally, the Super Chronomat B19 44 Perpetual Calendar 140th Anniversary has accents of red gold around the chronographs and on the watch case, and is the first skeletonised dial from Breitling. It features an ‘onion’ crown, four raised rider tabs at each 15-minute mark and a rubber Rouleaux bracelet.

As of writing, we don’t know the pricing or availability of the new Breitling anniversary edition watches but you’ll likely need to be quick if you want to get your hands on them.