1966 Breitling Cosmonaute Navitimer (Ref. 809) "Twin Jets"

The Breitling Navitimer is truly something special when it comes to high-powered functionality in aviation watches. Operating much more similar to a navigational computer than just the everyday tool watch. The Navitimer hosts an extremely unique feature that we know as the slide rule bezel. This groundbreaking bezel can be used to calculate flight times, distance traveled, airspeed, ascent and descent rates, fuel-burning rates, and even has a metric conversion tool. The Breitling Navitimer was a lifesaver when pilots needed to make crucial calculations on the fly...pun very much intended.

Scott Carpenter (right) wearing a Breitling Cosmonaut Ref 809 with Mercury 7 astronauts Walter “Wally” Schirra, Virgil “Gus” Grissom. Carpenter flew the Mercury-Atlas 7 flight, on May 24, 1962, becoming the second American to orbit the earth. The Breitling Cosmonaute as worn by Carpenter was the first Swiss wristwatch and or chronograph worn in space. John Glenn had worn a Heuer stopwatch during the Mercury Six flight on February 20, 1962. but it wasn't really a wristwatch as it only recorded the elapsed time and didn't actually tell the time.

Photo: NASA

Not only is the 24-hour Cosmonaute functionally a champion of watches, but it also boasts historical significance as well. Nicknamed the "Scott Carpenter" after the astronaut that took this beauty as his sidekick when he orbited the earth three times in May of 1962, inside the Aurora 7 space capsule. Scott needed a way to distinguish day from the night while in space, thus the Breitling Cosmonaute earned its nickname from its astronaut companion, who had fine taste indeed when it comes to timepieces.