News · Breitling

Breitling makes two hand-wound Navitimers permanent

The B09 Chronograph 41 and 24-hour B02 Cosmonaute return the Twin Jet to Breitling's standing collection, with Australian prices for both.

Hen & Mills Editorial · 4 min read · 23 October 2026

• Breitling has added the hand-wound B09 Chronograph 41 and 24-hour B02 Cosmonaute to its permanent Navitimer collection, beyond commemorative editions.
• Both use 41 mm cases, Twin Jet logos and circular slide rules, but the Cosmonaute reads time on a 24-hour dial.
• Australian list prices start at A$10,890 for the B09 on leather and A$16,090 for the Cosmonaute on leather.

A hand-wound Navitimer used to require a certain amount of occasion. Breitling kept its B09 executions for limited editions and commemorations, while the Cosmonaute's 24-hour dial tended to arrive with a historical anniversary attached. That made these watches interesting to admire and harder to regard as ordinary choices in the range. Breitling's 22 October announcement changes that with two permanent models: the Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 and Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute.

A B09 that no longer needs an anniversary

The B09 is the cleaner of the two propositions. Its black dial has three white chronograph registers, a circular slide rule and the gold Twin Jet emblem above the Breitling name. There is no date aperture. Breitling says the emblem made its Navitimer dial debut in 1965 as a civilian counterpart to the AOPA mark; on this watch, it gives the densely printed instrument face a small point of warmth. The blue dial option keeps the same white counters, although the black version makes the reverse-panda argument more direct.

The 41 mm case is 13 mm thick, a useful figure when a Navitimer's dial already contains so much information. Removing the date and using the hand-wound B09 are part of Breitling's explanation for the slimmer profile. A bidirectional slide-rule bezel still surrounds the dial, with a cambered sapphire crystal over it and a 30 metre water-resistance rating. The watch is made for reading and operating its scales, rather than for pretending that an aviation chronograph is a swimming watch.

The B09 is a manufacture calibre with manual winding, 34 jewels and a stated reserve of about 70 hours. Its chronograph measures fifths of a second and records 30 minutes and 12 hours. Those details make the absence of a rotor more than a nostalgic pose: the owner has to wind the watch, then gets a long interval before doing it again. Whether that is a pleasure or an extra chore is a genuine matter of taste. I find the daily contact appealing in this particular instrument, where turning a bezel and pressing a pusher are already part of the invitation.

Breitling pairs the black dial with a brown gradient calf-leather strap or a seven-row steel bracelet; the blue dial has a matching blue gradient leather option. On the black reference, leather takes some visual weight away from the crowded bezel, while the steel bracelet makes the whole watch feel more like a continuous piece of equipment in the official images. That is a reading of the published pictures, not a claim about wrist comfort. The 22 mm lug width gives buyers a practical measurement, but the shape and weight still need trying on.

The Cosmonaute changes the clock itself

The B02 Cosmonaute asks for a more deliberate glance. Where the B09 has a familiar twelve-hour dial, its companion numbers the day from 1 to 24, recalling the display Breitling developed for astronaut Scott Carpenter. The brand says Carpenter wore a Cosmonaute into orbit on 24 May 1962, making it the first Swiss wristwatch in space. Here the white chronograph counters remain, but the large 24-hour numerals and red scale accents tell you immediately that the two watches do different jobs.

Breitling places a date in the lower subdial of the black Cosmonaute, matched to the counter rather than cutting a separate window in the main dial. That is a good decision on a face already balancing a slide rule, three registers and the unusual hour scale. The 41 mm steel case is also 13 mm thick and rated to 30 metres, with sapphire over the dial and a sapphire window in the screwed back. The B02 manufacture calibre is hand-wound, runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and carries an approximately 70-hour reserve.

A 24-hour dial is useful when ordinary day and night cues disappear, which is why the original story is more than marketing garnish. On an Australian desk it demands a different habit of reading the time, and I suspect that will split buyers more decisively than a strap choice. Both watches keep the Twin Jet logo, both keep the slide rule and both dispense with automatic winding, yet one is a familiar Navitimer design joining the permanent range while the other asks you to recalibrate how you read an hour hand. That is an unusually meaningful choice within one launch.

Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 pricing and availability

Breitling lists the black-dial B09 in Australia at A$10,890 on brown leather (AB0950211B1X1) and A$11,490 on the seven-row steel bracelet (AB0950211B1A1), including GST. Both Australian product pages show an add-to-bag option. Breitling also offers blue-dial versions; their prices depend on the selected reference.

Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute pricing and availability

The black Cosmonaute is listed at A$16,090 on brown leather (AB0230211B1X1) and A$16,590 on steel (AB0230211B1A1), including GST. The Australian leather page directs buyers to contact Breitling, while the bracelet page offers pre-order and says receipt can take about two months. Breitling describes both new families as permanent core-collection models, without a numbered edition limit.

The larger decision is not which tribute to buy before it disappears. It is whether the act of winding a Navitimer belongs to the pleasure of owning one, and whether a twelve-hour or a 24-hour dial makes that pleasure easier to live with. Breitling has finally made that a standing question in its catalogue.