Navitimer Cosmonaute: The First Swiss Wristwatch in Space

Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute Ref. 809

In 1962, a single phone call from NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter changed Breitling’s place in history. Carpenter, one of the original Mercury Seven, had seen the Navitimer on the wrists of military pilots and wanted to take it further. He asked Willy Breitling to create a version suitable for space flight.

Engineering a Watch For Orbit

Carpenter needed a chronograph that could function as a manual tool in orbit if systems failed. He asked Breitling to modify the Navitimer in three ways. The first was a 24-hour dial instead of a 12-hour one, as day and night are meaningless when the sun rises every ninety minutes. The second was a simplified slide rule for faster calculations. The third was a wider bezel that could be turned while wearing thick gloves. He also wanted a stretch metal bracelet that could fit over his space suit.

Willy Breitling had less than two months to make it happen. He did.

On 24 May 1962, Scott Carpenter piloted the Aurora 7 capsule into orbit wearing his custom-built Breitling Navitimer. It was later named the Navitimer Cosmonaute. During his mission, Carpenter orbited the Earth three times in just under five hours, travelling more than 76,000 miles. It became the first Swiss wristwatch in space.

Built For Space, Tested By The Sea

After splashdown in the Atlantic, Carpenter landed about 250 miles off course and spent three hours in a life raft before recovery. The watch, never designed for saltwater, was soaked and eventually stopped working just over an hour after his rescue.

Carpenter sent it back to Breitling. Willy Breitling decided not to repair or replace any part of it. Instead, he preserved the watch exactly as it was, corrosion and all. It remains in the Breitling family’s private collection to this day, a frozen moment from the dawn of human spaceflight.

The Watch That Disappeared

For sixty years, the original Cosmonaute was unseen. Collectors debated its fate. Some thought it had been lost at sea, others claimed it had been destroyed or quietly restored. The truth was simpler. It had been locked away in the Breitling family’s safe, untouched since 1962.

When Breitling revealed the watch in 2022, the condition was extraordinary. The dial had rusted into a textured bronze-brown surface, what brand historian Fred Mandelbaum called a “lava planet” effect. The hands were frozen in place, and the movement was heavily oxidised. It looked like an artefact retrieved from another world.

Breitling and the Age of Innovation

The Cosmonaute was not an isolated achievement. Breitling had built its reputation on creating true instrument watches. The Chronomat of 1942 introduced the circular slide rule to wristwatches. The Navitimer, developed in 1954 with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, became the definitive pilot’s tool, capable of calculating fuel burn, airspeed and distance.

Carpenter saw potential beyond aviation. With NASA allowing astronauts to choose their own watches, he selected Breitling for its accuracy and practicality. His daughter later said he viewed a watch as essential equipment, as useful as a compass or a knife. To him, precision timekeeping meant survival.

Distinct Among the Mercury Seven

Only Carpenter wore a chronograph during the Mercury missions. His 42.5-millimetre Cosmonaute was large, bold, and clearly visible in training and mission photographs. While John Glenn’s flight made him the first American to orbit Earth, it was Carpenter’s that carried Swiss watchmaking into space.

The Cosmonaute was not built for prestige. It was built for performance, and it delivered. Even as it succumbed to saltwater, it had already completed its task.

Preserved, Not Restored

After Willy Breitling’s death in 1979, the original Cosmonaute passed through the family. His widow kept it, and later his son Gregory Breitling took ownership. It was Gregory who agreed to reveal it to the public six decades later. The family’s choice to leave the watch untouched was deliberate. Restoration would have erased its history. Instead, it stands as a tangible record of an era when watchmaking and exploration were inseparable.

THE NAVITIMER COSMONAUTE SCOTT CARPENTER CENTENARY EDITION

In 2025, Breitling marked what would have been Scott Carpenter’s 100th birthday with a limited edition honouring the man and the mission that made history. The Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary Edition (Ref. LB0240211C1P1) captures the essence of the original while showcasing Breitling’s finest modern craftsmanship.

It features the same 24-hour dial layout Carpenter requested in 1962, powered by the hand-wound Breitling Manufacture Calibre B02. The 41-millimetre platinum case, deep blue dial, and sapphire caseback bridge past and present with subtle refinement. The caseback bears an engraving of the Aurora 7 spacecraft and mission details, connecting this modern chronograph directly to its pioneering ancestor.

It is not a 60th-anniversary reissue but a centenary tribute to Scott Carpenter himself, celebrating the life of a man who helped take both humanity and Swiss horology beyond Earth.

A Legacy of Innovation

The Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute remains one of the most significant tool watches ever made. It represents the point where mechanical engineering met human exploration, when precision timing was a matter of survival, not status.

From a cold call to Willy Breitling to the Aurora 7 mission, from corrosion to commemoration, the story of the Cosmonaute is one of ambition, resilience, and craftsmanship that endures across generations.

The latest Breitling Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Scott Carpenter Centenary Edition is now available at MVS Watches. It stands as a modern reminder that great watches are not defined by luxury alone, but by the history they carry and the boundaries they help us cross.