When it comes to mechanical watches, the rattrapante is one of the most complicated of all complications. The watchmaker is tasked with engineering a pair of small subdials that can independently measure separate elapsed times—it’s essentially asking an entirely analog device to perform a function now almost entirely left to digital devices.
Luxury watchmaker Breitling doesn’t blink at that kind of watchmaking challenge, and they’ve created the new rose-gold Navitimer B03 Chronograph Rattrapante 45 to prove it.
This technically advanced watch comes in a generously-sized 45mm case and has an elegant Stratos Gray dial. The hour and minute hands, as well as the markers, are coated with Super-LumiNova to provide maximum readability no matter how dark and the rotating bezel bears the Navitimer’s trademark slide rule markings.
Breitling made some subtle and typically sophisticated changes with this Navitimer that even a collector might not immediately notice, including a slight re-positioning of the watchmaker’s usual B and anchor pieces located at the center of the face being split, lining up only when the split-second hands return to their home positions.
Here are some more key features and details:
- Self-winding mechanical, bidirectional winder
- About 70 hours of power reserve
- 1/4th second, 30-minute and 12-hour counters
- Hour, minute, second, window date displays
- Water-resistant to 30 meters
- Sapphire, double anti-reflective glass
- A screwed gold and sapphire glass caseback
- An elegant black alligator leather strap
The Breitling Navitimer B03 Chronograph Rattrapante 45 can be purchased at select retailers and online for $27,480.