Breitling Honors Miles Davis With a Manual-Wind Navitimer B09 Chronograph

Breitling has given the Navitimer one of its most culturally resonant tributes yet, linking the pilot’s chronograph to the enduring legacy of Miles Davis.

Launched at Geneva Watch Days, the Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Miles Davis marks the centennial of the musician’s birth with a 500-piece limited edition inspired by the Navitimer ref. 806 Mk5 he wore.

It’s a watch with a clear brief: keep the period character intact, but build it with Breitling’s contemporary watchmaking standards.

At a glance

A Navitimer shaped by Miles Davis’s own ref. 806

The connection here is more specific than a name on a dial.

Davis wore a Navitimer ref. 806 Mk5, and Breitling has leaned into that watch’s visual language rather than creating a loose commemorative edition.

The 41mm case size keeps the proportions close to the era, while the black and white reverse panda layout gives the dial the dense, technical look collectors associate with mid-century Navitimers.

The old twin jet Breitling logo is a telling detail.

Early Navitimers used that emblem on civilian models, separating them from the AOPA-signed pilot’s association editions, which makes it especially appropriate for Davis’s personal watch story.

The dial retains the Navitimer’s defining slide-rule scales and rotating bezel, a layout created for quick flight calculations and still one of the most distinctive displays in chronograph design.

It’s arranged as a tricompax chronograph with running seconds, a 12-hour counter, a 30-minute counter and central chronograph seconds, alongside conventional hours and minutes.

The Air Racer bracelet brings back a 1960s Breitling silhouette

One of the more distinctive moves is the return of the Air Racer bracelet, a 1960s Breitling design rarely seen in the modern catalogue.

Its perforated structure recalls the ventilation holes of a leather racing strap, translated into steel for a more architectural wrist presence.

Breitling has modernised the bracelet with improved flexibility and a revised clasp, which matters on a watch with this much visual density.

For buyers who prefer a softer vintage feel, the stainless steel edition is also offered on a brown calf-leather strap with a folding clasp.

A manual chronograph with a deliberate historical link

Inside is the Breitling calibre B09, a hand-wound chronograph movement introduced in 2021 and certified as a COSC chronometer.

The choice of a manual movement is central to the tribute, since Davis’s original Navitimer was also manually wound.

The movement runs at 28,800 vibrations per hour and offers a 70-hour power reserve, giving the watch modern usability without losing the tactile ritual of winding it.

Through the exhibition caseback, the movement is finished with Côtes de Genève and framed by inscriptions including “One of 500”, “Tribute to Miles Davis” and “Centennial”.

Each of the 500 standard limited-edition watches also includes a two-year membership to the Breitling Social Club, a new private members’ club in Williamsburg, New York, scheduled to open in late 2027.

Breitling is also creating 50 Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Miles Davis Lifetime Club Member Sets.

Those sets include three versions of the tribute watch in stainless steel, 18k yellow gold and platinum, with lifetime membership and a bespoke presentation case featuring record and trumpet-themed decoration.

Details & Specifications

The Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Miles Davis works because it doesn’t try to turn a jazz legend into a decorative theme.

Instead, it follows the watch he actually wore, keeps the details that matter and uses the manual-wind B09 to make the connection feel mechanical as much as visual.