Breitling Navitimer B02 Cosmonaute Artemis II (Ref. AB02307A1C1P1): Meteorite Dial, 24-Hour Display, and a Watch That Actually Flew

Description

Breitling has made a watch that just came back from the Moon. The Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Artemis II (Ref. AB02307A1C1P1) is a 450-piece limited edition commissioned to commemorate the first crewed mission of NASA's return to lunar exploration — and all four Artemis II astronauts (Commander Reid Wiseman, Pilot Victor Glover, Mission Specialists Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen) wore it on their approximately 10-day lunar flyby alongside their government-issued Omega Speedmasters. The mission launched April 1, 2026 and splashed down safely in the Pacific on April 11, 2026. Galaxy-blue meteorite dial, 24-hour display, in-house hand-wound B02 column-wheel chronograph.

The Cosmonaute has always been, in Breitling's lineage, its space watch — astronaut Scott Carpenter requested a 24-hour dial on the original 1962 Navitimer variant so he could distinguish day from night during orbital flight. The Artemis II edition brings that 64-year-old specification directly into a mission that went, literally, further.

Design

41mm stainless steel case, 13mm thick (47.09mm lug-to-lug), with the Navitimer's iconic bidirectional beaded bezel and circular slide rule intact. Cambered sapphire crystal over a dial the brand describes as "galaxy blue" — cut from genuine meteorite, acid-etched to reveal its natural Widmanstätten pattern, with every example differing slightly because the source material is a one-off piece of cosmic iron. The dial layout is a 24-hour configuration (a single hand indicates the 0–24 scale) rather than the conventional 12-hour dial, preserving the original Carpenter-spec Cosmonaute philosophy. The screw-in exhibition caseback bears the engraved Artemis II mission patch alongside individual "ONE OF 450" numbering. Fitted on a blue alligator strap with a steel folding clasp.

Specifications

Reference: AB02307A1C1P1
Case: 41mm diameter × 13mm thick × 47.09mm lug-to-lug, stainless steel
Bezel: Bidirectional, beaded edge, Breitling's signature circular slide rule
Crystal: Cambered sapphire, AR-coated
Dial: Galaxy-blue meteorite, acid-etched to reveal Widmanstätten pattern (each unique)
Display: 24-hour layout (single hand on 0–24 scale) — original 1962 Cosmonaute specification
Water resistance: 30m
Caseback: Screw-in exhibition sapphire with engraved Artemis II mission patch and "ONE OF 450" numbering
Movement: Breitling Manufacture Calibre B02, in-house, manual wind with hacking seconds
Chronograph architecture: Column wheel + vertical clutch
Frequency: 28,800 vph (4 Hz), 39 jewels
Certification: COSC chronometer-certified
Power reserve: 70 hours
Strap: Blue alligator with steel folding clasp
Limited edition: 450 pieces worldwide
Price: USD 11,900 (€11,750 / £9,500)

What's Exciting

Three things. First, the watch actually flew: Breitling has photographic evidence of all four Artemis II crew members wearing the Cosmonaute alongside their NASA equipment, which is a kind of provenance no press release alone can manufacture. Second, the movement: at USD 11,900, this is a COSC-certified, hand-wound, in-house column-wheel chronograph with a 70-hour power reserve — the kind of spec sheet that would cost double at most other brands. And third, the meteorite dial: because it's acid-etched, every single one of the 450 pieces has a subtly different Widmanstätten pattern. No two owners get the same watch.

For a value-for-money lens, this is arguably the most interesting limited-edition space watch of 2026. It has real mission provenance (unlike most "space edition" watches), an in-house movement with a proper complication, and a dial that isn't just a paint job but an actual piece of cosmic iron.

History

The Navitimer was introduced in 1952 as an aviation slide-rule chronograph developed with the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association — a tool watch that let pilots calculate fuel burn, climb rate, airspeed conversions and navigational distances directly on the bezel. In 1962, astronaut Scott Carpenter became the second American to orbit Earth aboard Mercury-Atlas 7, and he wore a modified Navitimer with a 24-hour dial — the first Swiss wristwatch worn in space. That watch is now in the Breitling Museum and is the direct ancestor of every subsequent Cosmonaute. The Artemis II mission launched April 1, 2026 and splashed down April 11, 2026, marking the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972 and the first crewed lunar flyby since Apollo 13 in 1970. This limited edition directly connects Carpenter's 1962 spec to the Artemis crew 64 years later.