While Breitling hasn’t stopped producing the larger, more modern designs they have become known for, the new Aviator 8 Curtiss Warhawk is more in line with the wider industry’s fervently vintage trend. The two chronographs and one time-only watch that comprise the collection are, in fact, part of the renamed Navitimer 8 collection (now “Aviator 8”) that introduced a more toned-down, retro look for the brand.
The Breitling Aviator 8 Curtiss Warhawk collection features green dials and is themed on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk fighter aircraft from the early 1940s, with its distinctive shark-mouth paint job. The collection helps remind us of the brand’s history producing onboard instruments for fighter planes at that time. The three models in the collection include two 43mm-wide chronographs and a 41mm time-and-date-only model.
The highlighted model uses Breitling’s B01 in-house automatic chronograph movement and features an attractive triple-register subdial layout across the bottom of the dial, a generous power reserve of 70 hours, and has a price around $7,900. The second chronograph uses an ETA/Valjoux 7750 movement with its familiar dial layout, and it has a price around $5,700.
The three-hand Breitling Aviator 8 Automatic Curtiss Warhawk features a black DLC-coated steel case and an ETA 2824-2 automatic movement, with a price of about $4,100. All watches have clean, tastefully retro dials in a soothing tone of green, notched bezels, and a water-resistance of 100m. Each is COSC chronometer-certified, and features a Curtiss P-40 Warhawk plane motif on the case back, but only the B01 model offers a view of the movement through a display case back. The watches come on military-green straps, with bracelet options for the chronographs.
The best way to catch up on the day’s most important product releases and stories. Read the Story
