The name Navitimer is derived from the words Navigation & Timer, due to the fact the watch was at first developed as a navigation aid for pilots.
The Breitling Navitimer was introduced in 1952 and offered pilots a highly leading edge timepiece featuring a rotating dial that might be utilised for each navigational calculation a flight plan requires.
The earliest Breitling Navtimer watches did not have reference numbers recorded on them, it wasn’t till 1955 that the watch was recognisable as the Breitling Navtimer 806.
Collectors of these watches tend to view the Breitling Navtimer 806 reference as being the true Navtimer watch, and subsequent models are not held in such high regard.
The movement they employed in 1954, and the initial half of 1955, was the famous Valjoux 72.
By 1960 the Breitling Navitimer had modified significantly with remodelled hands, subdials being changed from black to white and the Breitling name being embossed on the dial.
Afterwards the sliderulebezel ( slide rule used for flight calculations ) was remodelled twice.