For us, the conversation around the watches that have been to space are more common than the galactic sojourns themselves. And with all the hype surrounding the latest Artemis II mission to the Moon (or around the Moon), the first thing we asked was, “What’s on the astronauts’ wrists?!”
By now, we already know that it was the Omega Speedmaster X-33 Gen 2 models that were worn upon watch. These were NASA-qualified, and the Speedy has been worn by astronauts for the better part of six decades. However, the other watch that was spotted was the Breitling Navitimer Cosmonaute, worn by several crew members aboard the Artemis II. To honor the feat, Breitling has now come out with a limited-edition version, tying the current mission to the impressive history of this watch in space.
One Astronaut’s Request Changed Everything
The Cosmonaute’s origin story is one of those rare cases where the watch and the mission are actually inseparable. In 1962, NASA astronaut Scott Carpenter approached Breitling, asking them to take the Navitimer pilot chronograph and rework it for spaceflight. Carpenter needed a 24-hour display to keep day and night straight in space. Willy Breitling obliged and on May 24 of that year, Carpenter orbited Earth three times aboard Aurora 7 with it on his wrist. That flight made it the first Swiss wristwatch ever worn in space.
The watch took a beating. After a splashdown far off course in the Atlantic, it spent hours in seawater and corroded badly. Breitling kept the damaged original in their archives, and that battered artifact still sits there today.
Rock Solid
The Artemis II edition stays faithful to the 41mm proportions of the current Cosmonaute, with a stainless steel case, the signature circular slide rule bezel (now in black), and that same 24-hour dial layout Carpenter specified.
Inside is Breitling’s hand-wound Manufacture Caliber B02, a COSC-certified movement with a column wheel, vertical clutch, and roughly 70 hours of power reserve.
For the dial, Breitling went with a galaxy-blue meteorite, cut from actual extraterrestrial material and acid-etched to expose its natural Widmanstätten pattern. Since no two pieces of meteorite look exactly alike, no two dials are either. It’s accented with a red chronograph seconds hand and white numerals and handset. Linking the legendary watch to the current era of space travel, the caseback features the Artemis II mission patch on the sapphire display window, with “Artemis II” and “One of 450” engraved on the surrounding steel ring.
Lastly, it comes on a handsome blue alligator leather strap with a stainless steel folding clasp.
Spec Sheet
Model: Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Artemis II
Case Material: Stainless steel
Case Diameter: 41mm
Lug-to-Lug: 47.09mm
Thickness: 13mm
Crystal: Cambered sapphire, glareproofed both sides
Dial: Galaxy-blue meteorite with 24-hour display, three subdials, date, red accents
Movement: Breitling Manufacture Caliber B02, manual wind, COSC-certified
Water Resistance: 30m
Band: Blue alligator leather with stainless steel folding clasp
Lume: Super-LumiNova on indices, hour and minute hands
Limited Edition: 450 pieces
Pricing & Availability
Limited to just 450 pieces, the Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Artemis II is priced at $11,900 and is available now directly through Breitling.
Recap
Breitling Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute ARTEMIS II
Breitling just dropped a limited-edition Navitimer Cosmonaute honoring the Artemis II mission, featuring a one-of-a-kind galaxy-blue meteorite dial and the same 24-hour display Scott Carpenter took to space back in 1962.
