More than six decades after first entering orbit, Breitling revisits its spacefaring legacy with a striking new limited edition: the Navitimer B02 Chronograph 41 Cosmonaute Artemis II. At its center lies a rare and symbolic material, an actual meteorite dial, cut from extraterrestrial stone and finished in a deep, galaxy-blue hue, ensuring that no two pieces are alike.
The story begins in 1962, when astronaut Scott Carpenter approached Breitling with a specific request ahead of his Aurora 7 mission: a Navitimer adapted for space. The result was a chronograph equipped with a 24-hour dial, allowing astronauts to distinguish day from night while orbiting Earth. Worn on Carpenter’s wrist during his historic flight, it became the first Swiss wristwatch in space and was later named the Cosmonaute.
That same functional DNA carries through to the Artemis II edition. Powered by Breitling’s manual-wind Manufacture Caliber B02, the watch retains its distinctive 24-hour display. An essential feature for zero-gravity missions where conventional timekeeping loses meaning. Limited to 450 pieces, the model is as much a technical instrument as it is a collector’s object.
Over the decades, the Cosmonaute has remained more than a historical artifact. From early Mercury missions to time spent aboard Mir and the International Space Station, it has continued to accompany astronauts beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Today, it stands as a rare example of a mechanical watch with genuine spaceflight credibility.
The Artemis II release also forms part of Breitling’s broader “Navitimer Stories” initiative, which traces the evolution of the iconic model, from a pilot’s indispensable tool to a cultural symbol bridging aviation, space exploration, and contemporary lifestyle.
With its meteorite dial and enduring technical purpose, the Cosmonaute Artemis II doesn’t just reference space, it quite literally brings a fragment of it to the wrist.
