Identify a Breitling From a Photo: Reference and Model Guide

Breitling engraves the reference and the serial number on the caseback. On most watches the caseback carries the short form of the reference, the first six characters such as AB0121 or A17376, together with a serial. The full 13-character reference, which adds codes for the dial colour and the strap or bracelet, appears on the warranty card and in retailer listings. On watches with a sapphire display back, the engravings run around the steel ring.

Older paperwork, roughly up to the late 2000s, quotes the six-character code alone or with a dial code after a slash, as in A13356 for a Chronomat Evolution or A23322 for a Navitimer. Vintage Breitlings from the 1950s and 1960s use three- or four-digit references, 806 for the classic Navitimer being the best known.

Many Breitlings also have the model name on the dial (Navitimer, Chronomat, Superocean), which narrows things before you even turn the watch over. For how these codes compare with other brands, read our guide to watch reference numbers.

Since the late 2000s Breitling has used a 13-character reference. Take AB0121211B1A1, a steel Navitimer B01 Chronograph 43, and split it into segments.

The six-character core follows the same idea whether the calibre is in-house or not: a material letter, the calibre digits and the model digits. A13356 is a steel Chronomat Evolution on the Valjoux-based Calibre 13; A17376 is a steel Superocean on Calibre 17. When the first letter is not A, expect a different case material or finish, which is a quick sanity check against the photo.

Breitling does not publish a serial-to-year table, and serials are best used to tie a watch to its papers rather than to date it. The design language has moved in clear phases, which helps.

• Before 1979: the Willy Breitling era, with dials that often read Breitling Genève and three- or four-digit references.
• 1979 to 2017: the Schneider era. The winged logo dominates, and from 1999 every movement is chronometer-certified, so dials read Chronometre or Chronometre Automatic. Six-character references such as A13356 belong here, and the 13-character system begins towards the end of the period.
• 2017 onwards: under new management the winged logo gave way to a plain B and anchor on most new collections, dial text was reduced and cases slimmed. The 2022 Navitimer brought the wings back, so treat the logo as one clue among several.

Movements give hard floors: the in-house B01 arrived in 2009, the B20 in 2017, so a watch with either cannot be older. If you need an exact year, Breitling's service network can confirm it from the serial.

• Navitimer: a rotating slide-rule bezel with a beaded or notched edge, a busy three-register dial and, on many examples, the winged logo at 12.
• Chronomat: a rotating bezel with four rider tabs at 15, 30, 45 and 60. On the 2020 generation the tabs sit on a slim bezel above the rouleaux bullet bracelet; the 2009 to 2020 Chronomat 44 is chunkier.
• Superocean: a dive watch with a unidirectional bezel and broad luminous hands. The 2022 generation has oversized square hour markers and a thick minute hand.
• Superocean Heritage: vintage-inspired, with an arrow hour hand, a ceramic bezel ring and often a Milanese mesh bracelet.
• Avenger: oversized cases, stencil-style numerals engraved on the bezel and a screw-locked crown with a ribbed grip.
• Premier: dress styling, a smooth bezel and no bezel tabs or slide rule.
• Aerospace and Emergency: titanium cases with analogue hands and digital displays; the Emergency has a visible antenna cap on the lower case.
• Endurance Pro: a lightweight black composite (Breitlight) case with a coloured rubber strap and a thermocompensated quartz chronograph.

• Navitimer or Chronomat: both are steel chronographs with busy dials. The Navitimer has the slide rule and a fine beaded bezel; the Chronomat has rider tabs and a dive-style rotating bezel.
• Navitimer or Montbrillant and Old Navitimer: 1990s and 2000s slide-rule chronographs were sold under several names, so trust the caseback reference over the dial text.
• Superocean or Superocean Heritage: the Heritage has an arrow hour hand and often a mesh bracelet; the standard Superocean has blunt luminous hands and a tool-watch bezel.
• Breitling for Bentley: large chronographs with Bentley on the dial are genuine Breitlings from a partnership that began in 2003, not a separate brand.
• Navitimer or other pilot chronographs: the slide rule is unique, but the overall look overlaps with chronographs from Omega and TAG Heuer. Logo and bezel settle it.

Breitling is heavily counterfeited, the Navitimer above all. In photos, check that the slide rule scales are sharply printed and aligned, that engravings have even depth and that dial text is crisp. Our guide to spotting a fake luxury watch covers the rest.

Breitling's collections have strong, repeatable signatures, so a photo usually places the watch in the right family immediately and WatchID can then rank reference candidates by case size, bezel, dial colour and bracelet. Because the reference encodes material and dial colour, a good photo narrows the full 13-character code further than it can for most brands.

1. Photograph the dial straight on with the chronograph hands at zero.
2. Photograph the caseback so the six-character reference and serial are readable.
3. Include the bracelet or strap and clasp; A1 versus P1 in the reference depends on it.
4. Compare the candidate references with the caseback engraving. The first six characters should match.

Limits: steel and white gold look alike in photos, two-tone can be mistaken for gold-plated, and the tool cannot see whether the movement is a B01 or a sourced calibre. For the general method, read how to identify a watch from a photo.