Breitling is paying tribute to jazz legend and cultural icon Miles Davis with the new Breitling Navitimer ref. 806 Mk5 chronograph, inspired by a watch the famously stylish musician favored in the 1960s.
A driving force onstage and on vinyl, the Kind of Blue trumpeter and bandleader had an almost outsized impact on jazz and music writ large, with the right watch on his wrist to match. Or rather, as Breitling notes, an uncommon watch: At the time Davis started wearing this ref. 806 Mk5, tool watches were worn commonly by pilots rather than jazz greats. The Breitling Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Miles Davis nods to that legendary legacy in a 500-piece limited-edition run that toasts the centennial of the Illinois-born composer.
The pilot’s watch became an expression of his own style as Davis laid down iconic records like the classic 1970 jazz-rock fusion of Bitches Brew (even Bob Dylan called Davis the “definition of cool”). As Swiss watchmaker Breitling notes, “for Miles Davis, style was another form of expression, as powerful as the music he made as a trumpeter and bandleader,” adding that “in sharp Italian suits and behind the wheel of exotic sports cars, he commanded attention.”
Breitling could certainly make its own case as an arbiter of cool, with recent releases delivering tributes to James Bond and Aston Martin, while its latest Davis-inspired reference faithfully draws from the timepiece worn by the composer over the decades starting in the late 1960s. “Whether it was his music, his art, the clothes he wore, or the watch on his wrist, every choice reflected his individuality and his willingness to chart his own course,” said the Miles Davis Estate. “His Navitimer wasn’t a prop, it was something he chose because it spoke to him.”
The Miles Davis Estate also rightfully notes that he “never separated style from self-expression,” dating back to his 1957 album Birth of the Cool. Davis was, after all, named #1 on GQ’s Most Stylish Musicians
of All Time.
The Breitling Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Miles Davis similarly delivers a sense of timelessness paired with modern form, as the 2026 tribute is powered by the hand-wound Breitling Manufacture Caliber B09. The use of that caliber serves as a nod to”an era before automatic chronographs existed,” the horologist said. Of particular note is the era-appropriate 41mm dial design, made even cooler by the use of a monochrome reverse-panda dial scheme, as the Swiss horologist also notes that the timepiece features the era-appropriate Breitling “Twin Jet” logo.
Fittingly, the Twin Jet emblem first appeared on the Navitimer ref. 806 Mk5 so loved by the famed jazz musician. Available on both a refined brown calfskin leather strap or set upon a striking Air Racer stainless steel bracelet, the Air Racer’s vented design features hinged links for wearability. In fact, the Air Racer bracelet echoes a style popularized by another utterly cool musician, Serge Gainsbourg. An engraved caseback notes its limited-edition status by number, along with the phrase “Miles Davis Centennial.”
There’s some added skin in the game for fans of both Breitling and Davis, as owners of one of 500 limited-edition Miles Davis-inspired watches will gain membership to the Breitling Social Club in Brooklyn starting late next year. Buyers will receive a two-year membership to the exclusive haven, billed by the Swiss watchmaker as “a place where Breitling is not only worn, but lived.”
To double down, watch enthusiasts can receive a lifetime membership to the company’s first-ever social club through the purchase of the Breitling “Lifetime Club Member Set,” which includes a trio of elegant and utterly cool Navitimer 806 Mk5 tributes in stainless steel, 18k yellow gold, and platinum. In the meantime, the Breitling Navitimer B09 Chronograph 41 Tribute to Miles Davis can be found on its own for $8,900 at Breitling.