Breitling announced the release of the Navitimer 8 prior to Baselworld 2018, drawing the attention of the entire industry to the brand and series. Although this line bears the name of the famous Breitling pilot's watch, these watches don't look like Navitimers at first glance. This is mostly due to the lack of a slide rule bezel, which enables the wearer to calculate distances, average speeds, and climb and descent rates. The Navitimer 8 has a bidirectional fluted bezel and is best suited for measuring periods of time thanks to its arrow markers.

The design of the new collection is inspired by onboard instruments from years gone by. Even the '8' in the name has historic origins: It comes from the Huit Aviation department founded by Willy Breitling in 1938. The French word "huit" means "eight."

The 'eight' in the department's name originated from the fact that their onboard clocks had an eight-day power reserve. The Navitimer 8 has a maximum power reserve of 70 hours, or almost three days. Currently, this collection includes chronographs, world timers, versions with day and date displays, simple three-hand editions with a date, and a 50-mm model with three hands and a left-sided crown. The 50-mm timepiece is inspired by the watches worn by bomber pilots during World War II.

At its introduction, the list price for a stainless steel Navitimer 8 B01 Chronograph 43 with an in-house caliber was 8,600 USD with a leather strap and 9,000 USD with a steel bracelet. On Chrono24, you can find both editions for as little as 6,100 USD. The variant in 18-karat rose gold costs around 18,400 USD new and comes with a brown crocodile leather strap. Chronographs featuring the Valjoux 7750, which Breitling calls caliber 13, are much less expensive. You can get one of these stopwatches starting at 4,400 USD. Three-hand models with a date display at 6 o'clock are even more affordable at 3,200 USD. The Day-Date version is only slightly more expensive with prices starting at 3,300 USD. The Navitimer 8 B35 Automatic Unitime 43 with a world time function demands 6,500 USD with a leather strap and 6,800 USD with a steel bracelet.