Breitling Caliber 26

Brand	Breitling
Caliber Number	26, B26
In-House?	No
Base Caliber	ETA 2892A2 – see below…
Movement Type	Automatic, self-winding mechanical, chronograph
Chronometer Spec?	Yes (COSC)
Lignes	11.5”’
Diameter	25.6mm
Height	3.6mm
Jewel Count	38
Beat Rate / Frequency	28,800 vph / 4 Hz
Lift Angle	51 degrees
Power Reserve	42 hours
Rotor Style	Ball-bearing system
Hand-Windable?	Yes
Anti-Shock Device	Incabloc
Hand Count	6
Functions	Central hours; central minutes; central chronograph seconds; central 60 minutes chronograph counter; small running seconds at 3:00; 12 hour chronograph counter at 9:00; date at 6:00
Chronograph Style	Bi-compax
Subdial Layout	3-9
Hacking Seconds?	Yes
Country of Manufacture	Switzerland, Swiss made
Known Models	Breitling Navitimer 125th Anniversary (Ref: A26322) (Add your watch to the comments below…)

The Brietling caliber 26 (aka B26) is an automatic bi-compax chronograph movement with a date-only calendar complication.

Base Movement:

You may see others state that the Breitling 26 is based on an ETA 2892A2, but that’s only part of the story.

The 2892A2 is a 3-hander with a date. In order to get chronograph functionality on this movement, a module must be used.

ETA has a cal. 2894-2 with their own chronograph module attached, turning the 2892 framework into a tri-compax chronograph with a 3-6-9 subdial layout. On the 2894-2, the small seconds is at 3:00 (same as the Breitling 26), but the 12 hours counter is at 6:00 (on the B26 is it as 12:00), with a 30 minutes counter at 9:00 (the B26 has a central 60 minutes chronograph hand).

Because of these inconsistencies, it’s unconfirmed as to whether the 2894-2 is indeed the base caliber – and if so, did ETA use a custom module at Breitling’s request.

Watches with this movement:

The calibre B26 is found in the limited edition Navitimer 125th Anniversary model that was introduced just before Baselworld 2009. 125 pieces were made in gold and 2,009 were made in steel. When it was announced, the steel version retailed for $6,550 USD, plus $1,140 USD for the steel Aero Racer bracelet as shown in the image below (video).

Additional Resources:

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