Why the Swiss brand’s latest smaller, simpler and versatile timepieces aren’t just for landlubbers.

You know what you’re getting with a Breitling. Or, at least, you used to. Its big, bold, unapologetically masculine chronographs are so synonymous with the world of aviation that to describe it as a watch brand feels a little insufficient. Breitling is a pilot’s watch brand. Indeed, it might be the pilot’s watch brand.

But since the appointment in 2017 of its new CEO, Mr Georges Kern, this 135-year-old company has begun to expand its horizons. No longer just a brand for air and sea, it now designs watches for land, too, a category served by its new, hotly anticipated Premier range. Smaller in diameter and with simpler, less technical dials, they’re some of the most sophisticated Breitling watches we’ve seen in years.

They’re versatile, too. While it’s reasonable to assume that a man wearing a Breitling Navitimer 1 flies planes for a living, or at least harbours fantasies of doing so, these watches makes no such lifestyle proclamations. They represent an altogether more wearable proposition, one that’s just as at home in the boardroom as it is in the cockpit. Yes, they’re still Breitling watches, and as such they speak of certain tastes. But they do so quietly.

All of which brings us to the question of how best to wear them. If not peeking out of the striped sleeve of an airline captain’s blazer, how exactly should your new Breitling Premier be seen? Here, we’ve highlighted a couple of the key models that will soon be available on MR PORTER and offered a few style tips for each.

This is the flagship in Breitling’s new Premier fleet, built around the company’s in-house B01 chronograph movement. Its 42mm case diameter and built-in chronograph functionality might not suggest a “dressy” watch, and you certainly wouldn’t want to wear it to your next cocktail evening, but the vintage-inspired dial, suppressed chrono pushers and nubuck-leather strap combine to lend it an understated elegance. Think of it as your happy halfway house between tool watch and dress watch, a smart choice for anything from a weekend brunch to an informal work event.

A reminder of the Premier’s historical legacy – the range takes its name, and much of its stylistic inspiration, from a series of timepieces released in the 1940s – this stainless-steel watch is just about as dressy and minimal as Breitling gets. (Measuring a mere 40mm in diameter, it’s also among Breitling’s smallest contemporary watches.) Perfectly suitable for everyday wear, it comes into its own when paired with a suit, though, if you plan to wear it with a tuxedo, it might be worth switching out the nubuck strap for something a little dressier, such as black alligator.

With its seven-row, stainless-steel bracelet and asymmetric arrangement of three sub-dials, this automatic chronograph is the sportiest Premier in MR PORTER’s lineup. As such, it’s the closest thing to a non-Premier Breitling, and we can see it working well as part of an off-duty outfit: think white T-shirt, leather jacket and rolled flannel shirtsleeves. In other words, try to channel Messrs Brad Pitt and Adam Driver in Breitling’s ad campaign. It’s a great summer watch, too – just add a terry-cotton polo shirt and swim shorts.