4 of the best Breitling Aerospace Alternatives: Analogue-Digital Hybrids

Especially in the luxury watch market, analogue-digital hybrid watches are pretty rare. Because of that rarity, the Breitling Aerospace is a real head-turner as a watch that combines traditional timekeeping with a digital display.  

Whilst it may not be to everyone’s taste, the Aerospace has a large cult following, with many watch fans putting it in on their dream watch list. Not everyone has the budget for the Breitling so in this article we offer some great analogue-digital alternatives. 

In this article, we’ve picked out our four favourite alternatives to the Breitling Aerospace. Whilst they may not match the exact design of the Breitling model, all of the watches deliver the analogue-digital dial combination the watch is known for, and they all come from well known and respected brands. 

Alright, enough talking! Let’s get into the article.

A Quick Look at The Breitling Aerospace

The Breitling Aerospace is a truly unique watch. Those familiar with the brand will recognise the large dial, large numbers, and bold design Breitling is known for. 

What isn’t as common is the combination of a classic analogue watch dial and digital screen. It’s one of the only watches at this price point that you’ll find with this sort of setup, which makes it unique in the luxury market.   

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Here are some of the key Breitling Aerospace features: 

• Case Material – Titanium
• Size – 43mm
• Thickness – 10.8mm
• Weight – 100g
• Movement – Breitling 79 SuperQuartz™
• Digital Features – 1/100th chronograph, countdown timer, 2nd timezone, alarm, minute repeater, day and date programmed calendar for four years.
• Crystal – Sapphire
• Water Resistance – 100m

4 Analogue-Digital Breitling Aerospace Alternatives

1. Casio Edifice Ref: ECB-800DB-1ACF

What makes it a great alternative? – Similar steel case design with the traditional watch dial and analogue screen combo. 

To get us started with the comparisons, we’ve pulled out one of the latest versions of the Casio Edifice. Casio is well known for its digital watches, with their G-Shock range being one of the most popular budget watches in the world.  

With the Edifice, we see the brand diversify into the traditional watch design whilst keeping a range of technologies available for the wearer, including a digital screen.

At 49.2mm, the Edifice is a huge watch that packs a lot into that oversized design. On the dial, you’ve got a date/day indicator, chronograph-esque dial, and arrow tipped silver-lume hands. 

The technicalities don’t end there, with the watch connectable to a Casio app via Bluetooth. Through that app, you can manage various functions, including configuring the watch for over 300 timezones and stopwatch features down to 1/1000-second accuracy. 

If you’re looking for a true alternative to the Breitling, this may vary significantly in design and functionality but does deliver the analogue-digital hybrid combination the Aerospace is known for. 

2. Casio Lineage Ref: LCW-M300D-1AJF

What makes it a great alternative? – A smart stainless steel design and dual analogue windows get you close to the Aerospace’s design on a budget. 

For our second alternative, we stick with Casio but this time pull out the Japanese imported Lineage model. It’s a nice watch in its own right, but for those Breitling Aerospace fans, it really gets close as an alternative when it comes to design. 

The dial on this watch is a little busy, but the charcoal grey design does match nicely against the stainless steel case. Spear shaped hands complete the analogue part of the dial, with a good helping of lume applied to those hands, as well as the rectangular hour markers.

When it comes to the digital screens, the placement and design match the Aerospace at the top and bottom of the dial. On top, you’ll get a Day indicator, as well as visuals for the range of additional timing features available. On the bottom, you’ll get time indicators as well as other indicators relating to the watch’s many additional timekeeping features, such as world time and alarm. 

For that, you’re getting a good spec Casio watch that gets a lot closer to the Breitling Aerospace design with those two digital windows. 

3. Hamilton Khaki Aviation Flight Timer Ref: H64554131

What makes it a great alternative? – A steel watch from a reputable Swiss brand that combines a high-quality steel case, large numbers and analogue dials. 

With the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Flight Timer, we come to an Aerospace alternative that’s stepping up in class towards the Breitling. Hamilton is one of the most popular mid-range watch brands on the market, serving as a transition watch between true budget pieces and luxury items. 

This pilot’s watch takes the fantastic design styles of the Hamilton Khaki range and combines them with the analogue screens. Those screens make it a highly functional watch, with features available for tracking two digital timezones, UTC time, alarm, chronograph, countdown, flight time recorder, ISA temperature display and perpetual calendar.

The 40mm piece is powered by a high-quality Swiss quartz movement, 100m of water resistance and a sapphire crystal. As an alternative to the Breitling, it ticks so many boxes both on the design front and the functionality front. 

If you like the look of the Hamilton Khaki Aviation Flight Timer, you’ll be able to find quite a few online. It’s worth noting that this watch recently left production, so you may need to look on the pre-owned sites to get your hands on one! 

4. Victorinox Chrono Classic Ref: XLS 241300

What makes it a great alternative? – The closest alternative to the Breitling Aerospace in our round-up. A Swiss-made watch with many design similarities and high-quality specs.

We finish up our look at Breitling Aerospace alternatives with the Chrono Classic model from the famous Swiss brand Victorinox. Known best for their versatile pockets knives, the Chrono Classic is similarly multi-functional thanks to that blend of manual and digital features. 

Where this watch really is similar to the Aerospace is in its design. A steel case, large numbered hour markers, two analogue screens and slim minute and hour hands help the Chrono Classic match the timeless design of the Breitling. 

Whilst it’s similar to the Aerospace, it’s a great watch in its own right too. Date, second-time zone, perpetual calendar, chronograph, alarm and countdown timer features are matched with a sapphire crystal and 100m of water resistance to make it a great all-rounder.

From a price perspective, we’re more or less in the same league as the Hamilton. Another similarity to the Hamilton is that this watch is also discontinued, but there are many models available on popular pre-owned watch sites meaning it’s a great and readily available alternative!

Summary

The Breitling Aerospace is one of the most unique luxury watches on the market, given its combination of analogue and digital features. The good news is that watch fans on a tighter budget can pick up a range of alternatives to the popular Aerospace. 

Whether from Casio, Hamilton, Victornix or others, there’s a range of hybrid watches out there that deliver a range of technical features just like the Aerospace. We’ve picked out our four favourites, but do shop around if you’re looking for a Breitling Aerospace alternative.