Watch Paparazzi

Writer Carter Reum spotted wearing Breitling

At the 2021 Tribeca Festival in New York, Carter Reum — venture capitalist, author of 'Shortcut Your Startup,' and Paris Hilton's husband — made a considered horological statement on the red carpet. On his wrist: a Breitling Navitimer Montbrillant Spatiographe in stainless steel, one of the more technically layered references in the modern Navitimer family, worn on a dark brown leather strap with white contrast stitching.

The Montbrillant Spatiographe draws its lineage directly from the 1962 Breitling Cosmonaute, the first Swiss watch worn in space. The 'Spatiographe' designation marks a specific configuration within the Montbrillant sub-line: a 38mm stainless steel case housing the Breitling Caliber 21 movement — a self-winding chronograph derived from the Valjoux 7750 base — with a flyback function and a 42-hour power reserve. The defining visual feature is the distinctive bidirectional rotating outer bezel scaled in both minutes and degrees, allowing pilots and navigators to calculate elapsed time and angular displacement simultaneously. The matte navy/blue dial with white applied indices gives the watch a restrained legibility that separates it from the bolder Navitimer variants.

Among collectors, the Montbrillant Spatiographe occupies a niche but respected position. It is often overshadowed by the flagship Navitimer 1 B01 Chronograph, yet aficionados prize the Spatiographe for its deeper historical connection to early spaceflight and its more compact, dressy 38mm case — a size that wears exceptionally well for a pilot's chronograph. The flyback functionality adds genuine utility that elevates it beyond mere aesthetics.

Reum is known for a measured, understated personal style, and the Spatiographe fits that profile precisely — it is not the loudest watch in the Breitling catalog, but it rewards those who know what they are looking at. The Tribeca appearance alongside Paris Hilton provided one of the few public glimpses of his watch collection.

On the secondary market, the Montbrillant Spatiographe trades modestly, typically below retail, making it one of the more accessible entry points into vintage-influenced Breitling collecting. Its combination of aviation heritage, flyback complication, and compact sizing keeps it relevant in a market increasingly attentive to historically grounded sport watches.