Welcome to Dialed In, Esquire’s regular column bringing you horological happenings and the most essential news from the watch world.

Every era has its own aeronautical obsession. Around the turn of the 20th century, it was simply getting off the ground. By the ’60s, it was getting to the moon. In the ’90s, it was one of the few unconquered high-altitude feats: a nonstop balloon trip around the globe.

It sounds a little wacky, but this was serious business. The endeavor preoccupied 11 teams that made 21 attempts in all before Bertrand Piccard succeeded on his third try in 1999 with copilot Brian Jones on the Breitling Orbiter 3. The journey covered more than 28,000 miles in just under 20 days. Now, 25 years after that accomplishment, Breitling is celebrating the Orbiter 3’s excursion with a new watch: the Aerospace B70 Orbiter.

Breitling Aerospace B70 Orbiter

Aerospace B70 Orbiter
$4,900 at Breitling

The gradated orange dial is inspired by the color of the Orbiter 3’s capsule. A dual analog/digital display reflects a ’90s trend that is rare these days, especially in serious watchmaking. The newly created movement, which drives both functions, is the B70, a chronometer-certified SuperQuartz movement with ten times the accuracy of a standard quartz watch. While the analog hands display hours and minutes, the digital readout offers multiple timing functions, including a chronograph that registers increments of hundredths of a second.

But all that function aside, what makes this special edition really special is seen through the sapphire-crystal case back: a circular slice taken from the original Orbiter 3 balloon’s envelope. Which means wherever you take it, this watch—or a part of it at least—has already been around the world.