Breguet has a stronger legacy than nearly any other brand and is strongest in Joshua Munchow’s opinion when it drifts more toward heritage than trends. A great example of this is the Breguet Type XX Only Watch 2021, a historically inspired version that does away with the aspects Joshua isn’t a fan of in the current Type XX/XXI collection. And its auction price will be fully donated for a great cause.
When Nancy Olson first saw the Breguet Reine de Naples at Baselworld many years ago, she remembers being taken by its absolute gorgeousness. It was so much more than a jewelry watch and it seemed to be made just for her wrist. Many years and many “try-ons” later, the Reine de Naples is Breguet’s flagship ladies collection, the most recent of which is the Reine de Naples 8938, which is available in two beautifully diamond-set versions.
Breguet’s Classique Dame Reference 9065 is always perfect for the season of love, but rest assured this watch is also the right choice any time. Martin Green thinks that’s largely due to the Tahitian mother-of-pearl dial, but there’s much more to this colorful delight as he explains here.
The new Breguet Reine de Naples Coeur Reference 9825 features a patented shape-shifting heart indication with a variable-length minute hand unlike any other minute hand that Elizabeth Doerr has ever seen. It’s a beguiling technical element as captivating as a beating heart.
Breguet writing instruments round out the Swiss brand’s elegant offerings with a style and grace similar to its timepieces, with many of the pens unabashedly borrowing stylistic attributes from the watch iconography. These writing instruments nestle into three collections: Tradition, Classique, and Reine de Naples, all in parallel with the watch collections of the same names. And they are a win in Nancy Olson’s book!
This Breguet souscription pocket watch number 1836 was created just after the French Revolution in 1796 and was sold in 1807 for £600. A testament to the quality of the movement’s design and the skill of its watchmaker, after more than 200 years it still runs perfectly today, which makes it the perfect role model for Breguet’s modern Tradition line. But what relationship does Ian have to it?
The Breguet Tradition collection, as exemplified here by the Tradition Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097, does just what it says on the label: provide tradition. And it does that very well as Ian Skellern illustrates in a comparison with an original 200-year-old Abraham-Louis Breguet Souscription pocket watch.
The Breguet Classique Double Tourbillon 5345 Quai de l’Horloge features two separate tourbillons – but that isn’t all: the hour wheel moves a plate that makes a rotation once every twelve hours, taking the hour hand (and everything else on the dial) with it. The open movement on the dial side puts everything beautifully on display. But possibly it’s the hand-engraved case back, a poetic story in itself, that is Elizabeth Doerr’s favorite detail of this new watch.
Not only Martin Green thinks that a date has the power to swiftly ruin the appearance of a watch. But that didn’t happen to Breguet’s latest addition to the Tradition family, the smart Quantième Rétrograde 7597 with its clever new date function. See for yourself!
The drama of Breguet’s La Tradition lay – and continues to lie – in its stylistically vintage appearance coupled with a movement finished using historical techniques and the extreme visibility of the mechanical components from the dial side. Here Elizabeth Doerr looks at two new models for 2020 that are bound to make you a fan of the style.