Breguet’s 250th Anniversary Celebrations Come to a Close with Two New Chiming Watches

Since the start of the year, Breguet has unveiled a host of impressive watches in celebration of its 250th anniversary. Now, as the year comes to a close, the brand has unveiled the final novelties that pay homage to 250 years of watchmaking excellence: timepieces that are a nod to Breguet’s rich legacy of chiming timepieces. We take a closer look at the two models to gauge how wonderfully they echo the very conditions that shaped founder Abraham Louis Breguet’s approach to acoustics in watchmaking.
 

Classique Grande Sonnerie Métiers d’Art 1905

An incredibly complicated pocket watch featuring Métiers d’Art craftsmanship, this harks back to the brand’s earliest days. A.L. Breguet’s name has been closely associated with a plethora of inventions that have remained at the forefront of modern watchmaking: the gong spring (1783), the shock absorber (1790), the Breguet balance spring (1795), and the tourbillon (1801), among others.

This pocket watch celebrates these major inventions by incorporating them into a movement comprising 532 components — the first of its kind that Breguet has produced in over 20 years! It’s equipped with a grande and petite sonnerie as well as a minute repeater with magnetic regulator for all striking scenarios, with a regulator-style time display, all powered by a tourbillon. Produced only on request, the watch is crafted in Breguet gold with Bleu de France accents. From assembling to decorating and finalising operations, it requires more than six months of assembly. Be it the Grande Sonnerie mechanism, the on-demand minute repeater, or the regulator-style display, the Classique Grande Sonnerie Métiers d’Art 1905 perfectly encapsulates A.L. Breguet’s extraordinary journey.

His aesthetic codes that have left an indelible mark on the industry over the decades also shine through the watch’s aesthetics, especially the dial decoration. Each sector of the dial sports its own finish that boosts legibility and individuality. The Breguet hand smoothly sweeps over a grand feu enamel dial; the Arabic numerals are in petit feu black enamel, and the central minutes touch a finely guilloché pattern. The motif, a horizontal Quai de l’Horloge, is inspired by the shapes of two Parisian islands surrounded by the Seine, Île Saint-Louis and Île de la Cité, where Breguet’s first workshop was located.

Powered by Caliber 508GS, the watch also features other signature Breguet codes such as the secret signature made with a pantograph and the Bleu de France colour, a shade that can be found on the shop fronts of Place Vendôme, including that of Breguet, where the timepiece was officially unveiled.

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Classique Minute Repeater 7365

The only minute repeater wristwatch produced as part of Breguet’s 250th anniversary celebrations, this is limited to only 25 pieces. Driven by a new movement, Calibre 1896, it offers an exceptional power reserve of 75 hours. It is also the first water-resistant minute repeater ever created by Breguet, featuring a unique dial in Bleu de France grand feu enamel. The case is directly inspired by the Souscription watch that launched the anniversary celebrations this year, while seamlessly aligning with the new aesthetic codes of the brand’s Classique line of watches.

The watch marks the introduction of a new diameter for the brand’s minute repeaters, moving from 42 mm to 39 mm. The aesthetics are distinctly Breguet — from the slim case, and guilloché middle to the hollowed-out apple-shaped hands, grand feu enamel dial, to the secret signature at 6 o’clock. However, newer details add a contemporary edge, as evidenced by the new shape of the lugs. The white gold of the dial that is covered by Bleu de France enamel also marks the first time in its recent history that Breguet has developed this striking shade. 

Calibre 1896 is the first minute repeater movement made by the brand in Breguet gold. At the heart of the movement are the gold gongs – invented by A.L. Breguet – that are made of white gold gilded with Breguet gold and directly attached to the patented Breguet gold case. The frequency of the balance (3Hz) ensures the high precision of the calibre, promoting stability and greater resilience. This, in turn, results in the exceptional 75-hour power reserve.

The movement is also equipped with a silicon escapement that makes the watch even more stable. It is certified by the Breguet hallmark as resistant to fields of approximately 600 gauss. It’s more resistant to variations in temperature too. Meanwhile, the acoustics have undergone a precise testing protocol to certify the harmonic tuning, melodic tuning of the gongs, chime duration, and acoustic level. Owing to these aspects of technical excellence, the watch is the Minute Repeater to be certified by the Breguet Hallmark, with individually certified precision of +/- 2 seconds per day (finished and assembled watch).

And, that’s not all. With gaskets protecting the complication activation lock, the most sensitive part of the case, the Classique Répétition Minutes 7365 becomes the brand’s first water-resistant minute repeater, rated to 30 metres. 

In their own distinct ways, these novelties make for the perfect way to close out a monumental year in Breguet’s long, storied history of watchmaking and the pursuit of precision.

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