Renowned watchmaker Breguet marks its 250th anniversary with watches that honour its legacy.
By The Time Place Magazine
With a history dating back to 1775, Breguet is undoubtedly one of haute horlogerie’s most enduring watch manufactures. Founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet, who is widely considered as the father of watchmaking, the Maison has played an important role in the evolution of timekeeping, particularly in introducing innovations, enhancing precision, and perpetuating the beauty of measuring time.
This year, the renowned watchmaking brand is celebrating a milestone occasion—its 250th anniversary—with a bevy of beautiful timepieces, crafted especially to honour its rich history. The momentous occasion will be punctuated by several product launches in different parts of the world. Foremost in the offerings is the Classique Souscription 2025, which is in a class all its own. Unveiled as the brand’s first novelty of the year in Paris, the watch links the past with the present, and paves the way for other complicated models, including the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035, the Type XX Chronographe 2075, as well as the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255.
The Subscription, or Souscription in French, was a pocket watch created by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1796. A novel creation, aimed at boosting business for the revered watchmaker, the Subscription was appropriately named as the piece was sold on a subscription basis, meaning the buyer had to pay a quarter of the price in advance. This process enabled the Quai de l’Horloge workshop to purchase supplies needed to create the watches, marking the start of production. Introduced in 1797, the timepiece was rendered in silver or gold, and featured an enamel dial. Known as the first single hand watch ever produced, the Subscription was widely received by the public and marked great success for the legendary brand.
For its 250th year, Breguet presents the Classique Souscription 2025 in a new exclusive gold alloy. Now offered as a wristwatch, the Souscription retains the simple, yet elegant architecture of the original. With a refined aesthetic intended by the master watchmaker, the model features an immaculately white dial coated with Grand Feu enamel and adorned with the Breguet name, as well as the invisible “Souscription” inscription, a unique serial number, and the secret signature. At its centre is a unique, steel, open-tipped Breguet hand, which has been flame-blued and curved entirely by hand. These delicate facets are protected by a sapphire crystal with a “chevé” profile—an innovation by A.L. Breguet—which is thinner and less domed, allowing it to blend seamlessly into the case.
Enveloping the dial is the 40 mm case made of 18-carat Breguet gold, a proprietary precious metal that combines gold, silver, copper and palladium. This innovative gold alloy lends unparalleled sheen to the elegant timepiece, which boasts a delicately satin-brushed case middle and curved lugs that provide it a fluid appearance and more comfortable fit on the wrist than the traditional straight lugs of old.
Beating at the heart of this generously sized timepiece is the new VS00 calibre, comprised of 144 components. Visible through the watch case back, the movement is crafted in gilded brass in the same shade as Breguet gold. This complementary play on colours and materials is further enhanced with an entirely new type of guilloché pattern unveiled only this year, called Quai de l’Horloge. Derived from the extraordinary curves of the Île de la Cité, as well as the slim form of the Île Saint-Louis, this pattern creates a harmonious design that lends itself to innumerable permutations.
With a frequency of 3Hz (21,600 vibrations per hour), the VS00 manual winding calibre delivers an astounding four-day power reserve using only a single barrel. Apart from its exceptional power, the mechanism is also decorated beautifully, with its plate and bridges finely shot-blasted, while blued steel screws and rubies serve both form and function. Adding to the already striking aesthetic is an awe-inspiring ratchet wheel at the centre of the movement, which highlights a specially engraved inscription bearing the very words of the founder, explaining the design of the Souscription, as taken from his advertising brochure. Faithfully reproduced in his characteristic cursive handwriting, the unique feature makes the watch an incomparable symbol of not only the founder’s vision, but also of Breguet’s watchmaking history.
Now rendered for a whole new generation of watch enthusiasts and collectors, the Classique Souscription 2025 is delivered on a blue alligator leather strap that comes equipped with an 18-carat Ardillon buckle in Breguet gold.
Completing the anniversary celebration is an array of exquisite Breguet timepieces including the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035, the Type XX Chronographe 2075, and the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255. From Paris with the Classique Souscription 2025, we travel to Shanghai for the 250-piece limited edition Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035. A model that boasts a unique architecture, one that brings its precision mechanism to the forefront, it boasts a hand-made guilloché dial in translucent blue, grand feu enamel, which serves as an ideal background for the hours and minutes, alongside a retrograde seconds display discreetly positioned between 10 and 11 o’clock.
The first to incorporate two Breguet “in-house” colour codes—Breguet gold and Breguet blue—the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035 is powered by the Calibre 505SR. Numbered and signed, the movement provides a 50-hour power reserve and highlights a crescent moon-shaped oscillating weight, made of vertical brushed platinum. This striking element is showcased on the back of the watch and harkens back to the ones used during the Breguet founder’s time.
Meanwhile, the Type XX Chronographe 2075, which was introduced in New York, epitomises the spirit of adventure. Inspired by the sky, the new chronograph with flyback function pays homage to human accomplishment and exploration. Foremost among these high achievers are Abraham-Louis Breguet, the watchmaker who founded the eponymous company; Louis Breguet, his great-great-grandson, an aircraft manufacturer; and aviators Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte, the very first people to fly from Paris to New York.
Following the successful solo flight of Charles Lindbergh from New York to Paris in 1927, the possibility of flying the other way, from Paris to New York, was speculated on and the press asked Louis Breguet, and the aviators Dieudonné Costes and Maurice Bellonte, about the likelihood of success should the trip be endeavoured. The three gentlemen responded with just a question mark. A few years later, in 1930, the pilots suited up and boarded a specially adapted Breguet 19 aircraft to attempt such a journey. On either side of the fuselage was a large white question mark. Suffice to say, their trip was a success and served as one of the inspirations for the Type XX Chronographe 2075.
Available in two 38.3 mm versions—one with an aluminium dial anodised in black or a solid silver dial—the Type XX Chronographe 2075 models are crafted in Breguet gold and feature, for the first time, manually wound versions of the Breguet calibre 728, which are gilded in Breguet gold. The black-dialled version is driven by the calibre 7279 that powers a 15-minute counter at 3 o’clock, while the silver variant is equipped with calibre 7278 that runs a 30-minute counter at 3 o’clock. Both watches also display the small seconds at 9 o’clock.
With its close association to the world of aviation, it is but fitting that the Type XX Chronographe 2075 features an engraving of the Breguet 19 aircraft on its transparent case back. Depicting the precise route taken during that perilous flight of 1930, the watch is a representation of what the combination of willpower and courage can achieve.
Lastly, Breguet also showcases its mastery of the tourbillon complication in the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255. An invention patented by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 26 June 1801, the tourbillon has fascinated the world of watchmaking ever since. The House has explored infinite variations of this well-loved complication, but never in a flying tourbillon version. Until now.
A variant of the traditional tourbillon, the flying tourbillon compensates for the effects of gravity on the balance wheel by rotating the cage that houses it. However, unlike the traditional tourbillon, the flying tourbillon’s cage is supported only by its lower bridge, minus an upper bar. Without this additional support, it is elevated above everything. With its more complex design, there is a need for more solid construction, and Breguet was certainly up for the challenge.
The well-renowned brand accentuates the suspended quality of the flying tourbillon by using a mysterious design. In the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255, the lower bridge and the lower support of the tourbillon carriage are rendered in sapphire glass with an anti-reflective coating, making them invisible to the naked eye. The point of contact between the gears and the carriage is not visible, hidden from view by the dial. This gives the illusion that the tourbillon is unimpeded, seemingly untethered, and floating freely as if by magic.
Apart from its exquisite structure, the watch also bears an otherworldly word in its name: Sidéral. This is no accident, as it evokes stars, the precision of celestial movements, and the measurement of time by the heavens. It refers to astronomical time based not on the sun, but on the fixed position of the stars, thereby suggesting a more rigorous, universe-oriented notion of time. In line with this, Breguet has also chosen—for the first time in its history—to create a dial with aventurine enamel. Dedicated to astronomy, the deep blue dial is punctuated with sparkling inclusions to represent stars. Meticulously crafted by hand, each aventurine enamel dial is singular and no two will ever be the same, making every timepiece of the 50-piece limited edition Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255 truly unique.
A testament to the vision and legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet, these commemorative models embody the beauty, innovation, and exquisite craftsmanship synonymous with the brand. However, they are only a small part of the anniversary offerings as the esteemed House will continue to unveil other novelties throughout the year. This proves that even after 250 years, Breguet remains a beacon of watchmaking as it continues to innovate and inspire.
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