612 articles · 7 videos found · page 16 of 21
Breguet's 1801 rotating-cage escapement, explained.
The coiled spring that controls the balance wheel; Huygens 1675, Breguet overcoil 1795.
Designer behind modern Breguet 1973-89 and the eponymous Daniel Roth brand with its double-ellipse case.
The cursive italic Arabic numerals designed by Abraham-Louis Breguet ~1790; canonical haute-horlogerie dress watch numeral.
Quill & Pad
Watch bracelets are often as underrated as housekeeping in a good hotel: they are commonly taken for granted. Collectors usually focus on the shape of the case and look of the dial first, with the movement coming in a close second. Here Martin Green takes a closer look at four new watches of 2020 whose full-metal bracelets significantly change the look of them.
SJX Watches
A French watchmaker who is just 23 years old, Rémy Cools has just revealed the finished prototype of his debut watch, the Tourbillon Souscription. Mr Cools’ creation is a large watch with no visible crown, giving it a contemporary silhouette, but the look is still heavily classical in style, with the movement and dial strongly influenced by 19th century watchmaking, especially the work of Abraham-Louis Breguet and Jacques Frédéric Houriet according to Mr Cools. Initial thoughts I met Mr Cools at Baselworld 2019 and got to examine the unfinished prototype. It was complete and working, but had not yet been decorated. The prototype was an extremely striking watch, with a strong pocket watch aesthetic but still unique. While clearly modelled on the works of Breguet, it manages to avoid looking like a Breguet. Now that the watch is finished, it is no doubt more impressive; Mr Cools’ photos of the movement and its parts reveal an impressively high level of decoration. Two things go against the watch. One is the pair of crowns on the case back. They are easy enough to use, but feel unnecessarily complicated. The crowns, however, are probably something you get used to and forget about afterwards. The second drawback is the massive height of the watch, which is only 40 mm wide. It stands 15 mm high – including 7 mm of domed sapphire crystal – which gives it a really tall profile. And the thickness is accentuated by the relatively small diameter. That said, the height is ...
Deployant
Breguet updates the Marine line with three new models - the Marine 5517, the Chronographe 5527, and the Alarme Musicale 5547.
Quill & Pad
In 1783, just as the queen of France, Marie Antoinette, was sitting for a portrait, an officer of the queen’s guard visited Abraham-Louis Breguet’s workshop: Queen Marie Antoinette desired a pocket watch containing all known horological complications at the time. It took 44 years to complete and is perhaps the most famous watch in history, as much for its intriguing story as its ingenious mechanics.
SJX Watches
One of the grandest and oldest watchmakers in the world, Breguet was founded in 1775 and usually sticks to watches very much rooted in tradition. Even its high jewellery timepieces are elaborate and lavish, but still old school. The new Marine Haute Joaillerie 9509 Poseidonia, however, is a strikingly lively, ocean-inspired jewellery watch. Named after the Posidonia oceanica, a seagrass found the Mediterranean sometimes known as Neptune grass, the new Marine has an iridescent mother-of-pearl dial invisibly set with 85 gemstones to form an elegant floating-seagrass motif surrounded by baguette-cut gemstones. It’s very different from the usual Breguet fare – in a good way – especially in the coloured gemstone versions. The Poseidonia is available four variations, each distinguished by the combination of gemstones. While the diamond version is set only with diamonds, the emerald, ruby, and sapphire models are each set with a variety of gems – amethysts and tsavorites on the sapphire version for instance – to create a rainbow-hued decor. The ruby And emerald Initial thoughts Breguet has a penchant for making high-jewellery timepieces inspired by nature. Thematically, the Poseidonia is no different, but it is far, far more spectacular in visual effect. Going by the photos, the watch will no doubt be dazzling and unapologetically luxe – and a world away from the restrained elegance of the Marine for men. Watches that have been liberally set with gems tend to b...
Hodinkee
A high-end take on the alarm complication gets a bracelet to match.
Hodinkee
The ultimate Breguet Marine adds a new colorway with unique details to match.
Hodinkee
A spectacular collection from some of the most revered watchmakers of all time.
Quill & Pad
Following part one and two of this series of auctions, the third in this four-part series by Sotheby’s called Masterworks of Time is entitled "Abraham-Louis Breguet, Horologist Extraordinaire." Extraordinarily, this auction comprising only pocket watches by Breguet and other masters will take place online, beginning on June 3, 2020 at 4:00 pm CET.
Quill & Pad
When Bhanu Chropra visited Israel on a business trip in 2019, a colleague suggested a short visit to see the historically important sites in Jerusalem, and knowing his passion for horology said that he had a special surprise for him: visiting the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art. The museum holds one of the world’s most horologically significant pocket watch, clock, and automaton collections, and the star of the show is Breguet No. 160, aka “the Marie Antoinette.”
Time+Tide
Whether it’s the Breguet pocket watch that belongs to the dastardly Baron Danglars in The Count of Monte Cristo or the orange-dialled Doxa worn by Dirk Pitt in Clive Cussler’s novels, the literary world is full of watches. Sometimes they’re mentioned as passing details to flesh out a character’s appearance. Sometimes a character’s wristwear comes … ContinuedThe post From Hemingway’s Rolex to Murakami’s vintage Heuer – the 7 best watch quotes from literature appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.
SJX Watches
An educator turned guilloche specialist, Joshua Shapiro launched his namesake brand, J.N. Shapiro, in 2018 with the Infinity Series. a classically-styled wristwatch with a hand-made guilloche dial featuring a nested engine-turned pattern of his own invention. His latest creation is the Infinity Series P.01, a collaboration with Collective, an American watch-collector club. Though it looks similar to the standard Infinity Series at first glance, the P.01 most definitely isn’t. While it does have a guilloche dial, the dial material is not the usual silver and gold, but meteorite – a first in watchmaking. Initial thoughts Two things stand set the P.01 apart from Mr Shapiro’s work so far. The first is tangibly impressive – an engine-turned meteorite dial, a significant accomplishment in terms of craft and skill. The result is a striking surface that overlays the natural and random Widmanstätten pattern of the meteorite with Mr Shapiro’s sharply-executed engine turning, which sounds confusing but appears to be a pleasing mix of order and chaos. But perhaps more important for J.N. Shapiro as a brand is the brand-new serif typeface for the Arabic hour numerals. Designed with the help of an artist, the numerals give the watch a style that’s distinct – and more 20th century contemporary – compared to the typical J.N. Shapiro watch that features Roman numerals and a Breguet-inspired aesthetic. And the P.01 starts at US$21,500 in steel, which is not that much mor...
Revolution
Breguet’s legendary Reine de Naples collection enters a new chapter with a new dial finished in Grand Feu enamel.
Deployant
Breguet adds a grand feu enamel dial to the popular Reine de Naples collection - here are the details of the 8918 Grand Feu,
SJX Watches
Breguet’s Reine de Naples has an unusual distinction in modern watchmaking, being an iconic ladies’ watch design of the 21st century. Characterised by an egg-shaped case, the Reine de Naples was inspired by a long-lost watch made for the Queen of Naples in 1810. The watch has long been available with a variety of dials, from carved seashell cameo to guilloche gold, but not enamel – perhaps a surprise given the frequent use of enamel dials on Breguet’s watches for men. But now enamel is no longer the exception with the debut of the Reine de Naples 8918 with grand feu enamel dial. Initial thoughts The Reine de Naples – named after Napoleon’s sister Caroline Bonaparte, who ordered the long-lost watch while she was Queen of Naples – is available in a bewildering variety of guises covering the entire price spectrum. While the entry-level models tend to look, well, entry-level, the high-end models can be quite exquisite. Going by photos, the new version with an enamel dial falls into the latter category. The enamel dial is simple but distinguished by elegant details like the graceful serifs on the numerals and the quirky minute track inspired by 19th century pocket watches. And the quality promises to be excellent, from dial to movement, going by everything else that Breguet does. It costs a bit under US$40,000, which is mid-range for a Reine de Naples, but reasonable as far as diamond-set ladies’ watches go, especially with a grand feu enamel dial. Diamonds an...
Hodinkee
An elegant watch, for a more civilized age.
Hodinkee
Monsieur Breguet meets Herr Kurt Klaus.
Quill & Pad
The Breguet Classique 7337 and 7337 take the brand's historic "DNA" and upgrades that with new guilloche and blue dials. But what's that got to do with Joshua Munchow's nose? You'll learn the answer to that here.
Quill & Pad
The watches Breguet has created using the exquisitely rare and beautiful cameo carving technique for its Cammea collection should remain heirlooms for the ages. Elizabeth Doerr explains why.
SJX Watches
Given that the tourbillon was invented for the pocket watch, adapting Abraham-Louis Breguet’s invention for the wristwatch opened the floodgate for tourbillon innovations in the beginning of the 21st century – the golden age of the tourbillon, perhaps technically but surely commercially. In fact, many watchmakers have gone far beyond the traditional concept of a tourbillon since English watchmaker Anthony G. Randall invented the double-axis tourbillon in 1978. But as the years passed, tourbillons evolved into elaborate constructions seemingly just for the sake of visual complexity. And there have been so many of them. For this reason, exotic tourbillons now seem dated, with sophisticated or truly interesting technical solutions being hard to come by. Potter and Purnell But the latest development in tourbillons is one of the most intriguing of recent times: maximising the visual effect of a tourbillon regulator not just by multiplying the axes of rotation, but speeding them up with the use of a specialised escapement invented two centuries ago by Albert H. Potter, a highly regarded American watchmaker based Geneva. The full potential of the Potter escapement was recently realised when it was combined with a carrousel outer cage in the MB&F; LM Thunderdome, the world’s fastest rotating triple-axis tourbillon. But the concept was first applied, arguably in a more elaborate manner, in the Spherion tourbillon of Purnell – which was developed by the same watchmaker behin...
Revolution
The flagship of Breguet’s Marine line is just as impressive in grey and gold.
SJX Watches
One of the most exotic Breguet watches in production today, the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 combines a tourbillon regulator, perpetual calendar, and running equation of time. Complexity aside, the watch is mechanically fascinating: the traditional complications within are executed in a modern and practical way. The equation of time, for instance, relies on an open-worked cam produced via the high-tech LIGA photolithography technique. And the tourbillon cage is lightweight titanium with a silicon escapement, while the automatic winding is equipped with a peripheral rotor. Breguet has now introduced a new version of the grand complication, in pink gold with a slate-grey dial. While it is mechanically identical to the two earlier versions – in platinum with a blue dial or pink gold with a silver dial – the new watch is striking and harmonious, shedding a bit of the sports-watch aesthetic of the Marine by way of the richer colours. Being a facelift, the dimensions of the watch remain unchanged. It is still a massive 43.9 mm in width, though a svelte 11.75 mm high, thanks to the ultra-thin movement inside. Like the movement, aesthetics across the case and dial are very much a blend of new and old. The case has the traditional fluted band, but is paired with modern integrated lugs. Similarly, the dial is solid gold and decorated with traditionally-executed guilloche engraved with a rose engine, but in a modern, stylised wave motif. In a nod to the age-o...
Quill & Pad
The Naked Watchmaker (TNW), aka Peter Speake-Marin, does a series of deconstructions of a broad selection of modern Breguet watches and movements, starting with the Classique 5177, a relatively simple (for Breguet) three-hand dress watch with date. Here Ian shares a few details that The Naked Watchmaker didn't reveal.
Hodinkee
A new case and dial for one of Breguet's most complex timepieces.
Deployant
Breguet extends the iconic Classique collection, the 7137 & the 7337 with a rose gold with a silvered dial and in white gold with a “Breguet blue” dial.
Hodinkee
This classic design harkens back to a pocket watch of yore.
Revolution
Breguet unleashes a pair of beautifully decorated calendar models in the Classic line, combining its mastery of traditional watch crafts with an elegant design interface.
SJX Watches
Perhaps the quintessential modern Breguet watches, having been in the line-up for decades, the Classique 7137 and Classique 7337 have elegant proportions and classical dials that showcase the exacting art of traditional engine-turning. And they have just been face-lifted, retaining the traditional look while getting sleeker engine-turning and a streamlined moon phase. Though the changes are slight, the watches differ significantly in look and feel from the initial versions. Unusually, the new dial is also offered in dark blue (with a white gold case), historically an uncommon colour for Breguet. The other combination is the conventional rose gold with a silver dial. Both models feature a slim, 39 mm case with straight lugs and a reeded case band. Mechanically, they are identical to the earlier generation versions. The movements of both watches vary in height and calendar complications, but they share the same ultra-thin cal. 502.3 as the base. The Classique 7337 in pink gold with a silver dial Before going on to the details of the two, it’s worth a quick look at their history. The two models are descended from the refs. 3137 and 3337 respectively, both watches designed by the independent watchmaker Daniel Roth when he helped create the modern Breguet identity in the late 1970s. Mr Roth, in turn, was inspired by important, 19th century Breguet pocket watches; he successfully translated Breguet’s glorious past into the modern era. Being small watches by modern standard...
Deployant
In the spirit of 'better late than never', we bring you the low-down and our thoughts on the Breguet Tradition 7067 in white gold.
Quill & Pad
Early American historian and Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich titled her 2008 book 'Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History.' Ulrich would probably be very interested to know about three famous Swiss and French brands whose very first wristwatches were made for – and in a way by – women. Their watches have made history as some of the first examples of wristwatches in history, too.
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