Results for Breguet

Breguet’s Four New Tourbillons for the 225th Anniversary | with Gregory Kissling, CEO of Breguet

Breguet Drops Four Tourbillon Watches to Mark 225 Years Since the Patent

A quartet of new releases, one returning collector favorite, and a date that matters more than most anniversaries in watchmaking.

First Look - Breguet Releases 3 new Tourbillon Watches for the 225th Anniversary of its Invention

Precisely 225 years ago on this day (on June 26, 1801, or on 7 Messidor An IX, to use the French Republican calendar in force at the time), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted the patent for what is, without a doubt, its most famous invention: the tourbillon. Designed to counter the problem of gravity affecting the […]

In-Depth - The Superbly Elegant new 35mm Breguet Classique Tourbillon 7357

Tourbillon and Breguet are two words that belong in the same story. Indeed, on 26 June 1801, and thus exactly 225 years ago, Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted the patent for his invention, an anti-gravity device that he would name the tourbillon. And today, the brand celebrates this crucial invention by releasing a series of new […]

Fratello Talks: Breguet’s CEO On The Latest Tradition 7047, 225 Years Of The Tourbillon, And The Brand’s Future

On the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon patent, we sit down with Breguet CEO Gregory Kissling to discuss the latest version of the Tourbillon 7047, the brand’s enduring appeal, and the future of one of watchmaking’s most historic names. Before taking the helm at Breguet on October 1st, 2024, Kissling served as Vice President of […] Visit Fratello Talks: Breguet’s CEO On The Latest Tradition 7047, 225 Years Of The Tourbillon, And The Brand’s Future to read the full article.

Breguet Quartet for Tourbillon 225th Anniversary

Enjoying a new lease of life under chief executive Gregory Kissling, Breguet is continuing with the revamp and revival of its product range, this time marking the 225th anniversary of Abraham-Louis Breguet invention of the tourbillon. Breguet is rolling out a quartet of models for the occasion, starting with the compact and enthusiast-oriented Classique Tourbillon ref. 7357 that’s an old school 35 mm in diameter. That’s followed by variants of existing models. The Classique Tourbillon Sidéral ref. 7255PT takes things up a notch with a “mysterious” flying tourbillon and aventurine enamel dial, while the Tradition Tourbillon ref. 7047PT is a new look for the long-tenured model featuring a chain-and-fusee transmission. Lastly the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT gains a translucent, luminous grand feu enamel dial. The enamel dial of the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT features a Super-Luminova star chart Initial thoughts Breguet has steadily refreshed its current line up since Mr Kissling took over, while releasing a handful of all new models, like the innovative Experimentale 1. The new tourbillons mostly fall into the former category; all are based on existing models to varying degrees. Ironically, of the four new models, it’s the entry-level piece that’s arguably the most novel. The Classique Tourbillon 7357 is clearly based on the ref. 3350 of 1989, but it has a new case and dial (but retaining the small case size). The mov...

225 Years After The Tourbillon’s Invention, The Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047 Spins In The Best Of Traditions

The year after Breguet turned 250, the brand celebrates another big milestone, the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon. It does so with several gravity-defying watches, and we had the chance to experience the newest Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047, a platinum 25-piece limited edition outfitted with a spinning one-minute tourbillon and a fascinating fusée-and-chain mechanism. The […] Visit 225 Years After The Tourbillon’s Invention, The Breguet Tradition Tourbillon 7047 Spins In The Best Of Traditions to read the full article.

Breguet Marks the 225th Anniversary of the Tourbillon with Four New Watches

Introducing: Breguet Celebrates the 225th Anniversary of the Tourbillon with Four New Releases, And the Return of a Collector Favorite (Live Pics)

The year was 7 Messidor Year IX—or for those who don't follow the French Republican Calendar, June 26, 1801. After years of intense study and experimentation and some correspondence with his friend John Arnold (who similarly experimented with the concept before his death in 1799), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted a 10-year patent for the "tourbillon." By 1829, Breguet and his workshop would only make 40 watches with the regulating organ, which was designed to eliminate positional errors and distribute oil (which often thickened in place), thereby lubricating parts more evenly. A Breguet four-minute tourbillon watch with échappement naturel, which sold at Sotheby's last year for CHF 1,880,000. Photo courtesy Sotheby's. Well, Abraham-Louis Breguet (and John Arnold) would be proud of how far the concept of the tourbillon has come—he may even be spinning himself if he saw some of the things that have happened with the tourbillon, like Alfred Helwig's invention of the flying tourbillon, let alone the first tourbillon wristwatch—and how many of those concepts have been integrated into watches made under his name. Add to that the fact that Breguet annually makes multiple times the number of his lifetime production, and it's just pretty cool how far things have come in 225 years. The Breguet Experimentale 1, which was launched late last year. The 10Hz, 1-minute tourbillon was one of the most extreme tourbillons ever made. Exposition out of the way, Breguet is celebrating t...

Hands-On: The Breguet Tradition GMT With Green Enamel Dial

Following a whirlwind year of releases for Breguet's 250th anniversary in 2025, this year's recent updates to the collection play it a little safer, with some enamel-focused changes to the brand's iconic Tradition series of watches. The fan favorites, I'm sure, are the 38mm Tradition Seconde Rétrograde models. But when I had a chance to check out some of the novelties a few weeks ago, it was actually the larger, 40mm Tradition GMT that caught my eye. Priced at $82,900, the Tradition GMT is very much a seriously priced contender in the haute horlogerie arena. But one look at the watch shows off so much of what makes it special, and most importantly, it's unabashedly Breguet. Add in the visual update of this current generation, and I think it's the best version I've seen yet. Much of what makes this version stand out is the main subdial at 12 o'clock. It's not every day that Breguet opts for a shade of green in the series—in fact, it's the first time in the Tradition line, as blues, blacks, golds, and greys seem to define much of the older collection. The execution of the gradient green-to-black grand feu enamel dial in this model is absolutely sublime. Enameling is one of the strengths I associate with Breguet's in-house capabilities, and here it's done very well, with a pleasant shade of forest green shifting to the dark black perimeter, all executed and fired by hand. While the Breguet logo and other dial markings are printed in a metallic silver finish for legibility,...

Breguet Classique Chronométrie Ref. 7727: The World’s Most Accurate Mechanical Watch?

The Inventor and the Survivor: Breguet Vs Vacheron Constantin

Put two authentic, luxury timepieces on a table, and you won’t kill a conversation. There may, however, be a second or so of awkward silence, as the recipient takes in what the hand has achieved.

In Depth: Leroy 01

The pocket watch format is experiencing an unexpected renaissance. From auction salerooms to high street queues, collectors of all stripes are talking about pocket watches more than at any time in recent memory. That makes it a perfect time to continue our series on groundbreaking historical pocket watches, including Breguet No. 160. This installment analyses the Leroy 01, which reigned as world’s most complicated watch — by most measures — for 85 years. The calm before the storm On the first of November 1897, Charles Piguet began work on an ébauche for which no contract yet existed. In his workshop at Le Sentier, a stone village strung along the floor of the Vallée de Joux at an altitude where winter arrives early and stays long, he opened a commission that would occupy the better part of seven years and produce the most complicated portable timepiece ever constructed. The formal agreement with his client, the Parisian house of L. Leroy & Cie — formerly known as Le Roy & Fils — would not be signed until January 1898. Piguet started anyway. In the Vallée de Joux, a man’s word was sufficient. This detail — two months of work before the ink dried — says something essential about the relationship between the French brand and the Swiss établisseurs on whom it depended. L. Leroy & Cie, founded in Paris in 1785 by Basile-Charles Leroy, had maintained that relationship across generations. When Louis Leroy, who had acquired the firm in 1889 and established a ma...

Introducing: The Mermont La Parfaite Considers The Simple Art Of Time Telling In Elevated Form (Live Pics)

What We Know If our ability to value our precious time is a gift, then the simplicity of the Mermont La Parfaite reminds us to slow down and savor it. The debut public model from the new Swiss brand is a study in elevated minimalism. A solo hour hand, polished and hand-finished by master watchmaker Nicolas Delaloye, is the centerpiece.  Sculpted and curved with a heart or spade-shaped cutout, the heat-treated, single stainless steel hand has been hand-finished and sits high enough from the dial that it can be observed from multiple angles. It circles the slanted minute track dial once every twelve hours, making precise reading of the time more of a loose, approximate estimate than an exact by-the-second measurement. That's despite the fact that the hand-wound movement is regulated by Delaloye to high accuracy. And that's the point. The pared-down time telling demands one take stock and consider the few, but highly considered design choices from the brand, founded by Swiss-based collector and watch expert Sebastien Bey-Haut, that is produced and assembled in Geneva at Delaloye's facilities. The color-shifting blue dial features a colimaçon sunburst finish, achieved with colored pigments mixed with Zapon varnish. And indeed, seen in person, the colors of the dial can change dramatically depending on the light, from a bright blue to inky navy and even dark purple. The classic slanted minute track is surrounded by printed Breguet-style numerals. While the 'Mermont' brand lo...

Hands On: Nouvelle Chronometrie Montre Ordinaire

One of the most intriguing debuts in independent watchmaking this year is Nouvelle Chronometrie with its Montre Ordinaire. Despite the name, Nouvelle Chronometrie is actually Japanese, and the “ordinary” watch is a tourbillon chronometer inspired by 20th century observatory chronometer watches and dressed in formal Breguet attire. With its rigorously classical design, evident on both the front and back, the Nouvelle Chronometrie is distinctly Japanese at heart in how it careful reproduces and enhances traditional watchmaking – executed with a great deal of attention to detail. Moreover, the manufacturing of the watch is a combination of both old school manual methods and modern technology, reflecting a typically Japanese embrace of technology, not for cost efficiency, but for the sake of quality. Initial thoughts I first came across Nouvelle Chronometrie on Instagram. It was just images of the watch, with no information on the brand’s origins. Then I learnt Nouvelle Chronometrie was founded and led by Noritaka Sakurai, a longtime collector who pivoted to join the industry – which ironically left me a little sceptical. Though I have known Mr Sakurai for a long time and regard him highly as a collector, he was chief executive at Hajime Asaoka’s watchmaking outfit until 2020 – that employer was a red flag for me. Fortunately, Mr Sakurai has left that behind, and has now gone all in with Nouvelle Chronometrie, a project that deserves recognition and praise. Accor...

Complicated Collectors: Edgar Mannheimer

London, 1965. Christie’s had arranged the third and final part of the Sir David Salomons Collection for sale — a sequence of Breguet watches assembled by the Victorian baronet whose obsession with Abraham-Louis Breguet had produced the most important English-language study of the watchmaker’s work. When the bidding closed, one man had bought every lot in the catalogue. Continuing our ongoing Complicated Collectors series, Edgar Mannheimer left an indelible mark on watch collecting. He was 40 years old, and had settled in Zurich a decade earlier with nothing but the instincts he had developed in the post-war black markets of Germany. He was not a collector in the sense that he did not keep what he bought. What he did, with a consistency and conviction that separated him from every other figure in the mid-century horological trade, was understand, ahead of the market, what something was worth. The Salomons lots were subsequently divided between two collectors. It was, in miniature, a portrait of how Mannheimer operated: he absorbed the risk, resolved the complexity, and left his clients with the watches. Neutitschein and Auschwitz Edgar Mannheimer was born on December 23, 1925, in Neutitschein, Moravia, into a family whose presence in the town was visible and established. His father ran Marsmalz, a confectionery business prominent enough to operate the community’s first delivery van — a small but telling detail about the family’s position within a world where Je...

Old-World Guilloché vs. The Geneva Tradition: Breguet and Patek Philippe Compared

Torn between Breguet and Patek Philippe? We compare their royal histories, iconic movements, and market value to help you choose your masterpiece. The post Old-World Guilloché vs. The Geneva Tradition: Breguet and Patek Philippe Compared appeared first on Quill & Pad.

Abraham-Louis Breguet: The Founder of Modern Horology

New releases from Alto, Breguet, Chaykin and more

These past seven days have had several irons in the fire. It’s a longer LWIW list than usual, but I’d really suggest you read to the end, as there’s no filler. From independent brand Alto unveiling a wearable piece of art to Chaykin giving a mystery-clock treatment to the already impressive thinnest watch in the … ContinuedThe post New releases from Alto, Breguet, Chaykin and more appeared first on Time+Tide Watches.

Cleguer Debuts with Proprietary ‘Innate’ Escapement

In the run-up to Watches & Wonders, a new crop of emergent independents is making its debut. But even within a crowded field, the Cleguer Inspiration One manages to stand out with an ambitious proprietary escapement and clever construction. It’s a promising start for founder Mathieu Cleguer, an engineer who’s had a hand in developing several calibres for well-known independent brands. Initial thoughts The artisanal, highly finished time-only watch is a well-worn trope among independents, but occasionally one breaks from the pattern. The Inspiration One from Cleguer Horology is one such watch. Mathieu Cleguer is an industry veteran who has worked as a movement construction consultant and now produces watches under his own name. The opening salvo in what is planned to be a larger ‘Inspiration’ series designed to explore alternative escapements, the Inspiration One is built around the so-called innate escapement, a fresh twist on Breguet’s natural escapement. The system is Mathieu Cleguer’s own design, and from initial analysis it exhibits a surprising degree of ingenuity and is original in its execution. Discreet signature on the interior bezel. The open design - an off-centre dial with exposed escapement - is a familiar arrangement among independents, but the delicacy of the components gives it a refined quality. The 38.5 mm case is well-proportioned, though the 12 mm height borders on tall. While there’s room to develop a more cohesive design language goi...

A Fresh Palette for the Breguet Tradition

Breguet refreshes its Tradition collection for 2026 with new colourways and expanded grand feu enamel dial options across five references, building on the momentum of the brand’s 250th anniversary year. The line-up spans four automatic variants of the Seconde Rétrograde and one manually wound GMT, all underpinned by the architecturally distinctive cal. 505 that has defined the collection since its 2005 introduction. Initial thoughts Inspired by an original Abraham-Louis Breguet’s montres à tact pocket watch from the late 18th century, the Tradition collection, released in 2005, was Breguet’s first major new model family under Swatch Group management. The central barrel placement and unusual gear train arrangement perfectly captures the essence of the original pocket watches, and this aspect of the design remains as recognisable and distinctive as ever, despite the a growing number of independent watchmakers that have introduced watches with a similar layout. In fact, the cal. 505 is so successful as a contemporary interpretation of Breguet’s work that a variation of it was adapted for use in the award-winning Classique Souscription 2025 introduced last year. For 2026, the Tradition collection has been slightly refreshed with modern colourways and more grand feu enamel dial options. The five new models include four automatic variants of the Seconde Rétrograde, one of which features a diamond-set bezel, and one manually wound reference with a dual-time complicatio...

First Look - Breguet Gives a Modern Twist to the Tradition Collection, with 5 new References (Incl. Video)

Born in 2005 as the reference 7027 (a compact 37mm model with power reserve indicator and hand-wound movement), the Breguet Tradition has since become a classic of the brand and one of its most recognisable watches. It’s also one with possibly the strongest connection to the past. It’s not a vintage re-edition done the classic […]

Introducing: The Breguet Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7037

Last year was Breguet’s 250th anniversary, and the brand treated us to many beautiful new watches to mark the occasion. However, it also made me think about how its new leadership would handle the regular collection of Breguet watches. We see the first results today, with the new Breguet Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7037, a previously […] Visit Introducing: The Breguet Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7037 to read the full article.

Complicated Collectors: Sir David Salomons

“How can you make a watch, my dear boy?” His aunt, Jeanette Salomons, then under medical care in St. Leonards-on-Sea, wrote back to her nephew, David Lionel Salomons, in early March 1867, shortly before her death. He was 16, orphaned since his father Philip’s death earlier that year. His mother, Emma Abigail Montefiore, had died when he was eight. At the time, Salomons lived with his uncle, Sir David Salomons (1st Baronet), the Lord Mayor of London, at Great Cumberland Place, near Marble Arch, making frequent visits to a nearby watchmaker’s shop, where he learned to use a lathe and to file metal to tolerances measured in a fraction of an inch. Fifty years later, that teenage training would allow him to assemble the most comprehensive collection of Breguet watches in history. Broomhill Salomons inherited the expansive Broomhill estate in 1873 when he was 22. His uncle, the first Sir David Salomons, had died without children, and the baronetcy passed to his nephew along with the estate near Tunbridge Wells. The house stood on substantial grounds, and Salomons began altering it almost immediately. Broomhill from the south, a photograph by Sir David Lionel Salomons, 1868 (cropped). Album 19, Richard Levy Family Archive. Image – By permission of the Salomons Museum. He built workshops housing machine tools like lathes, drill presses, and milling equipment. Then came electrical apparatus. Then storage for chemicals and photographic equipment. By the 1890s, the workshop...

In Depth: Breguet No. 160 Montre d’Or

Abraham-Louis Breguet’s No. 160 exists first as legend. The standard account describes a secret commission for Marie Antoinette, incomplete when she faced execution, requiring forty-four years to finish. Theft, recovery, mystery, and royal romance: the narrative contains all the necessary elements of mythology. Yet this fame is recent. From its 1783 inscription in the order books through the 19th century, the watch remained largely unknown outside the Breguet workshop but for a few private collectors. Only when Sir David Lionel Salomons acquired it, nearly 140 years later, did the wider horological world learn of its existence, thanks to his careful cataloging and the watch’s public exhibition in 1923. Salomons gave credit to Breguet’s mastery on a scale previously unrecognised, establishing No. 160 as the supreme example of complicated watchmaking and the prime masterpiece of its maker. Sir David Lionel Salomons’s 1921 work on Breguet and the collection he assembled seems to be the first source to mention Marie Antoinette. Image SJX composite – Sotheby’s Subsequently, many sources have reported that the commission demanded every known watch complication and that no time constraints or limits were placed on its design or cost. The workshop records, however, tell a story that differs from both obscurity and legend. No. 160 appears in the 1783 order books as three words: “No. 160, Montre d’Or.” The entry stands alone, anonymous, unexplained and without cont...

Quick look at a legend: Breguet Tradition Collection

Explore the Breguet Tradition Collection in a detailed press release highlighting its historical roots, architectural movement design, signature shock absorber, and insights from Breguet leadership.

Hands On: Breguet Expérimentale 1

The Expérimentale 1 debuted last year as the capstone to the first quarter-millennium of the house of Breguet. We attended the launch event and shared immediate hands-on impressions, but watches like this don’t come along every day, or even every year, so it’s worth a fresh look now that some time has passed and the dust has settled. On paper, the Expérimentale 1 arguably represents the highest form of the mechanical watch. To understand the technical details of what makes the watch so groundbreaking, this in-depth analysis should be considered required reading. In short, the cal. 7250 housed within introduces the first-ever contactless mechanical escapement that simultaneously achieves two feats that Abraham-Louis Breguet himself toiled to accomplish throughout his entire career, namely, an oil-free escapement and stable amplitude. The Expérimentale 1 delivers both, and more. That said, as a wristwatch the Expérimentale 1 is tantalisingly imperfect owing to its polarising design. In fairness, this arguably says more about the difficultly of communicating technical breakthroughs to a non-technical public than it does about the design process at Breguet. It could also be the result of Breguet learning lessons from its own past. A modern (Marine) chronometer The Expérimentale 1 is most notable for its novel escapement and what it signals about the future direction of the brand, but it’s also worth analysing the updated Marine-style case, which is the most challeng...

Introducing - A Classic Rejuvenated, Chronoswiss Releases the Lunar Chronograph Aurora

Chronoswiss was founded in 1983 by German watchmaker Gerd Rüdiger Lang and was sold in early 2012 to Swiss entrepreneurs Oliver and Eva Ebstein, who transferred operations to Lucerne, Switzerland. Known for reviving the regulator layout, Lang’s neoclassical design language, characterised by oversized onion crowns, knurled bezels, guilloché dials and Breguet-inspired features, was modernised by […]

Review: The New Breguet Classique Répétition Minutes 7365

Breguet introduces the Classique Répétition Minutes 7365, an all-new minute repeater reference, in conjunction with the brand's 250th anniversary.

Buying Guide - Honouring the Tourbillon with Six Showstoppers

Since its invention by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801, the tourbillon has remained one of the most mesmerising mechanisms in watchmaking. Often regarded as a complication in its own right, despite not actually indicating anything most of the time, it is a very complex and extremely precise testament to the maker’s abilities, whoever it is. Rotating […]