Hodinkee
Hands-On: The Breguet Classique Tourbillon 7357
If there was a way to celebrate the 225th anniversary of Breguet patenting the tourbillon, re-launching a version of the brand's iconic ref. 3350 was the obvious crowd-pleasing option. There was always something charming about that original tourbillon from the 1980s, but there were some downsides too. The new ref. 7357 is Breguet's best effort to solve those downsides, modernize, and give buyers what they say they've wanted for a long time. At a true-to-vintage 35mm diameter by 9.2mm thick (43mm lug-to-lug), with 30m of water resistance, it's the same but different. In a lot of great ways. For those not in the vintage or neo-vintage space, Breguet created an all-time great watch when Daniel Roth (prior to his own brand) worked for Breguet and modified a Nouvelle Lemania ébauche into a compact and impressive tourbillon wristwatch. You can see an original platinum ref. 3357 example below (the quick successor to the 3550). The tourbillon bridge design is different between these generations (both front and rear). The guilloché pattern, finishing, and even the movement-side treatment are different, with a very neo-vintage hand engraving on the earlier example. That watch would forge the future of the Breguet brand and, after Breguet's then-owner, Chaumet, went bankrupt, push Roth to found his own brand, where the tourbillon became a focal point. So let's look at those changes a bit more closely. First things first, the new 7357 is, by no means, a budget option. Coming in at...
