Yesterday Friday June 26th, I attended the Tourbillon Day event at the Breguet Boutique in Beverly Hills.  It's unusual for an event to occur on a Friday at 5pm since people are starting to get off work or heading out of town for the weekend, but this past Friday was an exception because on June 26, 1801, Abraham Louis Breguet patented the tourbillon.  And so, we have #TourbillonDay at the Breguet Boutique!

I was the first guest to arrive and enjoyed a glass of champagne while I rested myself after a 2 hour drive in rush hour traffic.  Tasty hors devours such as crab cakes and duck made their way throughout the event by the diligent wait staff.

At around 5:50pm, the vivacious and spirited Liliana Chen, Breguet USA's PR Manager, gives her opening words and welcomes everyone for attending.

Liliana then hands it off to Richard Benefield, deputy director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.  From Sept 19, 2015 to Jan 2016 in San Francisco, there will be a “BREGUET: Art and Innovation in Watchmaking” exhibition at the Legion of Honor to showcase the largest collection of Breguet timepieces ever to be seen in the Americas.  You can find more info on this upcoming event in September here:  https://legionofhonor.famsf.org/exhibitions/breguet

What's a party without a beautiful cake?  After the above speeches, we finally cut this amazing 3-layer Tourbillon cake.  It tasted as delicious as how fabulous it looks!  For you hardcore watch fanatics, please raise your hand if you want this as your next birthday cake

Since it's #TourbillonDay, Breguet brought in a lot of the heavy big hitters for this event.  A plethora of tourbillons were in the display cases.

Let's take a look at some of them.  First off is this exquisite tonneau case tourbillon watch from the Breguet Heritage collection.  It reminds me of a Franck Muller watch but it incorporates Breguet design and a curved caseback for better comfort on the wrist.  Supposedly, Mr. Hayek Sr. himself even looks after the Heritage collection.

This platinum Heritage Tourbillon retails for around $142k and is one serious contender for anyone looking for a power watch.  Once you strap this bad boy tight on the wrist, you'll be dreaming about it all day long! 

Thanks to Mr. Benefield for being my wrist model in the below picture.
 
 
 

Next Tourbillon is the biggest and baddest of them all - the whopping 50mm Breguet Double Tourbillon Classique in platinum with pave diamonds. 

Retail price is approximately $822k.  The two tourbillons are attached together by a bridge to a center plate which does a full rotation once every 12 hours.

 

This piece is a great showcase piece but not really practical to wear on the wrist should you be a mere mortal like me.  The watch lugs will protrude outward from your wrist, so you got to be as big as Arnold Schwarznegger to be able to pull off this monster 50mm timepiece.

 

Below is one of the most beautiful traditional designed watches that Breguet makes today, IMHO of course - the 39mm Classique Tourbillon.  There's also the slightly larger 41mm version Classique 3795 for those wanting the option of a more legible dial.

 

And now is my favorite Breguet Tourbillon of all - the Tradition 7047 tourbillon in platinum with fusee chain.  Retail price is approximately $190k. 

 

When you wear this on the wrist, you'll need to strap it on tight because it's fairly thick and top heavy given the 41mm case is platinum.  Below is a quick video of this tourbillon in action:

Next is the Breguet Tourbillon Messidor 5335 which houses a 40mm rose gold case.  Retail price on this beauty is approximately $168k.

 

Notice the tourbillon bridge is "invisible".  I love the skeletonization of the bridges and movement plates in this timepiece.

Even this fellow guest wanted to appreciate the skeletonization by looking through a loupe! 

The last tourbillon I'm highlighting in my report is the Breguet Marine Tourbillon 5837 with a black rhodium dial.

I consider this piece to be my least favorite tourbillon at the store.  Why?  Because it feels too chunky with the metal bracelet and the dial design could be much improved upon IMO.

 

Here are a couple more event pictures with guests mingling and trying on various Breguet watches.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read my report, and a big thank you to Breguet for a great event.  A nice way to end the evening is eating the perfect farewell gift - a tourbillon macaroon!

Cheers,
Anthony