Breguet

tony p
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Baselworld 2009 - Breguet report (with photos)

Hi all,


Everyone seems to have been waiting with bated breath for some real photos of the new Breguets.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to tell you that you are not to be disappointed. I got'em.

First up: the Classique ref. 5967. A very thin watch with a 41mm diameter. This watch does not appear
on any of Breguet's press materials; nevertheless it was presented at their press conference as a
new watch.

Very similar to the 5157, essentially this is an "updated" version of that model with a larger case (the
5157 was 3mm smaller at 38mm) and featuring a subtly different central guilloché pattern.





No big news, you say? Ordinary, you say? But wait. Turn the watch over, and you are greeted with this:





Yes, that's a Frédéric Piguet cal. 151 ultra-thin pocket-watch movement, and what a gorgeous creature
it is too. Breguet have made no effort to disguise its origins - apart from engraving their name on it in
very large cursive script. Who cares. It's a thing of great beauty, and in my opinion it makes this watch
very, very desirable.

That's not the only winner from Breguet this year. Feast your eyes now upon the Classique Calendar
ref. 7337, a little smaller than the first watch at 39mm, but also very thin and very sexy.





The symmetry of the ref 7337's calendar windows and moonphase display are cleverly offset by an
eccentrical small seconds subregister at 5 o'clock, which is in my opinion a design masterstroke.

When I heard the price, I thought it must be a perpetual calendar. Alas, no. But with its clever layout,
its beautiful blued Breguet hands, and the historical references to old A.-L. Breguet pocket watches
in its design, this watch in my view encapsulates all that is desirable about the Breguet brand.





Now to a design which I consider less successful - the Marine Royale. This is a diving watch with an
alarm, water resistant to 300m. We were told that the alarm has certainly been tested under water
and is louder there than it is on dry land!




Featuring the same movement as Breguet's famous Reveil du Tsar, the Marine Royale (ref 5847)
is available in pink and white gold versions - the latter with a gold dial finished in black rhodium.





To my eyes, the white gold Marine Royale is plain ugly. The pink gold version is a little more
tolerable - although wearing one would certainly be like strapping a gold ingot to your wrist. Definitely
not a watch to wear around the streets of Sao Paolo or Lagos.








There have already been some critical voices raised against the new offerings in the La Tradition
range. "Same old watch in new-fangled colours - doesn't fool us for a moment" seems to be the
sentiment. Well, now you can judge for yourselves.

Pink gold case and movement with black dial -





Pink gold case, grey anthracite movement and black dial. To me, this combo works a little better -





In both cases, the dial is in a gold base with a galvanic surface treatment. The grey movement, on
the other hand, is created through electroplating the gold with an alloy containing "metals of the
platinum family". I didn't know there was such a thing as "metals of the platinum family" - it's either
platinum, or it isn't - but that's what the press release says.








I finish with some photos of the magnificent Double Tourbillon in pink gold, ref. 5347. What a watch.





With over 570 parts and a spectacular astronomical engraving on the the rear movement plate, this is really a watch to be reckoned with.









I have no doubt that the Double Tourbillon will become legendary with passing years, and end up changing
hands at auction for sums far in excess of its already hefty purchase price.





I would like to extend a special thank you to Breguet's Marketing and Communications Manager,
Mr Rudolphe de Pierri, who went to special effort to enable me to to bring this photoessay to you.


Cheers
Tony P


This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2009-05-01 14:55:25