Five things you need to know about Breguet: A luxury watch brand that inherits the legacy of a genius watchmaker

Founded by the legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, Breguet is a luxury watch brand known for its unique features such as Breguet hands and numerals, and for its history as a beloved watch brand for historical figures such as Marie Antoinette and Josephine. Here are five key points about Breguet.

Breguet, a long-established watch brand founded in 1775

　Founded by legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, Breguet has been a brand under the Swatch Group since 1999. In 2003, Breguet acquired the movement factory of Nouvelle Lemania, establishing itself as a manufacture. In 2011, it also acquired the case manufacturer Favre-Perret.

　Abraham-Louis Breguet is known for many inventions related to watches, such as the shock-absorbing device known as the "parachute," the unique Breguet numerals, and the "apple hands." He also invented the keyless winding system, which replaced the use of a key to wind the mainspring instead of a crown.

　However, they are perhaps best known for inventing the tourbillon. Today, Breguet is one of the world's leading tourbillon manufacturers, having received over 900 patents in the field over the past decade.

　Located in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, this modern manufacture cherishes the legacy of the great watchmaker that bears its name, with neoclassical cases, tempered blue Breguet hands, and guilloched dials, which Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced in 1786.

　At the same time, it also incorporates innovative technologies, such as silicon balance, anchor, and hairspring, a high-beat movement with a frequency of 72,000 vibrations per hour, and a magnetic repeater governor for the sonnerie mechanism.

①The Type XX, born as a military pilot's watch

　The Type XX pilot's watch and its siblings, the Type XXI and Type XXII, are Breguet's sporty collection, and their history dates back to the early 1950s, when the French Air Force began looking to provide its pilots with wristwatches equipped with chronographs.

　The French Ministry of Aviation required the Type XX to have the following specifications: a black dial with luminous indices and hands, a movement that could withstand changes in acceleration and air pressure, a flyback mechanism, and a rotating bezel.

　The Type XX prototype was approved by the French Technical Directorate of the Ministry of Aviation in 1953, and from 1954 onwards, France purchased numerous Type XXs from Breguet.

　The French Air Force also allowed Breguet to sell the Type XX to civilians. The second generation, released in 1971, was sold more to civilians than to military use. The third generation was released in 1995, followed by the Type XXI in 2004 and the Type XXII in 2010, featuring a high-frequency movement and a silicon escapement.

　The Type XX, released in 2023, comes in two models. The Type XX 2067 is a civilian version with a 15-minute counter and a 12-hour counter. The other is the military version, the Type 20 2057, which lacks the 12-hour counter and has a 30-minute counter. The Type XX 2067 is based on the 1957 Type XX No. 2988.

　The Type XX 2067's three subdials are coated with beige and brown luminous paint. The Type 20 2057, which belongs to the military model lineage, features two subdials coated with green Super-LumiNova and a conical pilot's crown. Another distinctive feature is the use of Arabic numerals on the dial.

②We also repair watches manufactured in the 19th century

　Breguet also restores watches made by the company in the 19th century, with a special department of four employees dedicated to the repair and restoration of watches made between 1870 and 1970.

　More recent watch repairs are carried out in a workshop in Lorient, France.

3. Famous women throughout history who have been Breguet customers

　Breguet's clientele includes many famous women throughout history, including Marie Antoinette, Queen of France; Madame de Condorcet, a famous salon hostess during the French Revolution; Empress Josephine, wife of Emperor Napoleon I; and Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples and Napoleon I's sister.

　In 1810, Breguet commissioned Caroline Murat to create a small repeating watch. The company's archives show that the watch was fitted with a bracelet made of intertwined hair and gold thread, making it one of the earliest wristwatches.

　Breguet's women's collection, the Reine de Naples, released in 2002, pays homage to this watch.

④Serial number written on the dial

　Most Breguet watches have a three or four digit number on the dial, which is the watch's serial number, or part of it.

　The official serial number is written on the case back and consists of three or four digits and, in some cases, one or two letters, which means that there are watches with different letters but the same numbers.

　All serial numbers are between 250 and 5250.

⑤Tempered Breguet hands

　A distinctive feature of Breguet watches is their blued "Breguet hands." These distinctively shaped hands are completed through over 28 steps. Let me give you a rough outline of the process.

　First, the hands are individually hammered out of a single sheet of stainless steel. Then, they are repeatedly sanded and polished on a special grinding wheel to achieve a surface finish. The hands are then heated to develop a beautiful blue color. Using their experience and trained eye, craftsmen use ovens and open flames to achieve a uniform blue finish.

　The tempered blue Breguet hands, a pair of uniquely styled hour and minute hands, can almost be said to be part of the Breguet brand logo.