Founded and developed by the famous genius watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet, Breguet continues to have a strong commitment to movements. Learn about Breguet's achievements in creating numerous complicated mechanisms, the characteristics of their movements, and check out their representative models.
The invention of the first Breguet, who created the prototype of the wristwatch
Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), the founder of Breguet, achieved many groundbreaking inventions that have gone down in history. Let's take a look at some of the representative mechanisms developed by Breguet, which form the basis of luxury mechanical watches.
Reliable automatic winding mechanism
The automatic winding mechanism, which is now the mainstream in mechanical watches, was first developed by Breguet as a reliable mechanism suitable for practical use.
In 1780, Breguet presented the first automatic watch, the Perpétuelle, to the Duke of Orléans, a member of the French royal family, and since then the name Breguet has become known throughout Europe.
The development of the Perpétuelle, which was unique not only in its functionality but also in its design, is known as Breguet's first major success as a watchmaker.
A tourbillon that negates the effects of gravity
Breguet believed that gravity was the greatest enemy that disrupted the regularity of the movement. Because pocket watches are held upright for long periods of time, this had a significant impact on accuracy. Therefore, he developed the "tourbillon" as a mechanism to minimize the effects of gravity.
By housing the entire escapement inside a moving carriage that rotates once per minute, the force of gravity acting in one direction is counterbalanced, and the rotation of the balance within the bearings improves lubrication by providing a constantly changing contact point.
Breguet obtained the patent for the tourbillon in 1801. The invention of the tourbillon, a brilliant invention in the history of watches, is still celebrated as a great achievement even today, when watchmaking technology has made great advances.
Breguet's successors have continued to pay homage to this great invention through the various watches they have produced to this day in honor of their founder.
Minute Repeaters and Perpetual Calendars
The minute repeater, which told the time by sound, was introduced at the end of the 17th century, but Breguet improved it and in 1783 created a gong-type repeater that sounded on a leaf spring.
Until then, the gong mechanism, which used a hammer to strike the case, was the mainstream repeater mechanism, but the gong mechanism created by Breguet was adopted by many watchmakers since its creation.
Breguet also created the perpetual calendar, a complex mechanism that automatically corrects for differences in the number of days at the end of the month and during leap years.
The conventional calendar mechanism, which required manual adjustment, was transformed by Breguet into a revolutionary mechanism.
Breguet and the Movement
Since its founding, Breguet has continued to put a great deal of effort into movement development. Let's take a look at Breguet's history of contributing to the development of watchmaking technology.
The legendary chronograph caliber 2320
Breguet's manual-winding chronograph movement, Caliber 2320, is a mechanism known as a legendary chronograph.
It was based on a movement by Albert Piguet, a leading Lemania designer, and was further improved upon, and even after being renamed Caliber 2310, it has been used in watches from top brands for decades.
The caliber 2320, which boasted excellent performance, and the subsequent caliber 2310, are mechanisms that are said to be the foundation of modern chronographs.
Not sticking to completely in-house production, but also improving Lemania products
Breguet has not always insisted on producing all of its movements in-house. For example, the aforementioned Caliber 2320 is based on a Lemania movement.
Breguet has made significant contributions to the development of watchmaking technology, and this commitment remains unchanged to this day. In 2006, the company introduced silicon for its escape wheels and pallet forks, which allows for precise molding of complex shapes, reduces the influence of magnetic fields, and provides excellent resistance to corrosion and wear.
