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It’s a milestone year for luxury watchmaking brand Breguet that received its patent for the tourbillon in 1801, in France. The complex mechanism was conceived in 1795 by Abraham-Louis Breguet to fix time errors in pocket watches. Breguet was already an established watchmaker with French nobility and had several pioneering advancements to his credit when he introduced the idea of an escapement and balance wheel being mounted inside a rotating cage, so that it would compensate for the effect of gravity no matter the position that the watch was in. Not only was the physics behind the concept time-defying, even the skill required to assemble so many tiny parts to achieve high levels of accuracy and tolerances was considerable. Breguet had to spend six years perfecting it and was finally granted a patent for it on June 26, 1801, a fitting capstone to his career. Fast forward to today, the tourbillon remains a highly accurate way of keeping time in a mechanical build and, given the high degree of dexterity needed to execute one, remains a skill mastered by just a handful. Breguet’s tourbillon survives today because its complexity continues to offer scope for refinement.
To commemorate the anniversary of the granting of the patent, Breguet brings the tourbillon back in focus with these timeless haute horlogerie pieces.
The most complicated watch Breguet currently makes—tourbillon, perpetual calendar, and a running equation of time—dressed up for the occasion with a dial depicting the exact night sky over Paris at the moment the tourbillon patent was granted. Each piece can even be personalised with a different sky, date, or location on request. Comes in either a rubber strap or a matching platinum bracelet; limited to 25 pieces.
Breguet’s tourbillon alongside a fusée-and chain mechanism was first documented by Leonardo da Vinci. An unprecedented all-blue treatment sweeps across the dial including the bridges and the tiny chain, with a blue spinel standing in for the usual ruby on the tourbillon bar. The result is a clean look juxtaposed over what is often considered mechanical high theatre; limited to 25 pieces.
The 3350 from 1989 was Breguet’s first modern tourbillon and this reinterpretation is close to the original with its 35mm case, Clous de Paris dial, and barleycorn around the edges, with the tourbillon sitting low and unhurried at six o’clock. There are two versions to choose from: a warm, 18-carat gold one or a cool, grey toned platinum.
Breguet’s first flying tourbillon, paired with a ‘mysterious’ construction where the cage seems to hover with no visible connection to the movement beneath it—the linking gears are there, just fashioned using sapphire crystal discs. This showstopper comes in platinum with a black Grand Feu aventurine enamel dial flecked to look like a night sky; only 50 will be made.