Breguet continues to celebrate their 250th anniversary this year with the release of two special Classique references that pay tribute to the brand’s origins, while also proving a showcase of their modern watchmaking chops. The watches are the Classique 7225 and 7235, and together, they offer an intimate look at what made Breguet a standout name in the 18th century, and has carried through in a manner more relevant than ever in the 21st century. This is Breguet at their best, and a reminder that the magic is still there, not just aesthetically, but also mechanically.
Both of these watches are rendered almost entirely from Breguet’s proprietary 18K Breguet gold, which accepts the brand’s hallmark finishing techniques with stunning grace. These are seriously beautiful watches, and a wonderful celebration of the small details that set Abraham-Louis Breguet’s work apart back in 1775, and continue to have a profound impact on the industry today. This began with a pocket-watch called the No. 5 delivered in March of 1794 to François Jourgnac Saint-Méard, which boasted a fine guilloché texture broken into segments to clearly delineate each complication laid out asymmetrically. We also find a set of the now iconic Breguet hands. This helped to cast the die for what has become synonymous with Breguet style.
From this pocket-watch, Breguet created the wrist watch Classique 7235, housing the same set of complications laid out in the same asymmetrical manner. The dial itself is even non-flat, recreating the subtle curvature found in the No. 5. The 18K Breguet gold dial is finished with a guilloché “Quai de l’Horloge” motif with distinct segments for the power reserve, the moonphase, and the running seconds indication. The finish is mirrored on the case walls. As a whole, this design exemplifies the very best of the Breguet design DNA, and serves as a compelling reminder of its allure across centuries.
Inside the 39mm by 9.9mm case sits Breguet’s automatic caliber 502.3.DRL, which may seem an odd choice for a watch such as this, but it is a nod to the automatic winding system found in the No. 5. Unlike the pocket-watch, however, the 502.3.DRL gets a silicon balance spring within an inverted silicon lever escapement. The movement is finished with a design of the “Turgot” map depicting the Quai de l’Horloge, where the Breguet’s workshops were located.
The Classique 7235 alone would make a fitting anniversary tribute, but Breguet is pairing with another, the Classique 7225, which follows a similar aesthetic formula, but presents more of the brand’s watchmaking knowhow both past and present. The 7225 takes its inspiration from a pocket-watch built between 1802 and 1809 called the No. 1176, one of the first four watches to be equipped with a four-minute tourbillon. It is this pocket-watch from which the 7235 inherits its design, as well as its technical motivations, which are counteracting the effects of gravity on the regulating organ of the movement.
Instead of using a tourbillon, the Classique 7225 uses a magnetic pivot system that Breguet has been developing for over a decade. This hand-wound Caliber 74SC sets the balance staff between two micro-magnets, creating stability for the rotation of the staff through the magnetic field generated between two magnets, thus freeing the pivot from the effects of gravity.
These magnets keep frictional forces on the staff to a minimum, and just as importantly keep it stable in all six positions. Only the tip of the axis pivots against a jewel, allowing the magnets to do much of the heavy lifting in keeping this in place, even in the face of impacts. Also helping in keeping the rate stable is a beat rate of 10Hz.
An easter egg present here can be found in the escape wheel, which gets a phenakistoscope-type kinematic animation displaying the years “1775” and “2025” in succession. This is a particularly fun detail considering it isn’t exactly visible on the dial side or the movement side, but it’s a sign of the level of detail put into the watch as a whole. The result of this trick magnetic pivot system and high frequency operation, by the way, is a certified +/- 1 second per day of accuracy.
Oh, and the Classique 7225 has two sub-dials with a seconds display, one for the running seconds, and one for an “observation” seconds which has a flyback function that can be used with the press of the lever style button in the case at eight o’clock. Finally, a power reserve is set at the very bottom, tracking all 60 hours available. All this is set within an 18K Breguet gold case measuring 41mm in diameter and 10.7mm in thickness.
The Classique 7225 will be a regular production timepiece, and is priced at CHF 75,000. Conversely, the Classique 7235 will be limited to 250 numbered examples, and will be priced at CHF 65,000. Breguet