Marcus Hanke
[PuristSPro Moderator]
11515
Baselworld 2012 - PuristSPro report: Breguet
by foversta
A visit at the Breguet booth is a must-do for me at the Baselworld Fair.
Year after year, it makes me understand the strategy of Swatch Group
with its most prestigious brand and I can feel now the strong ambition
behind. Several years ago, I had some difficulties to feel what was the
global direction behind the projects but now, things are much clearer to
my mind. The will from Swatch Group is to build with Breguet a strong
watchmaking excellence pole involved in innovation and taking advantage
of the huge asset brought by the prestigious name of the brand. You
know, during the past years, it was not that obvious for me to
understand why Breguet watches were using silicon. it was a
sort of surprising contrast between the very classic design and the
presence of a highly-innovative material. Was Breguet the best context
to launch such contemporary approach of
watchmaking?
And I believe now that the
answer is yes. After all, A.L.Breguet himself was guided by this quest
for the best accuracy, for constant improvements and to
achieve these goals, he innovated a lot. So let's say that the use of
new materials, high frequency movements have to be considered as the
continuation of the spirit of A.L.Breguet and so that they are
faithful to his heritage.
Several days after my
visit at the booth, I have the following impression: Breguet presented a
not that large 2012 collection and it is a very positive point. It is a
solid collection with a good balance between men's and ladies' watches,
with the addition of useful complications and the presence of
a timepiece with a technical
breakthrough.
Let's start with one of the most
impressive watches: the Tradition
Tourbillon Chaîne-Fusée in PG.
This is
truly a superlative watch due to the feeling of depth it gives. I was
not a great fan of the initial version when it was unveiled several
years ago due to the fact that I thought that the overall thickness (and
the glass shape) was far from the Breguet's elegance criterias. But we
need to analyse the watch differently. The Tradition Tourbillon
Chaîne-Fusée is before any other consideration a hypnotizing watch
(there is something magic to observe the Tourbillon and the chaîne
behaviours). Shape of the glass provides a superb view on the complex
front side. This watch is a subtle mix between classicism and modernity.
Off-centered dial at 7 o'clock gives enough room to the impressive
Tourbillon at 1 o'clock. Its large bridge is made of Titanium and its
shape is coherent with the design of the other bridges on the dial. You
will notice that the power reserve indicator (movement has 50 hours of
power reserve) is located on the barrel drum.
Why do I
like this new PG version? I like it due to its colours atmosphere, the
contrast between the dial and the plate and the bridges and the warm
details brought by the case. The watch has a bulky size due to a small
diameter (41mm)/thickness (15,95mm) ratio but remains elegant on the
wrist thanks to the depth front side and the PG case. As we can guess it
with Breguet strategy, spiral is made of silicom while
balance wheel is made of Titanium.
This new Tradition Tourbillon Chaîne-Fusée (ref
7047BR) is a very surprising watch. After the first seconds
surprise due to its height, the charm starts to work and we can spend
hours watching the front side details. But don't forget to buy suitable
shirts for this kind of case! If not, the watch will not go under the
sleeve!
We stay in the Tradition world with a
wonderful addition in the collection: the Tradition GMT (ref 7067). When the Tradition was
introduced in 2005, we were a lot to think that some useful
complications would be added in order to take advange of the
off-centered dial, of the space available front side and of the 3D
lay-out. I believe that this year, the addition of a second timezone
display (and its related nigh/day indicator) is truly the first step in
this direction. And I have to confess that it works pretty
well.
Why? Because despite a busy front side (the key
elements of the mechanism remain visible to be faithful to the
Tradition DNA), the legibility of the main functions is preserved. Local
time is read on the "main" dial at 12 o'clock. Its silver color
attracts easily our sight and we are not confused with the second black
coated dial, located at 8 o'clock which gives the time of the city of
reference. Night/day indicator is located between the two dials at 10
o'clock. Second timezone time can be set thanks to the pusher located at
10 o'clock. If I'm not wrong, the watch doesn't handle half-hour
steps.
Movement is the handwind 507 DRF which has a
power reserve of 50 hours and a 3hz frequency.
Second
timezone display starts to be one of the fav Breguet complications
because as you may remember, the Hora Mundi was presented one year ago.
But the Hora Mundi is much more complex than the Timezone due to the
ability to "programm" it and to display the city of reference. The
Tradition 7067 GMT doesn't play the same league: its simplicity is more
than welcome in its specific context. Case diameter is 40mm. When we
turn over the watch, we discover the slate movement. And it is another
good surprise: it is more enjoyable than expected thanks to its 3 3D
bridges and the nice power reserve indicator. The available
space is more occupied which is good news.
This
Tradition 7067 GMT is maybe my fav Breguet novelty this
year.
We leave the Tradition collection but we
stay with a similar complication with the Marine ref 5857 which also features a
second timezone display. Local time is displayed by the main hands while
the reference time is located on the subdial at 6 o'clock. A 24 hours
ring is used at 2 o'clock instead of the night/day
indicator.
I will be frank with you: I don't like
this watch. Actually, I was never convinced by the new style of the
Marine collection. I understand that it is a strong pillar in Breguet
strategy in order to propose a "sport chic" offer as we say in French
especially to new markets less seduced by the classic
collection.
This Marine watch, especially with the PG
case is far from being a sober watch. Case is rather massive and the
prominent lugs will not give an opposite feeling. The contrast between
the black dial and the PG case enhances the "gold" presence. Finishings
of the case and of the dial are flawless. But I'm not a fan of the hands
filled with superluminova and the use of the rubber
strap.
It is after all a matter of taste, this watch
doesn't speak to me and sure that it will seduce its targetted clients.
But I still regret the old Marine line... On the positive side, work on
the case is really impressive and I still like the rotor of the movement
517F. Its power reserve is 72 hours, its frequency 4hz and it features
inverted in-line lever escapement and flat balance-spring in silicon.
Case diameter is 42mm with a thickness of
12,25mm.
The Marine ref 5857 is also available in SS
with blued hands and figures.
The Classique Chronométrie ref 7727 is maybe the
watch which symbolizes the best current Breguet strategy: the watch,
behind its elegant and timeless design houses a very innovative caliber
which surprises us even dial side (I will explain
why).
We know that Breguet already presented a 10hz
frequency movement but it was in a context of a chronograph. This time,
message is totally focussed on chronometry with an impressive gathering
of "know-how" from Breguet Manufacture.
The
regulating organ (spring, pallet lever and escape-wheel) is made of
silicon what allows to get a high-frequency mechanism with a
conventional spring and with a quite large power reserve (60 hours which
is a strong performance).
Use of silicon is not
enough to reach such frequency during 60 hours if you don't want that
your watch looks like a plate. Breguet improved the behaviour of the
balance axis thanks to its innovative approach in magnetism. The two
endstones incorporate micro-magnets in order to create a kind of
magnetic flux through the balance axis and so to get a more stable
performance. Moreover, this magnetic flux also has a role of shock
absorber.
10hz frequency is not only purely theorical
here: we can also feel it, see it thanks to the use of a small hand at
12 o'clock which does a full revolution every two seconds. There is a
nice contrast between the usual second hand located at 12 o'clock (like a
true regulator watch) and the small hand which acts like a permanent
foudroyante.
Dial layout is rather original due to
the position of the small second hand and of the power reserve. On the
left side, the "10hz" written in red reminds us the main feature of the
movement. The font and colour of this indication is totally out of
context and will be changed for the final version of the Classique
Chronométrie. At least, I hope so. I would say that the better move
would be to remove it from the dial, a client who buys this special
watch knows the frequency of the movement... and the small hand is
already a nice reminder.
Caliber 574 DR has a
beautiful architecture which underlines the presence of two barrels. The
most interesting point is of course the original endstone on the
balance axis which gives a clue about the technical advance of the
movement.
I can't wait to discover the final version
of the watch. Thanks to the innovation it containts, its overall
performance (accuracy is expected to be between -2 and +2 seconds per
day so a much smaller range than the COSC) and its elegance (case
diameter is 41mm), this Classique Chronométrie ref 7727 will become a
sort of flagship watch for Breguet.
Look at the smallest hand on top of the
dial:
I propose you to discover now four Ladies' watches.
I was seduced by this Heritage Moonphases ref 8860. It features a tonneau shaped case (34 x 25mm) and a nice moophases display at 1 o'clock. Caliber 586L has a power reserve of 40 hours. As a great fan of watches with moonphases display without any date indicator, I found that this Heritage was charming. You will notice that the center of the dial is made of MOP.
I thought that Josephine Baker was missing when the Reine de Naples ref 8928BB was presented to me. I like the Reine de Naples, I still consider it as one of the most beautiful Ladies' watches of the industry. The gold Charleston bracelet entirely transforms the style of the watch. From a classic one, thanks to the use of this bracelet, we get a totally crazy watch!
Two other Reine de Naples were unveiled like this ref 8908BB and its typical bracelet and the 117 diamonds set on the bezel. Lastly, the ref 8928BR is the purest, the easiest to be worn. There isn't any additional complication here, just an elegant MOP dial and 139 diamonds set on several locations like the bezel or the dial frange.
My report is over now. Sadly I missed some novelties like the Heritage Chronograph ref 5400 but I could see and handle the main timepieces of the year.
I would like to thank a lot the Breguet team for the warm welcome.
Fr.Xavier
