Breguet’s name is not only synonymous with some of the world’s finest luxury watches, it has also played a part in forming the fabric of European cultural heritage. Its founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, is accredited with being one of history’s greatest and most inventive watchmakers and even had commissions from Marie Antoinette.
On 26 June 1801, the legendary horologist launched a pocket watch equipped with a tourbillon, which compensates for Earth’s gravity and offers greater precision, one of the most important innovations in horological history. More than two centuries on, the Swiss luxury watch manufacture has introduced a tribute to the invention with a new interpretation, the Breguet Classique Double Tourbillon “Quai de l’Horloge” 5345.
“Observing a tourbillon in action is like watching a heartbeat,” said Lionel a Marca, CEO of Montres Breguet—and the timepiece has been artistically crafted to be fully skeletonised without a dial, allowing viewers to see the heart of the action. Measuring 46mm in diameter, an ingenious mechanism lies within, including an extraordinary total of 740 individually hand-finished and hand-assembled parts. The mesmerising dance of two tourbillons transformed into hour hands are fully on display. The bar of the duplet is attached to a central mainplate, which rotates every 12 hours; but each tourbillon, incredibly, makes a full turn every minute.
Powered by Breguet’s 588N2 movement, this horological masterpiece blends expert skills with technical sophistication, including several artistic crafts cultivated within the manufacture. A brand new guilloché pattern was created for this timepiece from a dedicated atelier by artisans: the radiant flinqué, a motif visually reminiscent of regular sound waves. Additionally, more than 100 hours were poured into merely creating the engraving on the caseback, an intricate aerial view of the founder’s workshop at 39 Quai de l’Horloge.
These are all contained within an 18K rose gold case with a sapphire-crystal back, accompanied by a sapphire dial and a Breguet-embossed midnight blue rubber strap. This statement timepiece will certainly draw admiration while paying tribute to Breguet’s connoisseurship. Limited pieces are available.
