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COVER STORY
TRUE TO TRADITION(S)
Sharmila Bertin
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The noun “tradition” from the Latin traditio, which means “action of transmitting”, is of vital importance for modern-day watchmaking as the creation of new watches, the innovation of new mechanisms and the conception of new materials are based on it, on this “way of behaving, this way that customs or beliefs are transmitted from generation to generation inside a group” (Cambridge). It’s an essence, of course, but above all a forwardlooking stimulation, an invitation to excel and to make a new contribution to the industry of time.
You just need to take a glance at the watchmaking scenescape to notice how much it has developed, blossomed, enough to become more accessible so that everyone can find the watch of their
dreams, the one that fulfils their desires, their expectations and their budget, the one that marks a special occasion or is worn on a daily basis. This opportunity or even good fortune to be able to gift yourself with such an object, wished-for for ever so long or bought on an impulse, is all down to great men like AbrahamLouis Breguet (1747-1823) whose work enabled the sector to move forward in great strides.
This craftsman of time, considered as the father of contemporary watchmaking through his numerous mechanical inventions, also redesigned the stylistics of timepiece dials by stripping them of their excess of decorative adornments specific to the period making it easy to read the time of day and, at the same time, infusing them with a one-of-a-kind visual signature. This
TRADITION IS AN ESSENCE, A FORWARD-LOOKING STIMULATION, AN INVITATION TO EXCEL
learned man, born in Neuchâtel where he began his watchmaking studies before moving to Versailles to pursue his apprenticeship with well-known figures such as his fellow-countryman Ferdinand Berthoud (1727-1807) and Gex-born Jean-Antoine Lépine (17201814) then on to Paris to open his workshop at 39 quai de l’Horloge, on Île de la Cité, in 1775, was a visionary. As his intention was to reach as many people as possible, he took an interest in commercializing by introducing the idea of engagement and developed the serial production of watches, objects until then reserved for the elite.
Souscription, future Tradition
The French Revolution, piling on evermore chaos and terror, would mark a turning point in Abraham-Louis Breguet’s life, forcing him to leave Paris for Switzerland in 1793 with his son Antoine-Louis (1776-1858) just seventeen years old. He was obliged to hand over the keys to his business to a trustworthy person, his workshop manager, who kept him informed of everything during his exile through ongoing correspondence. As such, the watchmaker was aware that annual sales of his watches were poor, around thirty-odd pieces between 1795 and 1796. He was also aware that his working capital was virtually zero. He returned to France filled with angst.
When Abraham-Louis Breguet arrived, he quickly noticed there had been a change in clientele, which no longer hinged exclusively on the ‘select few’ but included a large part of the population. An increasing number of people were becoming more and more fascinated with reading the time. Yet, the instruments manufactured back then and intended for everyday use weren’t very reliable and were rather costly. So, in 1796, AbrahamLouis Breguet decided to create a large, easy-to-develop timepiece, equipped with a sturdy 25-line movement boasting a large central barrel delivering a power reserve of 36 hours, and adorned with a dial that was usually white-enamelled, divided into twelve sectors graduated in 30, 15 and 5 minutes, displaying floral-style Arabic or Roman numerals, hovered over by a slimline hollow moontip central hand: the souscription watch. Technically-speaking, it was almost diametrically opposed to all the pieces he had imagined on his Île de la Cité premises.
The word “souscription” (subscription), used towards the end of the 18th century in various fields, from clothing to interior design, involved paying a deposit equivalent to a quarter of the final amount (around 600 pounds), which was paid in full when the watch was handed over. This method of purchase enabled Abraham-Louis Breguet to collect the funds required to ensure he could run his workshop, roll out serial production and procure supplies for making these watches, which were delivered on a first-come, first-served basis. The souscription watch, launched in 1798, was a commercial success with near-on fifty pieces sold, i.e. half of the workshop’s annual production and, in 1799, Abraham-Louis Breguet introduced the tact (à tact, meaning “touch”) watch, a timepiece featuring a mobile hand attached to the outside of the case enabling the wearer to know the time discreetly by feeling the position of the hand and that could also be acquired through this same deposit system.
Tradition Tourbillon Fusée 7047
Tradition revived
Two centuries later, Breguet joined the Swatch Group run by another visionary: Nicolas G. Hayek (1928-2010). In 2005, following an in-depth study of the rich heritage passed on by AbrahamLouis Breguet, the unequalled, simple souscription and tact watch architecture was revived to adorn the face of modern-day models, from the simplest (reference 7057), displaying the time and power reserve, to the most complicated (reference 7047) equipped with a fusée tourbillon, part of a collection known as Tradition. Tradition oblige, and quite rightly so, the stylistic language developed by the great master watchmaker, a few years after he had set up his Parisian workshop, was diffused once again on the face of these exceptional pieces with, in particular, guilloché hand-engraved dials edged with a satin-brushed ring, floral-style Arabic numerals, known as Breguet style, or Roman numerals and slender-bodied gold or blued steel hands tapering off with a small circle – the famous hollow moon-tip – and a triangular point also known as Breguet style, as well as on the case whose sides
centre staged fine fluting delineated by two bands. Each model flaunted unprecedented architecture that played on light, transparency, contrast and relief, face-side and caseback-side. The platinum Tradition Tourbillon IN 2005, THE UNEQUALLED Fusée 7047, a flagship piece of SOUSCRIPTION WATCH ARCHITECTURE WAS REVIVED this family of watches, unveiled in March 2010 is a masterpiece of technical know-how driven by the ON MODERN-DAY TIMEPIECES. hand-wound calibre 569. As its name suggests, it is equipped with a fusée tourbillon mechanism whose fusée and chain transmission enhances the optimization of operational regularity by ensuring constant coupling and the conical-shaped fusée integrates differential gears that
transmit a continuous flow of energy to the movement. The 60-seconds tourbillon, housed at 1 o’clock in its large-sized cage, is equipped with a titanium upper bridge and a steel bar (known as a ‘barette’). This sculptural, mesmerizing piece perfectly embodies the architecture imagined by Abraham-Louis Breguet. On the consistent and undeniably upto-the-minute shot-blasted décor, a silvered gold disc, with Clous de Paris guilloché-engraved centre, held by three blued screws and set at 7 o’clock, displays the hours and minutes. The 50 hours of power reserve provided by the movement are indicated on the barrel drum at 10 o’clock.
Feminine Tradition
In 1804, four years before she became Queen of Naples, Caroline Bonaparte (1782-1839), younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) and wife of the Marshal of the Empire Joachim Murat (1767-1815), acquired her first Breguet. In just a decade, this young monarch, who was passionate about art and culture and fascinated by Abraham-Louis Breguet’s work, purchased 34 watches and clocks from him and, as such, ranked as one of the master’s most faithful customers, “the best customer he ever had”, mentions Emmanuel Breguet, historian born in 1962, seventh Breguet generation and current Vice President, Head of Patrimony and Strategic Development of the eponymous brand, in the treasure chest of information revealed in his
A FACE STREWN WITH DIAMONDS CREATED AROUND A BARREL ENGRAVED WITH A ROSETTE MOTIF: TRADITION 7035
book Breguet Watchmakers Since 1775: The Life and Legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823). In 1810, she commissioned a piece to wear on her arm from the ingenious engineer, which he delivered two years later. This object, believed to be the first-ever wristwatch and which has since vanished from sight, is described in the archives as an elegant, slender repeater watch, complemented by a thermometer, attached to a braid woven with gold threads.
As well as Caroline Murat, AbrahamLouis Breguet’s prestigious clientele included other ladies infatuated by his talent and the beauty of his creations, like Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), Empress Joséphine (17631814), Napoleon Bonaparte’s first
Tradition 7035
wife, and her daughter Hortense de Beauharnais (1783-1837), to mention but a few. A strong bond existed between the watchmaker and women that is still perpetuated today through the Reine de Naples collection and extraordinary jewellery watches such as the Crazy Flower and L’Orangerie, but also through pieces incorporated in the various product lines: Classique, Marine, Héritage and Tradition, of course.
The highly-feminine Tradition is proposed in two references, 7038 and 7035, driven by automatic calibres, 505SR and 505J respectively. The rose gold 7035 reference, unveiled but a year ago and limited to 88 pieces, faithfully reiterates the range’s codes yet suffuses them with its own personality. On its face, it displays the different elements making up its movement with deliciously-daring freedom. This symmetrical layout is set off with a profusion of precious stones gifting the piece with incomparable radiance. In the centre, the large-scale barrel adorns an engraved rosette motif whilst the dial off-centred towards 12 o’clock and strewn with diamonds features the Arabic hour numerals displayed on a white mother-of-pearl ring hovered over by two golden hands. A bed of brilliantcut diamonds scattered using the snowset technique covers the plate and bridges spreading out to the bezel. The retrograde second at 10 o’clock enchants with its soft gradient-tones comprising two rubies and seven sapphires.
Tradition Tourbillon 7047
Tradition today
Tradition is a philosophy that transcends time, and the same holds true for the Tradition collection that leaves its mechanical mark on the new watches imagined in the workshops of Breguet the brand established at the heart of the Joux Valley.
In 2022, the manufacture complemented the collection by showcasing two timepieces: a platinum Tradition Tourbillon 7047 with a revisited look compared to the 2010 version as touches of blue are sprinkled on the guilloché-engraved dial, the legendary regulator’s titanium cage and the fusée
and chain transmission, still driven by the calibre 569, and a white gold Tradition Quantième Rétrograde 7597 that takes on this beloved, candid, luminous hue to decorate the hour and minute disc at 12 o’clock and the date semi-circle whose hand fans out from 3 to 9 o’clock, creating an intense contrast with the dusky grey shade of the plate-bridge combo.
This last reference, driven by the automatic calibre 505Q vibrating at a standard frequency of 3 Hz and delivering a power reserve of 50 hours once fully wound, boasts a pusher set at 10 o’clock on the fluted band of the 40 mm-diameter case that just needs to be unscrewed then pressed to position the
MICHEL CRÉPEAU FRENCH POLITICIAN
Tradition Quantième Rétrograde 7597
WATCHES-NEWS.COM X BREGUET hand tipped with a white lozenge on the desired date. This navy-blue tone, forever present in Breguet’s world, also adorns this impressive duo’s alligator straps embellished with large scales.
“Real progress is prolonging tradition” declared the French politician and former Minister of Justice Michel Crépeau (1930-1999). At Breguet, for almost two and a half centuries, from the first inventions signed by Abraham-Louis Breguet to the state-of-the-art technical and technological innovations initiated by the current-day watchmaking firm, everything has been undertaken holding true to a noble craft to breathe life into watches that are made to match the exquisiteness the founder himself would have wished for.
