BREGUET CLASSIQUE TOURBILLON EXTRA-FLAT ANNIVERSARY 5365
On June 26, 1801, or Messidor 7, Year IX, according to the republican calendar then in force in France, Abraham-Louis Bréguet was awarded a patent in Paris for his “watch compensating for all the inequalities that can be found in the balance wheel and in the springs”. This invention is the “Tourbillon”, as Bréguet himself named it according to the customs of the time, in reference to astronomical systems.
Exactly 220 years later, the eponymous Manufacture pays tribute to this invention, which opened up a new world of precision, stability and elegance for Haute Horlogerie, with the Bréguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365.
Made in just 35 pieces, the number of Tourbillon watches produced during A.-L. Bréguet’s lifetime, the timepiece is a vibrant tribute to the great watchmaker’s age-old aesthetic and visionary genius. In a spirit of authenticity, Breguet has designed a sober, elegant timepiece that reaffirms the House’s codes as established by its founder.
The same is true of the various guilloché patterns on the gold dial. Guilloché has become one of Breguet’s aesthetic signatures, but it also has very special watchmaking properties. By offering surfaces with finely worked asperities, it captures light in a multitude of ways, from the utmost claritý to a more matte rendering. The light captured in this way helps to better delineate the various reading zones on the dial. Guilloche surfaces are also better protected from the ravages of time than polished surfaces, which are too shiny and prone to corrosion and scratches. Finally, guilloché surfaces offer the relief needed to capture the micro-dust that, more than two centuries ago, could degrade the chronometric performance of the first pocket watches.
Throughout its history, Bréguet has refined the diversity of its guillochage, as well as its preference for certain motifs. Such is the case with the “Clou de Paris”. It occupies the entire central part of the timepiece. Hand-engraved with a diamond chisel, it takes the form of an interlacing pattern of engraved lines crossed at a pitch of just 0.25 mm, giving the illusion of a matt finish from a distance of 50 cm (the usual reading distance for a wristwatch). This makes it easier to read the hours and minutes, which are indicated by two central blued steel hands with “eccentric hollowed-out knobs”, now known as “Bréguet hands”. The periphery is decorated with the “barley grain” motif so dear to the Manufacture. On the back, the platinum oscillating weight is guilloché with a wave motif.
For this anniversary timepiece, Breguet has endowed its reference 5365 with a 60-second Tourbillon, visible between 4 and 6 o’clock, one of whose axes indicates the seconds. The more discerning will notice two singularities. The first is the upper bridge, also made of blued steel – an unprecedented finish for a Tourbillon in the Classique collection. The second is the cartouche above the Tourbillon, bearing the words “Brevet N°157”, in reference to the patent number awarded to A.-L. Bréguet for his invention just 220 years ago.
We find this tribute on the bottom sidé, with the engraving “Anniversaire 1801 – 2021” on the barrel, the mention “Brevet N°157 Du 7 Messidor An IX” on the lower bridge of the Tourbillon, alongside the individual number of each timepiece. All these mentions are hand-engraved, as is the “Bréguet” signature affixed to the peripheral oscillating weight. Finally, on the right́ side of the movement is a faithful reproduction of the authentic watercolor plate that A.-L. Bréguet filed in 1801 for his Tourbillon regulator patent application, just 220 years ago.
The whole is housed in a 41 mm rose gold case.
WATCH DESCRIPTION REF. 5365BR/15/9WU
BREGUET Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Pink gold case with finely fluted middle. Sapphire back. Diameter 41mm. Welded lugs, screwed lugs. Water-resistant to 3 bar (30m).
Hand-engraved, silvered 18-carat gold dial in four parts with two different motifs: “clou de Paris” and “grain d’orge”. Individually numbered and signed Breguet. Hour circle in Roman numerals. Breguet “pomme évidée” hands in blued steel. Special mention “Brevet N°157” above the Tourbillon.
Extra-flat self-winding mechanical movement with Tourbillon topped by a blued steel bar. Small seconds on Tourbillon axis. Numbered and signed Breguet. Cal. 581. 16 lines. 33 jewels. 80-hour power reserve. Barrel on ball-bearing rollers. Inverted side lever escapement with silicon horns. Silicon balance spring. Frequency 4.0 Hz. Adjustable in 6 positions.
Leather strap with 3-blade clasp.
Limited edition of 35, numbered 1/35 to 35/35.
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