On 7 Messidor Year IX, or 26 June 1801 to use the Gregorian calendar, Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted a patent for an invention that would forever change watchmaking: the tourbillon. Designed to counter the effects of gravity on a pocket watch's regulating organ by placing it inside a rotating carriage, the concept has since become the benchmark of haute horlogerie. Now, 225 years later, the brand that bears its inventor's name is marking the anniversary with four new tourbillon watches, each a distinct expression of what this complication means today.
The headline act is the Classique Tourbillon 7357, a 35mm watch that revives one of the most important references in Breguet's modern history. The original reference 3350, created in 1989 through a collaboration between the Chaumet brothers and watchmaker Daniel Roth, was the first tourbillon wristwatch produced under the Breguet name. Roth's calibre 558 became the foundation for Breguet's tourbillon programme, and the 7357 brings it back with 41 per cent new components, a redesigned double-arched bridge, and 60 hours of power reserve.
Available in platinum or Breguet's proprietary gold alloy, the 7357 measures just 35mm by 9.2mm with 30 metres of water resistance, a meaningful upgrade on the original. The dial carries two guilloché patterns: clous de Paris at the centre and barleycorn around the edge, with applied Arabic numerals in a soft Breguet font. The caseband features hand-guilloché coin edge detailing, a response to collector feedback after last year's Souscription model dispensed with it. Pricing is CHF 184,800 in Breguet gold and CHF 203,300 in platinum.
Alongside the 7357, Breguet presents three further tourbillon editions. The Classique Tourbillon Sideral 7255PT returns in platinum with a black aventurine enamel dial, its flying tourbillon appearing to float above the surface thanks to a sapphire lower bridge. Limited to 50 pieces at CHF 223,000, it is a study in restrained drama.
The Tradition Tourbillon 7047 pairs the tourbillon with a fusée-and-chain constant force mechanism, here rendered in vivid Bleu de France across the dial, bridges and mainplate, with glacier blue accents. The blue spinel replacing the traditional ruby on the tourbillon bar is a precise and satisfying touch. Limited to 25 pieces at CHF 368,800.
Finally, the Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887 gets a Bleu de France treatment of its own, pairing a tourbillon with an equation of time complication and a retrograde month display. The wave-motif dial in blue enamel sits inside a 43.9mm platinum case. Limited to 25 pieces at CHF 398,000.
Together, the four watches tell a story that spans from Roth's 1989 revival to the brand's current direction under CEO Gregory Kissling: smaller, more refined, and unashamedly classical. For a maison whose founder only made 40 tourbillons in his lifetime, releasing four at once is a statement of both heritage and ambition.
