Introducing: Breguet Celebrates the 225th Anniversary of the Tourbillon with Four New Releases, And the Return of a Collector Favorite (Live Pics)

The year was 7 Messidor Year IX—or for those who don’t follow the French Republican Calendar, June 26, 1801. After years of intense study and experimentation and some correspondence with his friend John Arnold (who similarly experimented with the concept before his death in 1799), Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted a 10-year patent for the “tourbillon.” By 1829, Breguet and his workshop would only make 40 watches with the regulating organ, which was designed to eliminate positional errors and distribute oil (which often thickened in place), thereby lubricating parts more evenly.

Well, Abraham-Louis Breguet (and John Arnold) would be proud of how far the concept of the tourbillon has come—he may even be spinning himself if he saw some of the things that have happened with the tourbillon, like Alfred Helwig’s invention of the flying tourbillon, let alone the first tourbillon wristwatch—and how many of those concepts have been integrated into watches made under his name. Add to that the fact that Breguet annually makes multiple times the number of his lifetime production, and it’s just pretty cool how far things have come in 225 years.

Exposition out of the way, Breguet is celebrating the 225th anniversary of the tourbillon (the patent, not the creation, which was around 1795, nor the commercial release in 1805) with four new model variants, including one entirely new reference that features a new movement. Well, new but very familiar. So that’s where we’ll start: the smallest, most familiar, and arguably most impressive of the new releases. The Breguet 3350/3357 is back, with the Breguet 7357. 

The Classique Tourbillon 7357 — A Return to the Roth Era, But New Case, New Materials, and 41% New Parts

Imagine my surprise when I was told—ahead of our North American exclusive appointment—that there was a new movement from the brand and, when I arrived, the movement was the revival of the cal. 558.1. At least in the broadest sense. There’s a lineage of this movement going back to Daniel Roth’s creation of the ref. 3350 through a three-year collaboration with Nouvelle Lemania, resulting in the incredible caliber 558 (or caliber 558T). Now, Breguet has revamped the lastest generation of that movement, the caliber 187, with 41% new components. And yet it’s still perfectly sized to match the original.

You’re looking at a 35mm by 9.2mm manually-wound tourbillon in Breguet gold (also available in platinum) with a 43mm lug-to-lug. The dimensions of the original were about 36mm by 9.5mm, so this is not only slightly smaller and thinner, but now has 30m of water resistance. As you’ll notice in the photos, Breguet gold (a proprietary alloy) sits somewhere between yellow and rose and tends to shift in the light, picking up tones from its surroundings.

The single, bone-shaped cross-through bridge from Cal. 558 has been redesigned as a double, rounded-off, polished “arched” bridge, which extends to the edge of the dial on both the front and the back. The watch still has a 2.5Hz beat rate, which allows the 3 hands on the tourbillon to indicate 20-second intervals. The power reserve is now 60 hours. And the movement has been redesigned for antimagnetism, featuring a Breguet Nivachron balance spring and a silicon pallet lever. Breguet tells me 41% of the parts are new. As for finishing, the movement now features a newly designed, unique guilloché called “Dent de Vaulion,” which is named for the pattern on the Lac de Joux as viewed from the imposing Dent de Vaulion at the northern edge of the Vallée de Joux, where Breguet is headquartered. The edge of the movement features the text “Brevet du 7 Messidor An 9” and “Tourbillon 225e Anniversaire.”

There are some substantial changes to the aesthetics. In addition to the change of the bridge for the tourbillon, there are now nameplates on the dial for Breguet and the number of the watch in Breguet’s numbering sequence. This is a design carried over from the ref. 5317 automatic tourbillon in the modern lineup. The dials are in either Breguet gold with an opaline or anthracite finish (depending on the case material), and have a Clous de Paris guilloché pattern at the center of the chapter ring and a barleycorn pattern around the edge, radiating from the center of the one-minute tourbillon. The hands are Breguet-style blued and made of gold for antimagnetism, and the numerals are printed in a very soft Breguet signature font. But a bigger change might be the case.

The case band on the anniversary Souscription (which won GPHG’s Aiguille d’Or as top watch of the year in 2025) lost the coin edge fluting that had become synonymous with Breguet and its “Empire”-style cases. Breguet heard the complaints from collectors and now combined what the brand intended (the modernized profile and lugs) with what the enthusiasts said they valued. Now the case band has a hand-guilloché coin edge, and the lugs, with their new profile, are welded on (though on the prototypes I saw, they were not welded). I do miss the Empire lugs quite a bit, as the new lug shape feels quite generic, but the caseband is an improvement.

The updated lugs were made for a modern wearing experience, meant to be less flat on the wrist on the larger watches. But that’s less necessary here, as the watch is only 35mm. And yet it doesn’t wear too small either. I didn’t look down and think the watch felt small, but you may think that on my 7.25″ wrist. I’ll save the rest of the thoughts for a future hands-on.

If you’ve been watching Breguet over the last year or so, this might not be the most surprising release. Breguet is revamping its collection and paring back to what seems to be two essentials: modernized versions of what enthusiasts think are representative of the brand (tourbillons, Type XX, complicated watches) and pushing the boundaries of complications like the brand used to do under Abraham-Louis Breguet himself. The latter is represented by things like the Experimentale 1, launched last year. The former now has a more reverential version of the brand’s core neo-vintage classic tourbillon. 

This is an important release from Breguet, so it deserves a full hands-on. In that story, I’ll dig into the changes, market comparisons, the movement, and more. The only hurdle for Breguet will be the $184,800 price point for the Breguet gold and $203,300 for the platinum. But in an interesting decision (and a good one, frankly), the watch is part of the core collection. The benefit over the neo-vintage versions is reliability, from movement to a more water-resistant case, and a more wearable lug profile. Stay tuned.

Breguet Classique Tourbillon ref. 7357PT and 7357BH, 35mm diameter by 9.2mm thick by 43mm lug-to-lug, in platinum or Breguet gold cases, with 30m water resistance. 18K Breguet gold dial with electroplated anthracite or opaline finish, featuring  guilloché patterns, Breguet hour and minute hands; Hours, minutes, seconds via the tourbillon. Manually-wound caliber 187B movement with 60-hour power reserve and 2.5Hz beat rate, Breguet Nivachron balance- spring, and Silicon escapement. Calfskin strap with three-piece deployant. Price: $184,800 in Breguet gold; $203,300 in platinum.

Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante – A Heavyweight With and Customizable Dial

The next big launch from Breguet isn’t a new movement, but it is a big launch. The Breguet Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT is a sizeable 43.9mm-diameter, 11.8mm-thick, 51.5mm lug-to-lug platinum complicated beast of a watch. I didn’t bring my kitchen scale, but the watch has 118g of platinum alone, and I’m not sure whether that’s for the case or for the case and bracelet. On the bracelet (there’s a rubber strap delivered with the watch as well), it’s imposing. As is the technicality.

The concept here is that the equation of time and the use of the tourbillon for stability and chronometry both played important roles in early chronometers, which in turn were key for navigating in the age of sailing. Hence, the Marine case. But unlike the formality of the design when the watch originally launched in 2017, the new version is both sportier with Breguet numerals and personalizable with a sapphire dial featuring a miniature painting of the night’s sky, done by hand in gradient-blue Grand Feu enamel that is translucent on its underside. The watch is limited to 25 pieces and the sky is done bespoke for each piece, with the client picking the date, time, and location to represent on the dial.

All that painting, the indices, and the hands are all luminous, which is a pretty cool effect. Even cooler is that Breguet used yellow-emission luminous material for the equation of time hand. That additional minute hand seems to levitate above the dial because it’s anchored with a transparent sapphire hand and only a floating sun for the tip. The standard hands show civil time, while the other hand shows the solar time. This is controlled with a cam in the window that also shows the tourbillon, as well as the rotating disc that shows the months (in French). There’s also the date in an arch around the dial and power reserve indicator.

The Caliber 581DPE movement has a 4Hz balance and an 80-hour power reserve, but more importantly, it is a peripherally wound automatic movement with a tourbillon, perpetual calendar, and equation of time. There’s a lot of information about this movement in our 2017 story. The treatment of the movement is different, with Breguet gold highlighting the hand-engraved depiction of the 18th-century ship Royal Louis.

This is far from an everyday watch, both in size, weight, and price at an eye-watering $385,900 on a strap and $489,400 on a bracelet. But it’s a statement piece and a really interesting bit of technical watchmaking, even if it’s a bit of an older movement. It’s also limited to 25 pieces, but if you’re one of the 25 people buying the watch (or you just want to see for yourself), Breguet has a special tool on its website so you can see what the sky would have looked like on the night you’re thinking of getting on the dial.

Breguet Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante ref. 5887PT, 43.9mm diameter by 11.8mm thick by 51.5mm lug-to-lug platinum case, with 100m water resistance. Blue-gradient and translucent Grand Feu enameled sapphire, hand-painted miniature in luminescent enamel depicting the constellations and the Moon. Caliber 581DPE movement with perpetual calendar, one-minute, equation of time, with 80 hours of power reserve. Platinum bracelet or rubber strap; 25-piece limited edition. Price: $385,900 on strap, $489,400 on bracelet

Classique Tourbillon Sidéral Returns, with a Black (But Green) Grand Feu “Aventurine” Dial

Another variant of a previous release (from only last year), the new Classique Tourbillon Sidéral with mystery flying tourbillon now features a platinum case and black aventurine enamel dial with green highlights. The first version of this watch was in Breguet gold and blue aventurine enamel. While Breguet says this is a black dial, the moment any light hits it, you can see it turn a deep, shiny green. I’d have called it a green dial first and foremost.

I covered the original release (literally one year to the date before today) so you can see a lot of the technical information in that original story. The Empire-style case remains, which is a great thing. The Caliber 187M1 has a tourbillon cage held in place within the sapphire aperture, with the tourbillon bridge arm connecting the cage to a sapphire disc that rotates via an outer geared ring. The movement has a 50-hour power reserve and runs at 2.5Hz. The applied text on the dial is now rendered in platinum.

The watch still measures 38mm diameter by 10.2mm thick by 47.6mm lug-to-lug and is delivered on a large scale black alligator strap with a platinum deployant buckle. It sits quite well on my 7.25″ wrist, but you can see that the lugs would make a larger watch sit a bit higher on the wrist. Hey, beggars can’t be choosers, so if you’re like me and like the Empire case, you have to be happy when the case gets a bit big. At 38mm, it’s quite nice.

The price puts it well out of most people’s reach at $294,400, but with a blank check, if I had to pick among today’s releases, I probably would pick this one. The flying tourbillon looks quite impressive, the aesthetic still sits close to the original 3350 in many ways, and I like the cursive treatment for the name on the dial (though I know that’s a contentious take within the Hodinkee office). Maybe removing the tourbillon would be nice, but it would lose balance. Putting “Breguet” as printing on the top subdial would also work quite well. Food for thought, but still a strong release. This is limited to 50 individually numbered pieces.

Classique Tourbillon Sidéral ref. 7255PT; 38mm diameter by 10.2mm thick by 47.6mm lug-to-lug platinum case, with 30m water resistance. Black aventurine Grand Feu enamel with green highlights and Breguet hands; hours, minutes, and one-minute tourbillon. Manually-wound caliber 187M1, with 50-hour power reserve at 2.5Hz. Black large-scale alligator leather lined with black small-scale alligator leather. 50 timepieces, numbered. Price: $294,400

The Tradition Tourbillon 7047 — Fusée-and-Chain, Now In Blue

Last but not leas t is the Tradition Tourbillon 7047PT, a platinum limited edition of another complex mechanism. There are very few brands doing fusée-and-chain mechanisms today, but it used to be the way to get power from the mainspring barrel to the gear train. It also is a constant-force mechanism, delivers even power naturally throughout all states of wind. Breguet is one of the brands that does this mechanism with a tourbillon. The other two that I can think of are A. Lange & Söhne and Ferdinand Berthoud. But Breguet does it in a quintessential way.

The original Breguet 7047 came out in 2007 and has gone through a number of iterations since then (including an upgraded silicon balance spring and titanium tourbillon cage). This is the sportiest that has been done, with a bleu de France atomic layer deposition treatment on the bridges and the chain, the glacier blue hue on the sandblasted mainplate, and Grand Feu “Bleu de
France” enamel dial with Arabic “Breguet” numerals. The tourbillon bar has a blue spinel. And in total, there are 232 links, including the 77 treated in Bleu de France.

The rear treatment is the same, but the color contrast is even more geometric here, looking a bit like a modern art piece. The manually-wound movement runs at 2.5Hz with a 55-hour power reserve. While not the largest watch in diameter of all the options here, it is the thickest. The platinum case measures 41mm by 16mm thick, with a 50.5mm lug-to-lug. Part of that thickness comes from a tall box sapphire, which keeps the midcase smaller while leaving space for the display and the complex dial-side mechanism. 

This is the size and thickness that starts to show the downside of the longer and straighter Empire lugs, but any watch at this thickness, with such a slightly domed caseback, would sit high on the wrist. It’s quite comfortable but a bit vibrant for my personal style. Just like the other limited editions, this one is made in 25 pieces, and retails at $325,200.

Breguet Tradition Tourbillon ref. 7047PT, 41mm diameter by 16mm thick by 50.5mm lug-to-lug platinum case, with 30m water resistance. Semi-open dial with 210-carat palladium gold with Grand Feu bleu de France enamel; Hours, minutes, one-minute tourbillon with fusee-and-chain. Caliber 569 manually-wound movement with 2.5Hz balance and 55 hours of power reserve. Bleu de France rubber with glacier-blue topstitching and a platinum deployant clasp. 25 watches, numbered and hand-engraved from 1/25 to 25/25 Price: $325,200