Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet. Abraham was a Swiss watchmaker who was born in January of 1747 in Neuchâtel, Switzerland. Breguet’s father’s died in 1758. Some years later, Abraham’s mother remarried to Joseph Tattet. Tattet came from a family of watchmakers. They moved to Paris where they had a showroom. The family tried to draw Abraham into the trade. Eventually he found interest and in 1762 he was sent to be apprenticed to a Versailles master watchmaker. Abraham studied watchmaking for 10 years under Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine before setting up his own watchmaking business in Paris, France. The business was a success. Breguet made three series of watches, and the highest numbering of the three reached 5120. It is estimated that his shop produced around 17,000 timepieces during Breguet’s life. Because of his minute attention to detail and his constant experimentation, no two Breguet pieces are exactly alike.
His achievements soon attracted a wealthy and influential clientele: Louis XVI and his Queen Marie-Antoinette, Louis XVIII, Napoleon Bonaparte, and the 1st Duke of Wellington to name a few. In 1783, Breguet invented the gong spring for the minute repeater. He also designed the famous open-tipped hands known as “Breguet hands” and Breguet’s Arabic numerals. Later, in 1789, he invented the ratchet key known as the “Breguet key” which allows the escapement to work without oil.
In 1807, he took on his son Louis-Antoine as his partner, renaming the firm “Breguet et Fils” (Breguet and Sons). Louis-Antoine took over the firm upon the death of his father in 1823. After a couple of generations taking over the business, Abraham-Louis’ great-grandson, Louis Antoine (1851-1882) was the last of the Breguet family to run the business. The Breguet company hired English watchmaker Edward Brown to manage the factory. Brown eventually became a partner and, after Breguet’s grandson’s death, the owner and head of the company.
To this day, watches are manufactured that are committed to the famous tradition of Brequet horology.
Whether extra-thin models or complicated watches, they are all true to the technical principles, the artistry and the traditional values of the Breguet watch. Classique wristwatches capture the essence of Breguet’s original features. In some models, the precious materials of former times and fired enamel dials with Arabic numerals will delight Breguet enthusiasts.
Back in the late 1980s and early 1990s (when Breguet was owned by Investcorp and when Nouvelle Lemania SA was integrated), the brand started to dig up its heritage and use some of its most emblematic pocket watches to create modern wristwatches.
For 2020, Swiss watchmaker Breguet has updated its classic Classique 7337 with a new version featuring two new dials. The Classique 7337 was inspired by the No.3833, which were created at the beginning of the 19th century and were available in white, yellow and rose gold versions with silver dials and various textures. The 2020 models come with a new watch face with 39mm thick and is equipped with a small seconds sub-dial, currently available as reference 7337.
The Breguet Classique 7337 Calendar & Moon is a discreet beauty. It isn’t the most striking of all the models in the Breguet collection, yet it might be one of the most elegant and balanced. Its display is a perfect representation of this understated eccentricity that makes Breguet watches so unique.
Classique wristwatch in 18-carat rose gold. Self-winding movement showing the date, the day and the phases and age of the moon. Balance spring in silicon. Seconds subdial. Off-centred chapter ring. Silvered gold dial, hand-engraved on a rose engine. Blued steel Breguet hands with “apple” tip. Minute markers around the outer rim. Sapphire caseback. Water-resistant to 3 bar (30m). Diameter 39mm. Also in white gold.
