Breguet - original A.L. Breguets and Breguets of the Swatch era today - are genuine guilloche. Engine turned, but speed is controlled by hand - hence the "Swiss Guillochè Main" marking. Not stamped. As to the comparisons to voutilainen and Roland Murphy I'm with George Daniels who like A.L. Breguet favored simplicity. He felt watches should be simple, beautiful and tell the time clearly and well. Like this:
One of the recent rolex gatherings had an after event at the Breguet shop on 5th avenue. A whole bunch of us were there looking at the watches and chatting with the staff. They graciously showed us a lot of pieces likely knowing we were not gonna buy anything, but they were very generous with their time and door prizes. Breguet has true horological heritage that dates back centuries, but boy are those things cost prohibitive. Watch collecting is already a niche hobby so unless you are really deep into it and got deep pockets, its tough. I believe one of the SA said on their best day, the shop sold 3 watches.
As a newbie I had to check Breguet classified ads. My impression is that the few watches on offer don't share coherent design language. They seem to vary from incredibly ornate Roman numeral gold formals to chunky Transatlantiques to slick retro tanks. Yours, OTOH, is beautiful!
Unfortunately, Swatch hasn't been the same since the death of Hayek Sr. It's now being run by the grandson who doesn't seem to know what he's doing. The same can be said for the BlancPain brand. That use to be such a great premium brand but has been allowed to languish. Part of the problem is a lack of support for their older watches. For example, I owned a couple of Blancpain Lemans, one which I sold recently due to the lack of support. They no longer make decent straps for their older watches. I have to go buy custom straps later from a 3rd party if I want straps that are similar to the originals. I mean, how hard is it to keep producing old straps to support and keep old customers happy? That kind of mentality from Marc Hayek is exactly why brands like Breguet and Blancpain are no longer sought after. In wealth management circles there's an old benchmark that wealth is gone by the 3rd generation. This coronavirus will be a test to see if Marc has what it takes. I am very doubtful. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of these brands divested or shuttered as demand disappear from an already weakened brand. Thanks Marc! You're a real asset to your grandfather's legacy.
How can one even argue about the rank of Breguet? This is what all this watch thing started with! Yes, now this is not a family-owned company, but quality and tradtition are present. The problem is that the less manhood the more the need to emphasize it through a "sporty" look. You are wearing a real man’s watch. Unfortunately, I'm not there yet
They undoubtedly make some stunning watches but my experience with a Type XX was not good. When it worked it was very, very nice, but it hardly ever worked. It pretty much had its own barstool in the service department. I did see some breathtaking pieces in the boutique a while back and still have a yen for the XXI Transatlantique, but I'd be wary stepping back in. Vintage does seem the way to go.
I have owned this Type XXI for the last 5 years and it has performed perfectly in that time. The case detail is stunning and detail within the dial never gets tiring to look at. Highly recommend
We had a kinda bad experience with an 18ct type XX some years ago that the local reps (Los Angeles) tried to pretend they didnt need to stand behind because it was a "non-authorised" Breguet! I had to contact the Senior Hayek to get that watch fixed. But at least the company would stand behind their product when sorta forced to own up to their responsibility. I hope they would do the same today? Incidentally, we only discovered a few years later that they had left the mica sheet off the bezel and that the bezel was completely frozen. Needless to say, they won't supply ANY parts for their watches so Breguet now, I think, falls into the category of watches like Patek Philippe which cant be fixed if it goes wrong. (meaning can't be fixed without paying as much for the repair as a new watch would cost and waiting numerous years for the privilege)
No idea what you mean. If they forgot to put something you can ask them to put it back in. Also, they have standard price sheet for service and it's nowhere near the price of a watch.
No, of course not! That is a slightly surprising suggestion? No company can ever be in any way shamed into servising/repairing a fake watch!! Even by calling the boss! They would more likely justifiably fall about clutching stomachs laughing at someone not noticing that they has sent a Breguet with a mysterious Miyota movement to the manufacturer for servising! The watch was bought in Geneva and Breguet US were pretending that it was some sort of grey market Breguet which they didn't have to service because they had never made the original profit on it. Nicolas Hayek didn't quite see it that way. You may be right about the refusal to quote some sort of standard price to supply or spend 30 seconds fitting the new mica gasket between the case and the bezel. All i know is that they refused to supply it to the widow of the owner, who was selling it some years after the service because her husband had just passed away. (She had sent it to me to sell it for her as it wasnt clear to her that there was any sort of ready market for Breguet chronos in Lexington Ky). I'd be intrigued to know what the standard price is for fitting a missing gasket to the case??
I bought my first Breguet back in 1983 when they were owned by Chaumet Jewelers and the Breguet portion overseen by Daniel Roth. They were marketed very selectively, in the USA only Tiffany carried them. They were excellent watches and I enjoyed the ones I owned. I've also owned two original Breguet's, an 1813 Souscription and an 1885 pocket chronometer with a detent escapement, those were the real deal. But after the Swatch Group bought it, and old man Hayek made it his pet project, the interest drained away for me. They just got too commercialized and too many gimmicky pieces. They are beautiful watches to be sure, but I think there are better names at the price level they charge.
Any good source to describe and discuss the various iterations over the years of the Type XX, XXi & XXii line ?
