In a year rife with all manner of important anniversaries, Breguet distinguishes its 250th birthday offering with the Classique Souscription 2025, which might be the world’s most important wristwatch with just one hand (flame-blued and curved by hand). In fact, there might be more watches out in the wild with no hands than with just one – we can think of no examples of any recent timepiece that only indicated the hours, with just an approximation for the minutes. The word ‘recent’ is key there because Breguet says this model was chosen for the anniversary because it pays tribute to the brand’s past and also looks to the future. The reference here is, of course, Abraham-Louis Breguet’s Souscription watches of 1797.
To backtrack a little, Breguet turns 250 this year and it happens to share this milestone with a number of brands, though not every brand is quite as solid as the house Abraham-Louis built. Think of who created the tourbillon and why some numerals and hands are called Breguet… For the more technically inclined, consider if the watch you are wearing now has a hairspring with a Breguet overcoil. If the list of his accomplishments were limited to his technical innovations, that would suffice for all watch enthusiasts to raise a toast to Abraham-Louis but he was also a pioneer in branding and sales.
That last bit brings us right back to the Souscription watch, which was truly a sales model that the great watchmaker came up with. This story does not have the space to pay proper tribute to all the history but Abraham-Louis had prospective clients pay a deposit to purchase the original Souscription watch, hence the reason for the name (subscription in English).
In this 2025 version, that 60mm pocket watch has been transformed into a 40mm wristwatch in an entirely new and exclusive type of 18k gold, Breguet gold (see the materials special in this issue for more). Briefly, other metals in this alloy include silver, copper and palladium and we must reserve comments on the colour until we have it in our hands.
There is also a new calibre in play, the manual-winding VS00, that brings the aesthetics of the Tradition calibres to the Classiques range while also bringing the aforementioned Breguet overcoil into the picture. Collectors and connoisseurs should take note of the new shot-blast decoration and hand-finishing on the gilded brass parts and the cursive script on the ratchet wheel. The latter might be popular enough to lend itself to an appearance in the Tradition models but only time will tell if that happens.
For now, the apparent magnificence of the movement makes us wish for the standard straight lugs here so the watch can be worn comfortably, movement side up! The Classique Souscription 2025 features a reworked case that eschews the expected fluting on the case middle and curved lugs for an improved fit on the wrist.
Even worn properly, we will venture to say that this watch cannot help but be a talking point because people will stop to gawk, and perhaps seek out the secret signatures on the grand feu enamel dial (with petit feu numerals and minute track)
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