Breguet’s Classique Tourbillon Sidéral flying tourbillon is so good its price (upon request) hurts the soul
Zach Blass- Breguet obtained its patent for the tourbillon on June 26th 1801, and launches the new Classique Tourbillon Sidéral today in its honour.
- The 38mm 18k Breguet gold watch, with a grand feu aventurine enamel dial, is the brand’s first-ever flying tourbillon.
- It’s limited to 50 pieces, with pricing available on request.
Breguet has turned a new page, with new CEO Gregory Kissling arriving just in time for the brand’s 250th anniversary this year. It’s fair to say that Kissling has become an exciting author in the brand’s narrative, unleashing three Breguet gold chapters, and in just two months, no less, all celebrating various brand milestones. The first chapter, the Classique Souscription, was a handsome recreation of one of Breguet’s most important pocket watches. We then had the very elegant Tradition Seconde Rétrograde debut as the second chapter, with a duo of Type XX Chronographes completing the trilogy, and celebrating not only the 250th anniversary of Breguet, but also the 70th anniversary of the first gold Type XX. The fourth chapter debuts today, with the unveiling of the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral that launches 224 years to the day after Breguet first received his patent for the tourbillon on the 26th of June 1801. Pushing things even further, the Classique Tourbillon Sidéral is the brand’s first flying tourbillon.
Once again, we have an 18k Breguet gold case that boasts attractive dimensions. Measuring 38mm across and 10.2mm thick, its size finds itself in the Goldilocks sweet spot most look for in a modern watch. The case is executed in the traditional Breguet format, with lugs welded onto a fluted caseband.
Its thin, polished bezel frames a stunning grand feu aventurine enamel dial that seemingly creates the depths of starry outer space. At 9 o’clock, the Breguet name is applied to the dial, and at 3 o’clock matched by the Tourbillon script, both in Breguet gold – just in case you didn’t quite catch the huge, mesmerising complication 6 o’clock. The time-telling dial is off-centre, as Breguet is known to do, with Breguet numerals and hands indicating hours and minutes.
I really enjoy how Breguet has PVD-blued the brushed chapter ring, and executed the Breguet hands and indices in a case-matching gold. This allows the time-telling of the watch to blend into the grand feu aventurine backdrop while still being legible. It’s also worth noting that, due to the hand-crafted nature of the dial, no two are identical, making each of the 50 numbered pieces subtly unique.
Whenever Breguet opts to introduce an enamel-dialled watch, some may miss having the brand’s signature guilloché on display. But flip the watch over, and you will find oodles of it on the movement’s Breguet gold bridges. And speaking of the movement, this is the new, hand-wound, in-house 187M1. For the first time, Breguet has decorated this calibre with the Seine-inspired Quai de l’Horloge guilloché motif, previously seen on sub-dials or casebacks of the other 250th anniversary editions. To really paint a picture of the extensive decoration, it’s not just the back of the tourbillon cage that’s been hand-decorated. Though you’d never know it, the front of the movement, hiding beneath the dial, has côtes de Genève finishing.
The 187M1 is a 50-hour calibre that runs at 2.5Hz, and it is Breguet’s first flying tourbillon calibre. Considering the tourbillon is a Breguet invention, it’s about time the brand has debuted this “modern” evolution – though that’s all relative, considering Benson and Helwig presented their flying tourbillons in the early 20th century.
But of course, Breguet wouldn’t just settle for the usual configuration. Normally, a flying tourbillon is missing the upper bridge of the cage, and is only secured from the bottom, offering an unobstructed view of the escapement. Here, Breguet uses AR-coated sapphire discs for the lower bridge and tourbillon support, making them invisible and the tourbillon appear as if it’s floating in the aperture. Since the escapement rotates around a fixed fourth wheel, it makes it a one-minute tourbillon and a pseudo-seconds indicator.
If anyone needed assistance in understanding what a grail watch was or looked like, I would simply point to a picture of the Breguet Classique Tourbillon Sidéral. To be honest, I find tourbillon watches to be completely pointless – your wrist is the tourbillon! I mean, all high complications are arguably pointless in the technology filled world we live in. For most, it would be the star of the show, but for me, it is the anchor of this watch. What really has me lusting after it is its grand feu aventurine enamel dial, the reasonably sized case, and the handsomely finished movement bringing guilloché into the mix.
The flying tourbillon is the ribbon that ties it all together, harkening back to the thing that made Breguet a G.O.A.T. of the horological world while also bringing things forward with a modern evolution of the complication. Ultimately, this Breguet gold beauty and its “price upon request” MSRP are soul-crushing reminders of just how out of reach it is for most buyers. That said, I am very glad it exists.
Update: Breguet has since revealed the price is US$226,000.
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255 pricing and availability
The Breguet Classique Tourbillon Sidéral 7255BH/2Y/9VU is available now for enquiries and is limited to 50 pieces. Price: US$226,000
| Brand | Breguet |
| Model | Classique Tourbillon Sidéral |
| Reference | 7255BH/2Y/9VU |
| Case Dimensions | 38mm (D) x 10.2mm (T) |
| Case Material | 18k Breguet gold |
| Water Resistance | 30 metres |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Grand feu aventurine enamel |
| Strap | Navy blue alligator leather, 18k Breguet gold folding clasp |
| Movement | 187M1, in-house, hand-wound |
| Power Reserve | 50 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, one-minute flying tourbillon |
| Availability | Limited to 50 pieces |
| Price | US$226,000 |