BREGUET

Abraham-Louis Breguet was one of the most important figures in the history of watchmaking and his signature invention, the tourbillon, finds some of its most creative and ambitious expressions in the modern Breguet watch brand, whose history can be traced all the way back to 1775. (Patented in 1801 as a solution to the effects of gravitational fields on a watch’s movement precision, the tourbillon is of course now a staple of many other watchmakers as well.) Breguet made the first watch to be wound by means of its crown in 1830, an era in which watches were wound with a key, and Breguet watches throughout history have adorned the waistcoats and wrists of important figures from England’s King George III to Queen Marie-Antoinette to Sir Winston Churchill. The maison even established its own signature set of hands, called Breguet hands, back in 1783, which are found on pieces from Breguet’s modern Classique collection as well as models from many other brands. In addition to its well-curated selection of tourbillon-equipped timepieces (like the super-thin “Extra-Plat” Classique references) and rare complications like the world-time Hora Mundi and its Equation of Time models, Breguet produces luxury with both a nautical and a classical aeronautical flair with its Marine and Type XX collections, respectively. 

Founded: 1775

Headquarters: L’Abbaye, Switzerland

Ownership: Swatch Group

Notable models: Tradition, Classique, Marine, Type XX, Reine de Naples

Did you know: As a general in the French Army, Napoleon Bonaparte purchased Breguet’s first carriage clock on the eve of his military campaigns into Egypt in Syria.