It was on 26th June, 1801, that Abraham-Louis Breguet created the first tourbillon to counter the effects of gravity on the precision of a pocket watch kept in a still position. To pay tribute to the milestone in its history, Breguet has unveiled the new Classique Double Tourbillon "Quai de l'Horloge" 5345 in rose gold, on the 223rd anniversary of the horological milestone. The timepiece was launched in 2020 in platinum.
The 46mm timepiece features two tourbillons on the sapphire dial that play an important role in the time display. Here, a complex mechanism connects the bar of the two tourbillons to the central mainplate which rotates every 12 hours. Each tourbillon runs independently powered by its own gear train and barrel to make one full turn per minute. These two mechanisms are thereby connected to a central differential which regulates the rate of the watch for precision and with the help of a third gear train drives the entire mechanism. The hands on the time-only watch are blued, where the upper bridge of one tourbillon extends to become the hour hand.
Powering the watch is the hand-wound Calibre 588N2 (beating at a frequency of 2.5Hz and offering a reserve of about 60 hours), which, along with the rose gold mainplate, is beautified with guilloché patterns and hand engravings. For the new timepiece, Breguet has created a whole new guilloché motif, the radiant flinqué, which takes cues from sound waves. The back of the movement is adorned with engravings that took more than a hundred hours, and showcase the aerial view of Abraham-Louis Breguet's workshop at 39 Quai de l'Horloge, in shades of grey created using asphalt, and black and white rhodium. Furthermore, the tourbillon cages are mirror polished; minutes track has a sunburst pattern; snailing accentuates the differential bridges; there is circular satin-finishing on the gears and barrels; circular graining adorns the underside of the rotating mainplate; and every part of the movement is chamfered and polished, including the double tourbillon.
The sapphire dial is complemented by blued elements, such as the engraved minutes track and Roman numerals which are also engraved on the vertical flank of the caseband then coated with black varnish to create shadows. This as a whole makes the chapter ring appear suspended. Completing the timepiece is a midnight blue rubber strap.
Images: Courtesy Brand
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