Breguet’s 250th anniversary this year is a landmark one for the Maison, and to celebrate it in a fitting manner, the brand is taking cues from its extensive heritage. The latest watch that commemorates the occasion is the new Breguet Classique Souscription 2025, which the brand had been teasing lately. Making the release more poignant is the debut of Breguet Gold, an alloy that combines 75% gold with silver, copper, and palladium, which the watch is crafted in.
The new Classique Souscription 2025 was first unveiled in Paris, home to master watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet’s workshop, established in 1775. All his great inventions were made here (read all about in our latest April-June 2025 issue, take a look here). The watch takes inspiration from the brand’s Souscription pocket watch, which was introduced in 1796 and appeared on the market a year later, and is still preserved in the Musée Breguet at Place Vendôme.
Resembling the pocket watch, the new Ref. 2025 features a single flame-blued hand, a white enamel dial, and movement architecture as the original. While the pocket watch was 61mm, the wristwatch edition measures 40mm and features strong ergonomics. The case is 10.8mm high with a satin-brushed case middle paying tribute to the style of the original timepiece. The lugs are curved now, unlike the traditional straight lugs, for better wearability. Further, the dial has Arabic numerals and a “chemin de fer” (railroad minute track).
For more than two centuries, the original pocket watch was presented through an advertising pamphlet, the likes of which had never been seen before. Around 700 timepieces were produced in this way over more than 30 years. The watch was a Souscription watch, which means that to buy the watch, the customer must confirm their order with a quarter amount of the watch. The watch and its selling technique opened the doors to haute horlogerie for A.-L. Breguet.
“This watch is the link between what we wish to share of the history of Breguet and our desire to perpetuate this history going forward”, says Gregory Kissling, CEO, Breguet. We wanted to surprise people by presenting not a grand complication, as some might have expected, but a single-hand watch. We added a great deal of richness to this apparently simple watch, particularly in the architecture of its movement, inspired by that of the tact watch, he added.
Turning the watch reveals the new Calibre VS00, beating with 3hz frequency and providing four days of power reserve. It is crafted in gilded brass, in the same shade as Breguet gold. The movement is decorated with a new guilloché pattern called Quai de l’Horloge, which is inspired by the singular curves of the Île de la Cité and the slender refinement of the Île Saint-Louis, two islands in the River Seine.
The central ratchet wheel features an engraved inscription in cursive script of the founder’s words, which explain the design of the Souscription movement and are taken from his advertising brochure. The watch is water resistant to 250 meters.
The watch is offered in a special box, which is inspired by the red Moroccan leather cases, which were once used by A.-L. Breguet to protect his precious creations.
Images: Courtesy Breguet
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