The value of old fashion tradition in watchmaking is a big part of all brands’ value propositions. And few brands, outside of Breguet, can claim to have been the source of so much watchmaking history, innovation, and tradition. However, while Breguet today is a shadow of its glorious past, it’s worth asking if Breguet watches are still worthy of your attention? 

Especially since they could be “hidden gems” with tons of value in today’s secondary market. I attempt to answer this question after spending a month with a Breguet Classique rose gold dress watch. What are my thoughts? Is this better than my beloved rose gold Lange 1?

Brief history

Abraham Louis Breguet created the French eponymous brand that carries his name today in Paris in 1775. This was the early days of mechanical watchmaking but nonetheless Breguet is widely recognized as one of the fathers of the field with several patents to his credit including the tourbillon escapement, perpetual calendar, and self-winding mechanism and the various innovations named today after him like overcoil, numerals, gong-spring, and pare-chute, to name a few.

Owning a Breguet has always been a source of prestige and haute privilege. Indeed famous historical figures like Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie Antionette, Queen Victoria, Tsar Alexander I, Sergei Rachmaninoff, and Winston Churchill, can all be counted as Breguet owners and wearers.

Today, however, while the name carries the same illustrious past, the watches are not as in demand as they once were. Instead, Breguet is part of a conglomerate (Swatch Group) where it tries to stand out from sister brands and an increasingly crowded luxury watch market, where computer assisted design and on-demand manufacturing have replaced the crucial importance of a luminary craftsman such as Abraham Louis Breguet.

Importance of Breguet

What is the importance of Breguet today? Are its watches deserving of our attention? After spending a month wearing the classic tradition model, I can categorically say YES. But what is my rationale for this conclusion? I have other dress watches, and one that covers all aspects of this Breguet I had the privilege of wearing. What makes the Breguet stand out?

Dress watches

Is dressing up a lost art? Since the pandemic we seem to have fallen into an abyss of “live and let go…” letting go of all sense of style and care. The sight of sweat wears and Crocs has become an atrocious commonplace view in all cities — at least here in North America.

In my view, the more reason to dress up. You not only stand out from the crowd but you project confidence and togetherness. And nothing complements a well dressed gentleman or lady than a slim gold dress watch.

Breguet Classique

Enter the Breguet Classique line. They are exemplars of dress watches par excellence. The slim profile, simple guilloche silver opaline dial, and the coin case, all scream good taste, Classique style and tradition, unlike any other accessory you can wear.

The first thing you notice is the intricate guillochage of the dial, which includes different patterns in different parts of the dial. The effect exudes class and craftsmanship. Turn it over and you can see the same attention to detail on the manual wound in house Breguet Caliber 515DR, beating at 28,800 vph, contains 23 jewels, and has an approximate power reserve of 96 hours.

Size, dimensions, and wearability

At a bit more than 8 mm high and 38 mm in diameter, the long lugs make this watch wear larger than it would normally, yet the slim profile makes it squarely into the dress watch territory.

The brown alligator complements the warm tone of the rose gold and with the sample tang buckle this is an easy watch to put on and will fit any wrist. On my 7 inch wrist it was always a joy to wear it at the rare dress-up events I attended in summer 2024, like when I wore it all day in late August at the Concours d’Elegance in Monterey.

While the gold construction makes it heavier than it would appear, the weight is comfortable and was never a worry. The long lug to lug means it seats completely on the wrist and wears larger than normal 38 mm watches. This is welcome to prevent it from disappearing from my mind and on my wrist.

Competition

While dress watches are no longer de rigueur as the primary watch of collectors these days, they still exist in many brands’ portfolios. I will highlight two, who’s price, history, and position are closest to the Breguet tradition.

The Patek Philippe Calatrava is the prototypical dress watch. Since the first release in 1932 it has been in the storied Geneva manufacturer’s catalog. And today, Patek has over 15 variations listed on their web site. This includes reference 6119R which is perhaps the most comparable to the Breguet tradition in question. While I love the Patek, the price difference makes it a different watch. Not because of value or features, but Patek is simply operating at a different section of the market. If you can afford it then by all means.

The Lange 1 is a watch I own and simply love. It’s my go-to dress watch and has been so for over 7 years. It was the dress watch I wanted to get when I became a serious collector over 15 years ago, and when I finally got one it was a milestone worth remembering. It will always be my dress watch. But like the Patek, Lange is also operating at a different price bracket (slightly lower than Patek) but stratospheric for mere mortals. The Breguet matches the Lange 1 in almost every respect and does so for 1/3 of the price.

Conclusion

Dress watches are bound to make a comeback, if they have not already. My rationale is people are getting tired of dressing down and want to stand out from the common crowd. With success comes a need to change attitude and project confidence. Plus it’s fun to dress up.

Breguet is experiencing a rise from its illustrious history and this will match well with the resurgence of dressing up as a state of mind. Since collectors have not fully yet realized the value in these watches, the secondary market prices are favorable. There really has never been a better time to add a Breguet to your collection.

At the time of publishing the Breguet Classique Ref G5277BR is available via CW Watch Shop.

About the gear used

Most of the photographs in this article were taken with the Leica SL2-S with the awesome Panasonic 100 mm f/2.8 macro 1:1 lens with twin Profoto B10x reflecting off the ceiling and white walls. I used my iPhone 13 Pro to capture the photos at the Concours d’Elegance in Monterrey. The Lange 1 photograph was taken with a Nikon D850 and Nikon’s Micro 50 mm lens.