BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
If you’ve been into your watches for a long time (or like looking around for obscure watch brands that are no longer with us), then it’s possible you’ve stumbled across Breva. It was founded in 2010 and unveiled its first watch at Baselworld in 2013 and made one of the world’s first wristwatches with an integrated barometer. But Breva slipped off the horological radar in 2015 and seems to have been dormant since that time. Well, until today that is as we announce the return of the name to watchmaking.
Let’s not let that take away from the fact that another watch company has entered the market, a time for celebration right? BREVA GENEVE, as it’s now known, is now headed up by Julien Haenney who, amongst other things, has been in the top level of establishments like Fine Watch Club, a multi-brand club for watch lovers, Vulcain, HYT and Jaeger-LeCoultre. He’s hoping that people will be interested enough to purchase a watch from the newest brand on the scene.
The first offering BREVA GENEVE has is called the Segreto di Lario. Influenced by the idea of a chilled-out day in the beautiful surroundings of Lake Como, Italy, the Segreto di Lario is an elegant watch to get going with. It’s got a cushion-shaped case made of 18k rose gold measuring 41.0mm x 11.1mm with 50m of water resistance. The dial is primarily blue with vertical Côtes de Genève finishing once again inspiring thoughts of Lake Como. Long and thin hands make up the watch display while keeping it restrained. At the top above the logo sits a retrograde seconds hand, while at the bottom sit its two power reserve displays. As this watch has a seven-day (168-hour) power reserve, it features a reserve indicator showing the days and another one accurately counting down the last 24 hours of its run time. It’s pretty handy for a manually-wound watch to have that, and the ‘crossed swords’ look of the hands brings unique charm in a good way. It’s a far cry from Breva’s Génie 03 from the mid-teen years; that thing looked a bit too wild.
Making all this happen is a brand-new movement developed for BREVA GENEVE by Jean-François Mojon, whose name you may recognise as the founder and driving force behind Cyrus Genève, which makes quirky and cool wristwatches. The movement in this watch is based on the C101 calibre made by Chronode, also founded by Mojon, which has collaborated with names like Czapek & Cie., MB&F, Harry Winston and many more. The movement in this watch has plenty of haute horlogerie finishing to be found. It runs at 3 Hz and is only 3.98mm thick despite that weeklong power reserve.
Each watch comes on a leather strap made by the Italian craft company Cinturini, based near Turin. The alligator leather strap is hand-made and offered in three sizes based on your wrist’s needs, and it comes with a matching 18k gold buckle.
It’s always fun welcoming a new brand onto the scene but, of course, the real test of a watch brand is its first couple of years. Breva’s had one crack at it already, and while it made interesting watches, it wasn’t enough to carry it on. We wish Julien Haenney and the entire Breva team the best of luck with the new launch, and we can’t wait to see what they do next. At the time of writing, this watch is limited to 25 pieces. The price is CHF58,000 before taxes.
