By Jovan Krstevski
To mark its quarter-millennium milestone, Breguet has flung open the atelier doors and unveiled the Tradition Seconde Rétrograde 7035. Dressed in Breguet blue and a freshly minted alloy called Breguet gold, this limited edition leans heavily on the brand’s past, while dropping anchor firmly in the present. This limited edition timepiece is basically a love letter to the brand’s roots, with a few modern tricks up its sleeve.
The case, all 38mm by 12.6mm of it, is fashioned from Breguet gold, a proprietary cocktail of gold, silver, copper and palladium with a warm, straw-hued glow. It’s fluted, of course. Water resistance clocks in at 30 metres, which is more about brushing off the occasional splash than deep sea derring-do.
Front and centre is the blue enamel dial, thinly veiled in Grand Feu enamel atop a guilloché base. The motif, called Quai de l’Horloge, is inspired by the curves of the Seine river around the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis. Silver Breguet numerals and fleurs-de-lis hug the edge, while the retrograde seconds hand sweeps across the top. The dial is compact but fussy in the best way, with exposed gears, blued screws and a fair number of ruby jewels blinking back at you.
Ticking away inside is the self-winding Calibre 505SR, beating at 3 Hz with a 50 hour reserve. The silicon balance spring and lever escapement’s horns keep things precise, while a platinum rotor shaped like a crescent moon does the heavy lifting.
The watch is hitched to a navy alligator strap with a pin buckle in matching gold. Limited to 250 pieces, it’s yours for €51,200.
