BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
As you know, multiple brands are marking anniversaries in 2025. Breguet, one of the most important names in the business, is marking 250 years since its founding by its namesake, Abraham-Louis Breguet. We’ve seen many new pieces coming out of the brand’s works so far, and it’s not showing signs of stopping as the new reference Classique Tourbillon Sidéral ref 7255 emerges and builds on one of Breguet’s most intriguing watches.
If you’re a watch nerd, a tourbillon lover or a true Breguet fanboy/girl you’ll know of their Classique Tourbillon Messidor 5335, which has a mystery tourbillon floating with no apparent connections to the rest of the movement. If you’re not any of the above listed, I recommend you go onto Breguet’s website and check out the Tourbillon Messidor, or visit their YouTube channel. The new ref 7255 follows on from the Tourbillon Messidor but with a redesigned tourbillon and an attractive aventurine enamel dial.
The dial is where most of the action is happening so it’s where we’ll spend a bit of time. The display is simple and yet laced with detail. For example, we have the aforementioned aventurine enamel dial creating a deep blue star-studded sky on which the time is displayed by golden Breguet-style hands pointing to golden Breguet-style numerals. A new type of dial construction was devised by the Breguet team to make room for the tourbillon enclosure, this meant that when fixed together the dial pieces formed a unit suitable for applying the enamel without it spilling out all over the place.
The words ‘Breguet’ and ‘Tourbillon’ are applied in 18k Breguet gold to match the Breguet gold hands. The flying mystery tourbillon has no apparent physical connections to the movement it’s providing the regulation for, which is a trick we don’t see much outside of Breguet or their French-founded counterpart, Cartier. It’s an exquisite design, and it’s surrounded by a polished Breguet gold inner flange ring which bounces light all over the place; if you haven’t seen any in-person videos of one of these, go and check them out right away.
Of course, the exquisiteness of the dial is half of the story, as it requires some equally exquisite mechanics to make it tick. Enter the calibre 187M1, which is made of 183 components. This hand-wound movement hides most of its mechanical parts behind a beautifully decorated Breguet gold caseback featuring linear Q’uai de l’Horloge guilloché, which is a new pattern Breguet developed and which we first saw in the reference 7035 from earlier this year. The pattern is inspired by the curves of Paris’ iconic river Seine as it winds around the city. There is also circular Q’uai de l’Horloge guilloché on the tourbillon support, surrounding the Breguet logo.
The flying mystery tourbillon is the star of the show, though. To make this system work, Breguet uses a sapphire crystal piece which has been meticulously polished so it is transparent. It sits between the balance wheel and the lever, and connects the escapement assembly to the rest of the movement. The hand-wound movement has a 50-hour power reserve which is impressive considering the movement is 4.8mm thick. The tourbillon adds an extra 2.2mm to the movement’s thickness, and the escapement beats at a frequency of 2.5Hz. All of this is wrapped in a 38.0mm x 10.2mm Breguet gold case featuring Breguet’s signature fluted case edge and even 30m of water resistance.
All of this horological beauty comes with a cost, well, two to be precise. It’s limited to just 50 examples worldwide and they cost an eye-watering $226,000 / £192,600.
