In June this year, fine watchmaking experienced one of its more unusual moments – a contemporary marketing approach that married history and tradition with a desire to overtake social media. In 1801, on June 26, Abraham-Louis Breguet patented the tourbillon and changed watchmaking forever; the contemporary brand that perpetuates his legacy likes to honour this occasion every year with a new creation. This year, it is the Classique Double Tourbillon 5345 “Quai de L’horloge,” which features the now-famous calibre 588N, presented here as calibre 588N2. We will say at the outset that it is impossible to do justice to a grand complication like reference 5345 with a short write-up. In 2022, the last version of this reference was part of our 10-page cover story in the Legacy issue.

That said, here is our best shot at a short take. The thing to remember when looking at this watch is that you must deploy your mind’s eye; a static visual conveys little of the magic here. For example, the double tourbillon uses a central differential to set the entire plate in motion to indicate the hours (it completes one rotation in 12 hours). At its debut in 2006, this was brilliant because it made of the tourbillon, otherwise a technical feature, a proper time indicator. The gold plate on which the tourbillons are mounted rotates with the (blue) hour hand, which also doubles as the upper bridge for one of the tourbillons. Its extension, in a different colour, acts as the bridge for the second tourbillon. This shared bridge is fixed to a central plate (rotating as noted above); each of the tourbillons still spins once per minute (as normal), and the watch takes the average rate of the escapements to keep track of time.

The above description works for all versions of this watch, including the original reference 5347. For reference 5345BR/1S/5XU, to give its full catalogue number, Breguet is engaged in showcasing the brand’s expertise in both mechanics and artistic crafts. This new edition is housed in the expectedly large case to accommodate the calibre, with its twin tourbillons and three gear trains. The collector expecting subtlety here will have somehow failed to notice the Breguet motifs atop the mainspring barrels, acting as skeletonised bridges. Instead, the rose gold watch invites you to recall the late Nicolas G. Hayek, who was larger than life and famed for wearing multiple watches from the Swatch Group.

The back of the watch reveals the manual-winding calibre; it consists of 740 components, each one meticulously hand-finished by in-house craftspeople. While the technical marvels are most evident dial-side, the rear of the movement also showcases the aforementioned craftsmanship. The bridges are engraved with an aerial view of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s historic workshop at 39 Quai de l’Horloge in Paris. This intricate engraving, different from previous models, uses multiple techniques to create depth and perspective on the gold plate. It wants for nothing in drawing the eye; Hayek and Abraham-Louis would be proud.

Movement: Manual calibre 588N2 with double tourbillon; 50-hour power reserve
Case: 46mm in rose gold; water-resistant to 100m
Strap: Midnight blue rubber
Price: On application

This article first appeared on WOW’s Autumn Issue #74

For more on the latest in luxury watch reads from WOW, click here.