At the end of June, the motoring world’s great and good gathered for the annual London Concours classic car event, for which Breguet has been a partner since 2017. Horology buffs will have clocked that the concours’ dates aptly coincided with the 221st anniversary of the tourbillon, first invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet – while further noting that it was no coincidence that Breguet chose the event to unveil its new Tradition 7047 Tourbillon Waltz.
The fusée-chain tourbillon is truly an eye-catching feat of engineering, and with its striking blue dial and matching midnight blue alligator strap, it really elevates the trend for blue watches. Three key components have notably been given a special blue treatment – the tourbillon carriage, dial and chain links – which, considering the different materials and colouring techniques used for each, required painstaking attention to achieve a consistent blue tone throughout. To quote Breguet CEO Lionel a Marca, who attended the Concours: “Our objective is to bring a strong aesthetic line.”
A special plating process was behind the blue for the tourbillon carriage, which comes in super-light titanium. The watch’s calibre 569, which boasts a 50-hour power reserve, utilises a silicon balance spring, which is popular for its robustness and insensitivity to magnetic fields and optimal enhanced timekeeping precision.
Showstopping accuracy however really comes courtesy of the fusée chain, an early horological mechanism that was used in 18th century pocket watches and which is rarely found in timepieces today. Watchmakers in particular love this piece of engineering for its ability to ensure constant force while delivering energy. Breguet celebrates the feature by thermally blueing the chain – which alone comprises 250 of the watch’s total 542 components – with each handmade link first individually blued to perfection before being assembled into the chain.
Finally, a special rhodium treatment was used for the gold dial, which was then finished with the finest of Breguet signatures: Clous de Paris guilloche pattern, traditional Roman numerals and open-tipped hands. The dial rests chicly off centre under a domed sapphire case, which was chosen in part to accommodate the 3D-like fusée chain, but also because it offers less metal and weight, and maximum light to enter for which to view the mesmerising movement. The Tradition 7047 Tourbillon Waltz is a stunning and sophisticated watch that will look just as good in the boardroom as with a black tie.
The watch also aptly fits the London Concours theme, but it wasn’t the only excellent piece of horological engineering on show. There was also a unique Breguet dashboard clock that was created for Lamborghini in the 1990s – a pairing that feels almost incongruous and impossible to imagine, what with the clash of classic styling and futuristic motoring form. Nevertheless, at the time Breguet had been approached to create around 60 dash clocks for the Lamborghini Diablo, which was offered as an upgrade option to car buyers for a cool CHF 13,500 – perhaps not must less than the car’s price tag at the time. One of those clocks, recently purchased for Breguet’s museum, made its way to the Concours, where enthusiasts could admire the chronograph’s gilded green lacquer finish, Breguet blue steel hands, Roman numerals for the time and Arabic ones for the chronograph. To top it off, also on display was a rare 1995 Lamborghini Diablo SE30 Jota – in zippy purple, no less – one of only two in the UK
