An anniversary tourbillon with a skeletonized caliber.

 

Abraham-Louis Breguet went down in history as the talented inventor and a successful businessman, whose subscription watches laid the foundations for a crowdfunding of sorts in watchmaking, i.e. financing the production of watches through subscription, which are now worth phenomenal amounts of money.

 

Not only that, he was also a remarkably meticulous, and left detailed records behind which document his achievements and the patents granted for new constructive solutions. Thanks to the surviving archives, we know when to celebrate the anniversary of the tourbillon, as we know the invention was patented on June 26.

 

This year is a milestone: the watchmakers at Maison Breguet have declared 2021 the year of the tourbillon, 220 years since the tourbillon (or "whirlwind" in French) was invented by the company's founder. As it happens, historians reckon that the name of the invention wasn't just a reference to rotation (the sense the French word is now used in), it was linked to a phenomenon of cosmic proportions.

 

Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365

Back in Breguet's day, the French word "tourbillon" was used to describe the planetary rotation around the sun. When the tourbillon was patented in the year 1801, the clockmaker described his invention in a letter to the Minister of the Interior with the watercolor technical drawing from the list of documents required to apply for the patent.

 

The mark left by these historical documents can be seen in this year's main anniversary model — the Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365. Back in 2019, Breguet launched the Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Squelette 5395 model to mark the tourbillon's anniversary, which housed the skeletonized caliber 581.

 

It is now the beating heart encased within this year's new watch, which has simultaneously been transformed into a canvas where the story of the tourbillon unfolds. The famous blueprint has been transferred onto the movement. In addition, it now bears the date when the invention was patented: "7 Messidor An IX".

 

The date is indicated according to the French Republican calendar which was observed at the time, which equates to June 26 in the Gregorian calendar now in use.  The number of each watch in the limited series of 35 pieces is engraved on the caseback, which is also the number of tourbillons Breguet made throughout his entire lifetime. 

 

Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365
Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365

The patent number "Brevet No. 157" is included above the frame around the tourbillon for good measure, which has a bridge made of blued steel — an unconventional choice for a watch belonging to the Classique collection. While the dial of the 5395 model was fully exposed, the designers of the new watch have gone for exquisite guilloché instead, rendered a style which is more closely associated with the Maison.

 

The center of the dial is dominated by the Clous de Paris hobnailing pattern, while the edge is reserved for the Grain d'Orge pattern. Fans of guilloché will also appreciate the engine-turned wave motif used to decorate the platinum peripheral oscillating weight of the Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Anniversaire 5365. The 41 mm case is fashioned from rose gold.