A Blue Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique Watch Hits The Shelves
The Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5367 is not new. Nor, as you may have noticed if you live in a clement part of the world, is the color blue. However, these two staples of daily luxury life have never been brought together. That is until now…
There are few brands in the industry that have the name-power of Breguet. It isn’t just that the modern iteration of the brand is renowned for high-quality timepieces often flaunting a timeless elegance others struggle to match, but it is also the weight of history attached to the founder’s name. Abraham-Louis Breguet was not just a watchmaker. He was arguably the watchmaker. In his lifetime, Breguet was a celebrity. And with good reason. his inventions and innovations resonate to this day. The tourbillon (one of those inventions) never seems as comfortable on a dial as it does on the dial of a Breguet.
Breguet tourbillons just feel right
Full disclosure: I am well and truly fed-up with the tourbillon. Throughout the majority of my time working at the bench for Omega, the tourbillon was the “complication du jour.” By that, I mean that every brand under the sun seemed to be releasing a tourbillon watch. Oftentimes, these releases had little to nothing to do with the brand releasing them. It was a period of excess that thankfully folded in on itself when the industry hit choppy waters about five years ago (my, how time flies).
In sickness or in health, however, Breguet tourbillons just feel right. My favorite tourbillon of all time was the Breguet 5347 As an open extoller of enamel dials, the deep blue Grand Feu of the new Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5367 might be about to steal that title away from the 5347.
Extra-Plat means extra-flat
In case you were wondering but too afraid to ask, Extra-Plat does in fact mean extra-flat. “Plat” is French for “flat.” It’s a pretty befitting name too, as the 581 caliber within this watch measures no more than 3mm thick. That results in an overall case thickness of just 7.45mm. That is quite something for a tourbillon watch boasting an enameled dial (remember, an enameled dial isn’t exactly the thinnest option available).
The blue dial is the star of the show.
Breguet was a fan of sparing decoration. One wouldn’t go as far as to call Breguet a minimalist, but he liked to keep his powder dry more often than not. He preferred to choose one style of decoration and present it as perfectly as he possibly could. Here, the modern incarnation of Breguet does the same. The tourbillon, for all its technical wizardry, is relatively muted as it sits unobtrusively between the 4 and 6 o’clock points. The blue dial is the star of the show, and the tiny, pad-printed five-minute markers add character to an otherwise pared-back affair.
The majestic mechanism
To summarize, this is a handsome new addition to the Breguet catalog. It brings a bit of an aesthetic flourish to a range that is perhaps best recognized for its stylistic humility. It is hard to make a tourbillon anything other than loud or grabby. Here, Breguet succeeds in keeping the complication quiet. The majestic mechanism is allowed to speak through its operation rather than its unnecessary adornment.
The power reserve of 80 hours is staggering.
The Breguet Classique Tourbillon Extra-Plat Automatique 5367 is a very wearable 41mm wide. It comes in a platinum case that makes it the perfect dress watch choice for fans of stealth luxury. Most remarkably, however, is the watch’s power reserve. Considering this Breguet Classique Tourbillon is just 7.45mm cased up (thanks to the 3mm-thick 581) the power reserve of 80 hours is staggering. And that’s despite the 4Hz (28,800vph) operating speed (which is uncommonly high for a tourbillon). This is aided by a futuristic silicon balance spring. The reference number is 5367PT/2Y/9WU. The previous 5367 in platinum retailed for €157,600. The price is the same this time around. Learn more here.
