Fratello Dress Watch Season: The Grand Finale — A. Lange & Söhne 1815 34mm Vs. Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
Welcome, dear Fratelli, to the final battle in our inaugural Dress Watch Season contest! Our writers made their cases for a broad range of dress watches over the past few weeks. You, our esteemed readers, voted for your favorite each time. In the end, the 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815 and the Breguet Classique Souscription came out on top. Today, you get to decide once and for all which is the greatest dress watch released in 2025.
As before, Nacho will represent the Breguet, while Thomas will make his case for the 1815. Gloves off, gentlemen; this is the final, after all!
Thomas: The 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815 over the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
Allow me to start with a compliment to you, dear Fratelli. I absolutely love to see the 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815 in today’s final. No, that’s not just because I represent it but also because of what it represents in general.
If you were to line up all of our contestants on a table in front of you, the Lange would not stand out. It would look modest, almost to the point of shyness, among all the glitzy status symbols and gaudy statement pieces. It would take a quietly confident person to refuse all of that shock and awe and walk away with the elegant 1815. You, Fratelli, have shown yourselves to be such characters over the past weeks, so kudos to you!
That said, I will indeed take the gloves off for today’s final match. Usually, I like to focus on my contestant’s strengths, but I feel the Breguet can use a bit of a telling-off. The whole watch world group-thought it to greatness, even rewarding it with the GPHG’s “Aiguille d’Or” (it has an aiguille bleu, by the way). I think, however, to give the Lange the best chance today, we’ll have to lift the veil on the Breguet for once.
The Breguet Classique Souscription isn’t as special as everyone claims
Now, I will not get any joy out of what I am about to do, but I must do it regardless. I, too, liked the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 a lot when it came out. However, it has since been praised into the stratosphere by the watch community, which isn’t fully deserved. No, not every single thing Abraham-Louis Breguet did was brilliant (although he came close).
Let me start by stating the painfully obvious: €52,200 is an insane amount for this watch. “But it has an enamel dial!” you might say. I could start a dial-enameling atelier for the money that buys you a single Breguet Classique Souscription; it makes no sense. Sure, you get a gold case and an impressive caliber. But guess what: the 1815 offers that too — at half the price. And yes, even the 1815 is ridiculously expensive. We often get criticized at Fratello for normalizing high prices. Well, this is probably a good occasion to draw a line.
Then there’s the watch itself. Yes, it pays homage to an old pocket watch. It does so, however, with a deeply flawed design execution. It is too big, for starters. Next, have a closer look at the details. That single hand is needlessly contrived, resembling three hands stacked into one. It also lacks balance, with an odd and distracting emphasis on the central pinion. I would give the minute track a thorough redesign to improve legibility as well.
The A. Lange & Söhne 1815 is the one to get
Okay, my apologies. I may be getting carried away somewhat. There is just something about the Breguet Classique Souscription that rubs me the wrong way. The souscription scheme, the limited numbers, and those ghastly engravings in the caliber all feel like a marketing exercise to me. And does nobody see the hilarity in the GPHG awarding it a “golden hand”? Apparently, even the judges felt it really needed another hand on there.
Okay, deep breaths. I got carried away yet again. The tension of the final battle may be getting to me. I shall not mention the Breguet Classique Souscription again, focusing on my candidate instead. Instead of regurgitating what I said about the 34mm 1815 in previous contests, let me just make one core case for it.
The art of the dress watch is all about elegance, understatedness, and quiet, dignified flair. The 34mm A. Lange & Söhne 1815 does that better than any watch out there. Some might argue that it is too small, but that’s precisely the point. Allow me to elaborate.
The small case makes a big statement
A. Lange & Söhne made no sacrifices or compromises when downsizing the 1815. It comes loaded with serious horological muscle. You get classic German watchmaking prowess in the newly developed caliber, along with finishing that is second to none. Meanwhile, the watch has that diminutive stance on the wrist. It will sit on the flat top surface of your wrist, even if you have a below-average wrist circumference. I know there are men out there who will associate this with unmanliness. I would argue the opposite is true, if it even matters. It looks confident, humble, and powerful at the same time. In a sense, that makes a much greater statement.
It harks back to classical watch design in a way that the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 fails to do. We may have gotten used to watches wrapping all the way around our wrists or sticking out on both ends. Wristwatches were designed, however, to sit neatly atop the wrist. This may look diminutive to the wearer, but it looks much better to everyone else. It allows for a natural position on the forearm, showing bits of the accompanying strap on either side of the case. If you feel your watch is too small, look in the mirror instead of down; you will see how wristwatches were once intended. In this way, the humble 34mm 1815 makes a bit statement about style and taste that the Breguet cannot match, even if it screams as loud as it does.
Nacho: Breguet Classique Souscription 2025
Before I begin, I must confess that I didn’t have high hopes of making it this far. In fact, I was almost counting on the Breguet not making it past its punch-out with the Patek. But here we are — in the final battle and with a good chance of winning. But what’s with the change of tune? You may wonder how I’ve shifted from a rather pessimistic outlook to a more positive one. It all comes from the reaction I’ve seen to the Breguet in the comments section.
Considering dress watches in the narrowest sense, there are some idiosyncrasies to point out, sure. But the truly eye-opening thing is how sympathetic people have been towards the Souscription 2025 and, by proxy, Breguet. Most people seem to care for the brand sincerely. But should this truly come as a surprise? I don’t think it should.
Breguet is a brand that’s not hard to love. That’s not merely for its historical significance in the world of horology or for bearing the name of one of the key figures (and arguably the grandfather) of classical watchmaking, but it’s also for being a brand that has never strayed too far from its roots. In sticking to what it does best rather than chasing trends and gimmicks, Breguet has established a solid track record. And though the brand isn’t exactly leaving behind some of its best years, recent developments seem to promise a bright future. This glimmer of hope appears to have drawn the attention of watch lovers worldwide, and I can’t blame them. The Souscription 2025’s role as the physical embodiment of this new chapter makes it a future classic and, in all certainty, a historically significant watch in the making.
A watch that transcends the trend
I don’t want to spend a lot of time belaboring the point. If you’ve read this far, you’re invested. That means you’ve already heard me sing the Breguet Classique Souscription’s praises. You already know and understand what makes this watch special. What I want to offer here is some perspective, followed by a coup de grace. And though, ultimately, most of you will have already made up your mind upon reading the title, there’s something about the Breguet that I’ve come to realize. Sure, you could fault it for being slightly larger than the current broadly accepted dress-watch conventions. But if you put it into perspective, thinking beyond what’s hip today — which, as Tower of Power teaches us, might become passé — how much does this matter for a genuinely timeless design?
Are there not “jumbo” and “oversized” dress watches from the ’40s and ’50s that are still beloved by collectors today? Sure, 34–36mm cases are ubiquitous and a safe bet. But a timeless design doesn’t have to subscribe to current, future, or past trends. I believe that the merits of this watch, and what it signifies for Breguet, transcend a single measurement, especially one that we likely perceive from our current (biased by the present) perspective.
Imagine someone seeing the Classique Souscription 70 years in the future (or even in the past). It wouldn’t be any less elegant and impressive, much like the original pocket watch it draws inspiration from. On the other hand, even though its production processes and design may be traditional, and it’s intrinsically hard to fault as a good-looking watch, the A. Lange & Söhne 1815 is very much a product of the now.
It’s no contest
If what we were looking for here was “the most dress-watch-like watch released in 2025,” the Lange would have more than a good shot at winning. I’ll even plainly admit that the 1815 more closely aligns with today’s commonly accepted parametric definition of “dress watch.” However, it also feels like this iteration of the 1815 justifies its existence by answering to current trends in the watch world. “Small watches are in? Okay, let’s make it small. Is a blue dial more fun, modern, and less stuffy than classic enamel dials? Okay, let’s make it blue. And to ensure its broad appeal, let’s offer it in not one but two distinctly colored precious metals.” It’s trendy, not timeless. Consequently, when people think back to significant dress watches released in 2025, I wouldn’t bet on it entering the discussion.
This Breguet piece doesn’t just mark an important anniversary but also sticks to a timeless formula that, like the brand, has been around for over 200 years — a white enamel dial with black Arabic numerals, a heat-blued time-telling hand, and a beautifully finished movement that is structurally impressive and a sight to behold. And it may not be the most 2025 dress watch, but it may turn out to be the best dress watch of 2025.
Ultimately, the choice is yours. As I mentioned, most of you will have entered this article already knowing which of the two watches you would vote for. Still, if you’re undecided, I hope you’ll consider my words and that you’ll give the Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 another well-deserved vote towards victory. May the best dress watch win!
Pick your winner below!
Thomas and Nacho have spoken, and now it’s up to you. Which of these watches will be crowned Fratello’s Best Dress Watch of 2025? Vote for the one you think should claim the victory in the poll below.
