The New Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327 Timepieces Stay True to Breguet’s Design Principles

In the 1780s, Breguet's ‘perpétuelle’ watch became a sensation as its moving oscillating weight automatically wound the mechanism as the wearer walked. What’s more, it featured a calendar mechanism and introduced Breguet's guilloché silvered dials. Paying homage to this heritage, the watchmaker has just put forth a reinterpretation of the perpetual calendar in the Classique collection — Quantième Perpétuel 7327. It embodies the brand's neoclassical design principles, pioneered by Abraham-Louis Breguet, founder of the company. 

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The Classique collection

The Classique collection boasts innovative designs that have become the hallmark of the brand's avant-garde aesthetics — take the ‘moon’ tip watch hands, the guilloché pattern and the off-centre dial. The 7327 Quantième Perpétuel, which was added to the collection in 2004, gets a contemporary update while staying true to the Classique line's timeless signatures.

The latest creation that blends classic aesthetics with modern sensibilities is available in two kinds of 39 mm case: 18 ct white gold (Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327BB/11/9VU) and 18 ct rose gold (Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327BR/11/9VU).

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An Understated Design

The Breguet Classique Quantième Perpétuel 7327 models feature silvered gold dials with meticulously hand-engraved Clous de Paris hobnail patterns, achieved with a rose engine, a craft that was famously used by Abraham-Louis Breguet to fortify his dials. On each watch, the moon phase, located between 1 o’clock and 2 o'clock, is designed to appear realistic with a hand-hammered surface and a blue lacquer coating with spangles that subtly reveal stars when the timepiece is turned.

Seamlessly integrated at the dial's base are the day, date and year indicators, with a retrograde hand indicating months via a quarter circle, located between 10 o’clock and 11 o'clock. The hours and minutes are displayed using the eccentric moon-tip watch hands, crafted in blued steel. The founder's secret Breguet signature can be found between 11 o’clock and 12 o'clock as well as between 12 o’clock and 1 o'clock.

The 39 mm case allows for adjustments of various dial indications, viewed from several positions. A corrector stylus is used to adjust the day at 4 o'clock, different moon phases between 4 o’clock and 5 o'clock, the date at 6 o'clock, and the month and the year at 9 o'clock. Time is set via the crown at 3 o'clock.

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Performance

Each Breguet Quantième Perpétuel 7327 timepiece is intricately designed but quite user-friendly. The remarkable function, originating in the 18th century, displays the precise date, accounting for variations in month lengths and leap years, requiring a four-year mechanical ‘memory’ of 1,461 days. The system comprises 294 components, including a gearing system from the hour's wheel and a central lever that drives the entire movement every day. 

The Movement

Breguet achieved its goal of crafting a lightweight and comfortable timepiece by employing Calibre 502 with an additional calendar mechanism. The 502.3.P movement is impressively thin, measuring only 4.5 mm. Yet it delivers incredibly strong performance with a self-winding, rhodium-plated mechanism that beats at a frequency of 3 hertz and boasts a 45-hour power reserve. It also features a flat silicone balance spring and an inverted straight-line escapement with silicone horns. 

The movement's decoration, yet another hallmark of Breguet's expertise, is showcased through the sapphire caseback with a hand-engraved gold oscillating weight, using a rose engine with a circular barleycorn motif. The bridges are embellished with Côtes de Genève and chamfered edges. Côtes de Genève finishes also accentuate the other components, all skilfully crafted by watchmakers in Vallée de Joux. This water-resistant watch withstands depths of up to 30 metres.

Finally, each Breguet Quantième Perpétuel 7327 watch comes with a midnight blue strap to complement the elegant white gold variant. In contrast, a mysterious brown strap complements the rose gold version, secured with folding clasps.

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