Introducing The Breguet Classique 7147 With An Enamel Dial (Live Pics & Pricing)

Breguet’s latest dress watch, the Classique 7147, is so Breguet it hurts.

It’s quite simple, really. It’s the Clasique 7147, right down to the movement, except the silver-plated guilloché dial with Roman numerals has been replaced by a dial in radiant white grand feu enamel with painted black Breguet numerals, and a poetic minute track (a dial we have seen in other Breguet models before this one). There are very few watchmakers I can think of that would introduce such a watch into its regular production line. 

The best part is that the dial is in one single piece, the enamel effectively sinking down to trace a sub-dial at five o'clock for the small seconds function. The transition from dial to sub-dial is buttery smooth. Fine details such as the hand-painted fleur de lys hour markers and asterisk minute track, are exactly what Breguet should be focusing on and where the brand can make a real difference in the watch space. This is tradition through and through.

Overall, the dial is very easy on the eyes and much lighter than the one it replaces – though its pretty pointless comparing the merits of grand feu enameling and engine-turning. Both are seriously impressive, and the new Classique should be viewed more as an expansion of Breguet's philosophy, not a revision of it.

The extra-thin, fluted case of the Classique 7147 suits this dial very well too. The watch is powered by an ultra-thin movement, naturally. Caliber 502.3SD is a 12 lignes, 2.4mm-thick automatic movement, capable of producing up to 45 hours of power reserve. It features a free-sprung balance and an anti-magnetic silicon balance spring, and is very beautifully decorated. The off-center rotor is particularly striking and a good reminder that this is a thoroughly modern watch inside.

Breguet will present this 40mm watch in both white gold and rose gold, and they will retail for $21,000 and $21,500, respectively. Both will come on an alligator leather strap with a gold pin buckle. This, in a smaller ultra-thin Classique case, say maybe a 38mm (which Breguet could absolutely do with this movement) would be perfection. Would it be too much to ask for a stainless steel case too?

For more information,  visit Breguet online.