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[2020 new model] Breguet Tradition 7597 Retrograde Date has appeared

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One of Breguet's new releases this year, the Tradition 7597, was a Breguet-like new work with a pointer date.

The press release is written on the Breguet official website, so I'll cut it short, but I thought that this ultra-Breguet-like series is still wonderful, so please take a look at it.



The Tradition collection is inspired by one of the most important watches in Breguet's history, the Souscription. The ultimate in simplicity, the movement is characterized by perfect symmetry, allowing the front side of the watch to reveal every corner of the back. The retrograde date display on the new Tradition Retrograde Date 7597 was one of the first complications developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet and was used in some of Breguet's most famous timepieces. New to this Tradition collection, it features a chapter ring with Roman numerals, bordered by a Clou de Paris guilloché pattern and blued-steel Breguet hands. The retrograde date display is set between 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock for symmetrical balance, with cleverly curved hands moving over a highly structured movement. Thanks to a patented date correction mechanism, the three-dimensional date hand glides over the movement parts, making it easy to adjust the date. A screw-in date adjustment button at 10 o'clock allows safe setting of the date.

This watch, named after the Quantiem Calendar, is the first Tradition watch with a date display.

What's more, this pointer date is a retrograde type, so it jumps instantly from the 31st to the 1st.

Push the button at 10 o'clock to advance the date. This is a convenient function.



The calendar display is wide from 8 o'clock to 4 o'clock, so visibility is good. I like it.





It's also nice that the even-numbered days on the date display plate are dotted to simplify the display.
It is very good that it is not a transcription here. I think it's classy.



Well, let's unravel this Tradition series.

The life of Breguet


18th and 19th century France, where Breguet lived, was a feudal era with the majority of the common people and a very small number of royal aristocrats.

At that time, it was an aristocratic society, so it seems that most of the customers who purchased watches were from royal aristocrats and large merchants.

I will briefly write about France in this era, but there is such a turbulent era background.











































1789 French Revolution
1791 Varennes incident
1792 Revolution of August 10, abolition of the monarchy
1793 Louis XVI execution of Marie Antoinette
1794 Thermidor coup d'état establishes a presidential government
1795 The Vendémière Rebellion and the birth of the Paul Ballas government
1796 Souscription announced
1799 Brumaire coup, Napoleon Bonaparte establishes consul government
1799 Monterey a tact sale
1804 Napoleon I becomes emperor


Souscription (Reservation sale)


In 1796, Breguet unveiled a watch called the Souscription.

It means pre-sale.

Take a look at your watch first.



And the picture below is a Souscription advertisement issued by Breguet in 1796.
It is said to be the first catalog sale in the watch industry. As expected of Breguet.





Page 13 of "the art of breguet".

This watch sales system called souscription was very different from the previous watch sales method.

  • Prepay 1/4 when ordering

  • Catalog sales

  • simple one hand watch

  • Meet deadlines


In those days, it was common to pay for the watch at the time of delivery, so it seems that Breguet was worried about how to pay the wages to the craftsmen between the time the watch was ordered and the time it was delivered.

As mentioned in the book by Emmanuelle Breguet, some customers did not pay for their watches, and it seems that Breguet had a hard time collecting them.

The method to solve such various troubles at once is called this sousscription.

  • Since we receive a partial advance payment at the time of ordering, we can pay wages to craftsmen even during the production period.

  • Because it is catalog sales, it is easy to understand what kind of product it is,

  • Because it is a simple one-hand watch, the delivery time is short,

  • can promise a delivery date


It's a win-win situation for the customer and for Breguet.

One theory is that while orders from aristocrats and others have decreased due to the revolution, Souscription's advertisements are said to be an approach aimed at general (albeit wealthy) customers.

The Breguet Souscript was a commercial success and was produced in large numbers.



The description on the right page of the advertisement I saw earlier also says, "It's built to be safe even if it's dropped," and that's the parachute mechanism in the center of the image on the left.



And you can open the back side as shown on the right side of the image.
The clock industry's first back skeleton! It has a slightly different meaning.

beautiful.
Many Breguet movements are symmetrical, and I feel the commitment in watchmaking.


Monterey a tact (tactile clock)


Breguet's single-handed sousscription was a commercial success and was produced in large numbers.

Because it was so good, orders from aristocrats increased again, and "Souscription" led to the development and sales of "Monterey a tact" (tactile watch).

This is "Monterey a tact".



"Monterey a tact" is equipped with a mechanism that tells the time just by touching it.

The protrusions on the outer circumference of the case reproduce the position of the hour hand of a watch, and by touching the position of these protrusions, you can know the time from the positions of the studs assigned to each hour.

At a time when it was taboo to look at a watch in public, such as in social circles, this function of being able to tell the time by touching it even when it was in your pocket was very useful.

"Montre à tact" has been decorated with enamel, pearls, and even diamonds, and the watch can be seen even when the case is opened.



This leads to modern traditions.


Tradition


Tradition has many designs of Monterey a tact.

via timezone.com

The late Nicholas G Hayek, who loved Breguet,
“To create a watch that Breguet would have invented himself, using 21st-century materials and techniques.”
He said.


A watch made by the first Breguet over 200 years ago.


It has a great design and vision that is still relevant today.


Currently, Tradition has a variety of lineups in the last 15 years, such as dual time, chronograph, and tourbillon.


A living classic, a collection that inherits the spirit of the original Breguet, see Tradition with the Classic Series.





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