Breguet Tradition 7047 Tourbillon gets a facelift with a new blue dial and components accented in blue. Various treatments are used to make the hue, but the end result is a harmonious and uniform colour throughout. Find out more here.
Press Release details with commentary in italics.
New: Breguet Tradition 7047 Tourbillon Waltz
The RRP of the new Breguet Tradition 7047 Tourbillon Waltz REf. 7047PT1Y9ZU is SGD 272,600 inclusive of GST.
Commentary
The Breguet La Tradition is a very popular high end tourbillon by Breguet. The watch features an openworked dial with a sub-dial for the hour and minutes and an expanse of space on the dial side to show off the innards of the rather magnificent movement. The fusée and chain mechanism is exposed for all to admire, as is the magnificently constructed tourbillon, held by its pierced cock. And as always with the Tradition, the way the sapphire glass goes all the way to the edge of the tiny bezel is a highlight to us.
This novelty is a facelift to the existing Ref. 7047PT119ZU and features strong colours to highlight and accent the piece. The pricing remains unchanged, but the blue of the new dial, the chain and the tourbillon cage transforms the aesthetics to another level. A bit more showy, perhaps, but still very understated and elegant. The aesthetics which are in line with the Tradition Quantième Rétrograde 7597 launched in recently. Could be the makings of a power couple watch, perhaps, we wonder. The 7047 being in platinum and 41mm case might go well with the 40mm of the 7597 in white gold.
What is interesting is that the treatment to achieve what seems to the eye as a uniform blue hue is achieved via different treatments. The dial and tourbillon carriage uses a blue coating, while the chain is thermally blued.
Release details
To mark the date of creation of the Tourbillon by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the brand unveils its latest model from the Tradition collection: a timepiece featuring strong colours highlighting what has remained – from past to present – one of the most fascinating horological complications of all times.
The fusée-chain tourbillon mechanism appears sprinkled with touches of blue. Various treatments have been used on all the components in order to achieve visual uniformity: the tourbillon carriage and the dial are covered with blue coatings, while the chain links are thermally blued. This new feature reflects the aesthetics of the Tradition Quantième Rétrograde 7597 launched in May and elegantly plays with blue and slate grey contrasts.
A legendary complication
The Tourbillon stemmed from a necessity keenly felt in the 18th century: namely, to overcome the lack of accuracy caused by the vertical position of pocket watches placed in gentlemen’s waistcoats or jackets. The challenge was taken up by Abraham-Louis Breguet, who on 26 June 1801 filed a patent for the creation of the first tourbillon. Ever since, this complication has remained one of the most greatly appreciated by devotees of fine watchmaking, since it reveals the heart of the watch.
The fusée-chain tourbillon transmission device housed in the new Tourbillon 7047 serves to optimise the regularity of the watch’s operation by guaranteeing its constant torque, whatever its winding level is.
When the barrel is fully wound, it delivers its maximum force. The chain then acts on the top of the fusée and therefore on its smallest circumference. As the chain unwinds, its torque decreases yet acts in parallel on the widest part of the fusée – its base – thus ensuring the constant force of the energy is delivered.
Resolutely contemporary while displaying the House’s emblematic codes, the new Tourbillon 7047 picks up the signatures of the ManufactureBreguet: namely the “Clous de Paris” guilloché pattern on its off-centre gold dial, the traditional Roman numerals and the open-tipped hands. Like the watches that inspired it, its dial is secured by three screws.
The movement
At the heart of its 41 mm platinum case beats Calibre 569, a rhodium-plated hand-wound movement housing 542 components. It is equipped with an inverted in-line lever escapement featuring horns made of silicon, as too is the Breguet balance-spring. This material has many properties, since in addition to being resistant to corrosion and wear, it is insensitive to the influence of magnetic fields and improves the chronometry (timekeeping precision) of the timepiece. Finally, the balance of the Tradition Tourbillon 7047 oscillates at a frequency of 2.5 Hz and has a 50-hour power reserve.
The Tradition collection
Unveiled in 2005, the Tradition collection with its attractive blend of heritage and modernity is the brand’s first line to present all the movement’s organs on the dial side, thus demonstrating its inspiration from souscription and touch (à tact) watches. Launched in 1797, the souscription watch featured a single hand to read the hours and minutes. The aesthetics of this refined yet minimalist timepiece were avant-garde for its time – as indeed was its concept, since a quarter of the price had to be paid at the time of ordering.
The same calibre was used by Abraham-Louis Breguet to design the first touch (à tact) watches presented a year later at the French Industrial Exhibition. At that time, poor lighting made it difficult to read the time on a dial. It was also not considered very elegant to consult one’s watch during social occasions. The founder of the Manufacture Breguet therefore devised a piece that allowed the time to be read in a tactile manner, without removing the watch from the pocket. All the wearer had to do to check the time was to touch the arrow or hours hand turning around the case rim and compare its position with the hour projections on the case middle.
The current Tradition collection picks up Breguet’s codes in a contrasting and contemporary way, as demonstrated by the Tradition Tourbillon 7047 model. This new timepiece is fitted with a midnight blue alligator leather strap secured by a triple-blade platinum folding clasp.
Breguet Tradition 7047 Tourbillon Waltz Specifications
Case: Platinum
Diameter: 41 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Dial: Off-centred blue dial in hand-guilloché gold Movement: hand-wound
Functions: Hours, minutes, fusée tourbillon Balance-spring: Breguet type, in silicon Carriage: Titanium
Water resistance: 3 bar (30 m)
Calibre: 569
Frequency: 2,5 Hz
Power reserve: 50 hours Components: 542
Strap: Midnight blue alligator leather
