At the end of last year, we were able to get our hands on the Breguet Classique Complications 1907 pocket watch worth one million U.S. dollars. This massive 18K yellow gold pocket watch regulator weighing almost three quarters of a pound —338.2 grams to be precise— and with a case diameter of 56.50 mm, is no joke. This is by far, one of the heaviest pocket watches we have ever reviewed and one that is definitely worth its price. The Breguet Classique Complications 1907 is not only a regulator type of watch, but it also features a grand strike —grand sonnerie and petite sonnerie—, a tourbillon and a hand engraved manual wound movement with 2-way rotating crown.
The Dial
The Breguet Classique Classique Complications 1907 pocket watch features a silvered gold dial with four different rose engine lathe hand engraved guilloché motifs. The dial layout is extremely elegant with a satin brushed hours chapter ring with Roman numerals, off-centered hours indicator at 12 o'clock with checkered pattern, tourbillon at 5 o'clock with running seconds indicator and a grand strike opening at 8 o'clock. The hands are in polished blued steel with the traditional Breguet open-tipped hands. The dial includes the traditional secret signatures at 12 o'clock on the regulator hour indicator.
The Case
The Breguet Classique Complications is fitted with a delicately finished hunter case measuring 56.5 mm in diameter by 21.95 mm in thickness. As you can appreciate in the pictures below, the pocket watch is quite thick and delicately finished with the traditional fluting along the case band. Rounding out the elegant look of this timepiece, the Breguet Classique Complications 1907 is finished with à grains d'orge —barleycorn— guilloché motif throughout both case lids.
Two levers and a push button are conveniently located around the case band. While the push button to the right of the winding crown is used to activate the grand strike on demand, the first lever serves as a switch between the 'grand sonnerie', 'petite sonnerie' and silent mode, while the other lever works as a release to open the front and case back lids.
The Movement
The beating heart inside this pocket watch is the manual wound in-house Breguet calibre 508GS with 65-hour power reserve. The movement measuring 16.5 ligne —the ligne is a historic unit of length used prior to the adoption of the metric system in the late 18th century and still used today by the watchmaking industry to measure the size of watch movements. Since one ligne is the equivalent to 2.2558 mm, this movement then measures 37.22 mm in diameter, perfect fit for the massive case housing it. Composed of 525 parts, this movement features a right-angle lever escapement and beats a low frequency of 2.5Hz —18,800 vph. The exquisitely finished movement is fully visible via the display case back.
On the Hand & Pricing
Considering this is a pocket watch, we can't tell you how it feels on the wrist; however, on the hand, it feels true to its size, massive and quite heavy. Just imagine three quarters of a pound compressed into this 18K yellow gold pocket watch sitting on top of your palm. This is definitely one of those watches we've reviewed, where it is almost impossible to disconnect your brain from the fact that such a price tag can be associated to such a small object in itself. Ode to the power of horology and the master hands that create this complicated mechanical machines we like to call watches.
Sticker Price $1,000,000 USD. For more info on Breguet click here.
