There are names in watchmaking that are more than a simple exercise in style. Marine, for Breguet, is one of them. Its connection with navigation dates directly back to Abraham-Louis Breguet and spans more than two centuries of history, all the way to the brand’s current sports watches.
In 2026, the collection is renewed with six new versions of the Breguet Marine 5517 and Marine Chronographe 5527, offered in 18K white gold, 18K rose gold and titanium. Rather than changing the architecture of the watches, Breguet has chosen to focus on their aesthetic identity: “Quai de l’Horloge” guilloché dials, Breguet numerals and a different arrangement of the indications give two familiar references a new look without altering their fundamental character.
FROM 1815 TO TODAY’S BREGUET MARINE
To understand why the sea occupies such an important place in Breguet’s history, we need to go back to the beginning of the 19th century. In 1814, Abraham-Louis Breguet was admitted to the Bureau des Longitudes, and the following year Louis XVIII appointed him Watchmaker to the French Royal Navy, recognising his pursuit of precision and reliability, qualities that found one of their most important applications in chronometers designed for navigation.
Some of these instruments accompanied major expeditions: No. 3502 travelled with Louis Le Goarant de Tromelin on his explorations of the Pacific, while No. 3588 took part in Hyacinthe de Bougainville’s voyage around the world between 1824 and 1826. In 1840, a Breguet instrument also reached Antarctica alongside Jules Dumont d’Urville.
The Breguet Marine collection is rooted in this heritage and translates it into a family of contemporary timepieces in which robustness and performance coexist with elements immediately recognisable as part of the brand’s identity. The new 5517 and 5527 continue along this path without overturning what was already there. Instead, the evolution takes place on the dial and, in particular, through a decoration that connects two seemingly distant places: Paris and the sea.
THE “QUAI DE L’HORLOGE” GUILLOCHÉ AND BREGUET CODES
The “Quai de l’Horloge” guilloché, introduced to mark Breguet’s 250th anniversary, takes its name from the historic address on the Île de la Cité in Paris, where Abraham-Louis Breguet established his workshop and where his marine chronometers were also produced. The design draws inspiration from the contours of the Île de la Cité and Île Saint-Louis, transforming their geography into a pattern that also evokes the movement of waves.
And this is probably where the project gains greater depth. Breguet does not simply apply a new decoration to the Marine; it brings onto the dial the physical place where part of its history took shape. Paris, the Quai de l’Horloge and navigation thus overlap within the same motif, hand-guilloché on a gold base, then treated to create the different shades and covered with a layer of lacquer that gives the surface greater depth.
The guilloché then enters into dialogue with an aesthetic vocabulary that Breguet has built over more than two centuries: from the “apple” hands to the characteristic fluted middle case and Breguet numerals. Elements deeply rooted in the brand’s history, which we explored in our feature dedicated to Breguet’s aesthetic codes.
BREGUET MARINE 5517: THE THREE-HAND MODEL IS RENEWED
The Breguet Marine 5517 remains the most essential interpretation of the family, with hours, minutes, central seconds and date, but the most evident differences from the previous generation emerge when looking at the dial. The date leaves its position at 3 o’clock and moves to 6 o’clock, bringing the indication back onto the vertical axis, while Roman numerals give way to the characteristic Breguet Arabic numerals. At 12 o’clock, a gold Breguet appliqué appears, accompanied by the traditional “apple” hands.
The 40 mm case, measuring 11.5 mm thick and water-resistant to 100 metres, retains the characteristic fluted middle case and is offered in 18K white gold, 18K rose gold or titanium. The three configurations are distinguished above all by their colours: ice blue for white gold, black for rose gold and blue gradient for titanium. Three quite different interpretations, capable of shifting the character of the 5517 from the brighter elegance of white gold to the stronger presence of rose gold with a black dial, and finally to the sportier character of titanium.
The connection with navigation continues in the less immediate details. The tip of the seconds hand forms a “B” inspired by the “Bravo” maritime flag, the crown guard evokes the movement of waves and, through the sapphire crystal caseback, the gold oscillating weight can be seen, its lines recalling those of a rudder. These are discreet references, some already part of the Marine family, that keep the connection with its origins alive without turning it into a simple decorative exercise.
Powering the 5517 is the self-winding Breguet calibre 777A, numbered and signed, with a frequency of 4 Hz, a silicon balance spring and a 55-hour power reserve. Each version is available on a rubber strap, decorated with a motif echoing the Quai de l’Horloge pattern on the dial, or on a bracelet matching the case material.
The titanium Marine 5517 is priced at € 23,800 on rubber and € 27,000 on bracelet, while the white-gold and rose-gold versions are priced at € 44,000 on rubber and €72,300 on bracelet.
BREGUET MARINE CHRONOGRAPHE 5527: A NEW BALANCE
While on the 5517 the changes mainly involve a different arrangement of the elements, on the Marine Chronographe 5527 Breguet makes a more decisive choice: subtraction. The previous three-counter configuration gives way to a bi-compax layout, eliminating the chronograph hour counter. The minute counter remains at 3 o’clock and the small seconds at 9 o’clock, while the date leaves its previous position between 4 and 5 o’clock and moves to 6 o’clock. Here too, Roman numerals give way to Breguet numerals.
It is an apparently simple change, but one that significantly alters the perception of the 5527. Instead of adding a function or pursuing greater complexity, Breguet removes an indication to give more space to the guilloché work and make the composition cleaner. The large central hand continues to measure the chronograph seconds, while the two counters create a clearer symmetry around the axis formed by the signature at 12 o’clock and the date at 6 o’clock. This is where that new balance comes from and, more than any other change, it is what distinguishes this evolution from its predecessor.
The case measures 42.3 mm in diameter and 13.9 mm thick, is water-resistant to 100 metres and, as on the 5517, is available in white gold, rose gold and titanium. The colour palette changes, however: the two gold versions feature a blue gradient dial, while the titanium version opts for a grey gradient, emphasising its more technical character.
The nautical references return on the large central chronograph hand, tipped with the “B” of the Bravo maritime flag, on the wave-inspired crown guard and on the gold oscillating weight visible through the caseback, designed to evoke the lines of a rudder. Behind the dial is the self-winding Breguet calibre 582QA, equipped with a flyback chronograph, a frequency of 4 Hz, a silicon balance spring and inverted silicon anchor, and a 48-hour power reserve. The chronograph can also be configured on a rubber strap with the Quai de l’Horloge motif or on a bracelet in the same material as the case.
The titanium Marine Chronographe 5527 is priced at € 29,800 on rubber and € 33,000 on bracelet, while the white-gold and rose-gold versions are priced at € 53,600 on rubber and € 84,600 on bracelet.
CHANGING WITHOUT STARTING FROM SCRATCH
The new Breguet Marine 5517 and Marine Chronographe 5527 are not the result of a technical revolution or a complete rethink of the collection. The cases and movements remain essentially those we already knew; instead, Breguet has chosen to intervene where a watch builds much of its identity: on the dial.
On the 5517, the date is repositioned and the graphic language changes; on the 5527, Breguet even goes so far as to remove the hour counter to achieve a more essential composition. Linking the two models are the Quai de l’Horloge, Breguet numerals and those details that have long belonged to the brand’s aesthetic heritage. Not a revolution, then, but rather a process of subtraction and refinement that makes the two Marine models more consistent with Breguet’s identity without erasing their sporting character.
Ultimately, for a collection that can trace its origins back to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s appointment as Watchmaker to the French Royal Navy in 1815, looking to its own history does not necessarily mean looking backwards. It can simply mean knowing where to begin again.
By Jacopo Giudici