Breguet: Tradition Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097

Original and unmistakable thanks to the movement components showcased on top of the mainplate, this year’s Breguet Tradition collection is enriched by a new version of the Tradition Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097 revisited with a blue colored guilloche dial.

This wristwatch, like the rest of the collection, inspired by the subscription watches, recalls the genius of Abraham-Louis Breguet who first invented these one-hand pocket watches in 1796. They were fitted with a special movement of great simplicity and sold by subscription: a down payment of a quarter of the price on order and the rest on delivery. A.-L. Breguet used the movements of his subscription watches to create his first tact watches. 

The Tradition 7097 pays tribute to the beauty of the calibers of the subscription and tact watches by revealing the bridges, wheels, escapement, barrel and other components of the movement, which are usually hidden beneath the mainplate. Refined finishing enhances the visual balance displayed by the symmetrical bridges. The bridges and mainplate are decorated to achieve a uniform, finely grained surface. The gold winding rotor borrows its shape from historical movements while the classic clous de Paris (hobnailing) guilloche pattern, executed by hand, highlights the blue dial in gold, positioned off-center at 12 o’clock. 

This timepiece gets its name from the retrograde seconds hand at 10 o’clock. The hours and minutes are shown by Breguet-style open-tipped hands in rhodium-plated steel. In order to provide optimum readability and to highlight the retrograde seconds’ complication, Breguet watchmakers used a semicircle with a circular brushed finish superimposed on the dial. To maintain the symmetry, the pare-chute is located at 4 o’clock. This Breguet invention, which protects the balance staff from shocks, can be identified at a glance as the emblematic feature of the Tradition collection. It is the forbear of all the shock-protection mechanisms in use in watch-making today, including the Incabloc system. 

The 7097 reference features advanced technology. Its 40mm case in white gold houses the AutomaticCalibre 505SR1 with an inverted in-line lever escapement with silicon pallets and a silicon Breguet overcoil balance spring that guarantee exceptional precision. 

The new Breguet Tradition Automatique Seconde Rétrograde 7097 with blue guilloche dial is combined with a blue alligator leather strap and exclusively available in Breguet boutiques at the price of € 35.700.