The first watch to celebrate Breguet’s 250th anniversary was a tribute to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s early souscription pocket watches. With a single blued steel hand on a white Grand Feu enamel dial adorned with Breguet numerals and a railroad minute track, the Classique Souscription 2025 was a pitch-perfect nod to the past.
But now, a second commemorative model has been announced: The Tradition Seconde Retrograde 7035 – a piece that will feel far more familiar to modern Breguet enthusiasts.
While the Classique Souscription 2025 paid clear homage to the pocket watches made using Breguet’s revolutionary subscription-based sales model, the 7035 draws from the comparatively contemporary Tradition collection, first introduced in 2005. That line became one of the brand’s most distinctive offerings, its open-worked, inverted movement laid bare for all to admire. Yet, even Tradition watches carry echoes of the maison’s heritage – their symmetrical architecture is based on the same souscription calibres, and the off-centred dials are inspired by Breguet’s historic Tact pocket watches.
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The first thing that sets this anniversary model apart from its peers is its size. While most Tradition references measure 40mm across, the 7035 comes in at 38mm wide (and 12.6mm thick), bringing it closer to the original 37mm Tradition. The case design remains reassuringly familiar, with its fluted case band and welded lugs. The real standout, however, is the watch’s livery.
Like its commemorative predecessor, the 7035 is housed in the brand’s proprietary alloy, Breguet Gold. By adding a dash of copper, silver, and palladium to 18k yellow gold, the resulting metal takes on a warmer, antique-like hue, while offering better resistance to fading. The mainplate and bridges have also been treated to match this golden tone, lending the movement a uniform warmth.
Just below 12 o’clock sits the off-centred dial in flinque enamel, rendered in Breguet blue. The hand-turned guilloche pattern is the Quai de l’Horloge motif (the same found on the Classique Souscription 2025) inspired by the undulating lines of the Seine as it wraps around the brand’s historic Parisian workshop. Breguet numerals and a silver minute track ensure clarity, while the hands are crafted from matching Breguet Gold. The retrograde seconds display on the left is punctuated by a signature blued steel baton hand – a nod to tradition within the Tradition.
Whirring away inside is the 505SR, which is still found in existing self-winding Tradition watches. But here, it’s fitted with a crescent moon–shaped oscillating weight, referencing Breguet’s original perpetuelle (automatic) watches. Breguet was one of the first to experiment with platinum in horology – a tricky metal to work with, but one he embraced for its winding efficiency. The rotor is vertically satin-brushed to match the bridges, underscoring the watch’s cohesive aesthetic.
“This daring architecture almost lets you slip into the watchmaker’s skin, so faithfully does it reproduce the view he has when working on a watch,” says Breguet CEO Gregory Kissling of the Tradition collection. “For me, this is where Breguet’s DNA lies: A strong, instantly recognisable identity that asserts its character even from a distance. This second anniversary timepiece perfectly embodies that spirit.”
Limited to just 250 pieces, the 7035 arrives in a red Moroccan leather presentation box – a nod to the cases Breguet himself once used.
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