This men’s Breguet is a genuinley rare watch, from one of the the most respected manufactures of all time. Model reference BA3010
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
From the supplied guarantee, that matches the serial number on the case back, we can accurately date this watch to being sold in November 1988.
CONDITION
The Breguet name is one of the best in the business. The claims the brand make put almost ever other watchmaker to shame – established in 1775, they invented the wristwatch (for the Queen of Naples), as well as the perpetual calendar, automatic winding, the tourbillon, shock protection on the balance and more. You can read about them here, but if you wanted the best watch you could have around 1800 you had a Breguet. Both Queen Marie-Antoinette and Napolean Bonapate had Breguet watches, as did many others of the elite classes. Abraham-Louis Breguet had so many customers from the Royal Household that he had to return to Switzerland during the Revolution before heading back to Paris once it was safer.
The house is now owned by Swatch Group, and is their pinnacle brand (above the likes of Blancpain, Glashutte and Omega.) But in 1988 the company had just been bought from the French jewellers Chaumet by an investment company that recognised the history of the brand and set about building a company to match the history and values. This watch comes with a list of official distributors for Breguet in 1988 – there were only 21 places worldwide you could see and buy a Breguet watch, and these include Beyer in Zurich and Graff in London.
So Breguet watches are exclusive, but at this time in the company history they were also very rare. At time of writing there are four 1980’s Breguet watches listed on Chrono24. Four. In comparison there are 240 Patek Philippe and over 4,000 Rolex. This watch comes from the Classique range, first launched in 1972 and still available today – the nearest new model would be this watch, which shares the same styling clues such as roman numerals, Breguet hands and straight lugs. That new watch is £14,700. Our watch here has a 35 jewel automatic movement, with an off centre oscillating weight, and in it is all beautifully finished. The case is all 18k gold, and has the signature coin rimmed edge. There is a dink in the case on the non crown side, but it is to the back of the case so is not visible when the watch is being worn. The buckle is also the original, stamped .750 like the case. The dial has the guilloche finishing, hand done, around the edges and a black centre which helps make the watch more legible. There is some small marks around the outer, gold part of the dial if you look very closely, and there is the tiniest chip to the glass at 11. The crown is set with a black cabachon stone, possibly onyx, which is not chipped or cracked. The leather strap is new. The bi fold box is one of the nicest we have seen from this period, and comes with the booklet and a letter from Breguet in Switzerland dated 1989 too.
UPDATE: We have discovered that exclusive New York jewelers Tiffany & Co. had this model in their 1983 catalogue, and the dial in their catalogue is described as having Onyx centres. The photo shows the gold dial versions were co branded, but the Onyx centre ones were not.
This watch will be supplied with the original presentation box, papers and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 36.3 mm
Width without crown 33.1 mm
Between lugs 18 mm
Lug to lug length 40.9 mm
Case Thickness 6.0 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 6 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
