Breguet's Return To Versailles

The Breguet name naturally evokes strong reactions from anyone who has even the most passing interest in the history of horology. From Abraham-Louis to the modern company that Nicholas Hayek recently brought into the fold of The Swatch Group, Breguet has long been at the center of horological excellence. This year has been particularly important for the company for several reasons, the first and most important one being that the shape and style of company Breguet will become under the direction of Hayek is fast becoming more apparent.

The imposing strength of The Swatch Group and the ebullient character of its CEO were cited by many, perhaps unsurprisingly, as the reasons why the Breguet name should have been preserved as an independent house. After all, how could such a hallowed name be other than tarnished in the hands of a company that was more concerned with the unit price of quartz movements than proper horology? And anyway, didn't Hay- ek buy Breguet only because he missed out on the purchase of the LMH brands (IWC, JaegerLeCoultre and A. Lange & Sohne)?

What these questions failed to recognize, however, is that Nicholas Hayek cares deeply about the project of re-gilding the Breguet name could it be, perhaps, that he would rather have Breguet as his monument than Swatch?

In the nearly three years that have passed since Breguet's acquisition by The Swatch (http://www.cocogiftstore.com)LED WATCH Group, Hayek has not been idle. Not only were the various parts of the Breguet operation integrated into The Swatch Group (including movement maker Frederic Piguet), but an enormous amount of work has gone into developing the future strategy for the brand. Obviously, the greater part of Breguet's reputation rests in its history, and Hayek immediately took advantage of this by adding to the historical watch collection already held by the company. In the meantime, several auction records were broken as Hayek's activities prompted a number of remarkable pieces to appear on the marketa 'perpetuelle'finished in 1794 for comte Journiac St-Meard was in pride of place at the exhibition that accompanied the recent celebrations at Versailles.

2001 marked the 200th anniversary of A.L. Breguet's groundbreaking invention of the tourbillon, his best known legacy to the world of horology and an unprecedented complication that is still to this day considered the benchmark of watchmaking expertise. Hayek took advantage of this momentous occasion to celebrate the revival of the Breguet name in truly grand style at the fam-ous palace of Versailles. (The highly anticipated celebration was originally scheduled for September 2001 but was postponed until this summer for obvious rea
sons.)
A special limited edition "Breguet a Versailles Tourbillon" with e-namel dial was designed for the momentous occasion. Six hundred guests assembled in Paris and made their way out to Versailles to be welcomed inside the chteau for cocktails. This was followed by a concert in the Opera Royal that included airs from Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni interspersed with a narration of the life of Abraham-Louis Breguet.

Having passed through the set of royal apartments that runs the length of the palace, guests arrived at the vast Galerie des Batailles with its imposing cycle of monumental paintings depicting the great battles in France's history from the campaigns of Clovis that established the French monarchy to the great Napoleonic victories such as Austerlitz.

The celebrations came to a dramatic close with a magnificent display of fireworks set against the foun- tains on the terrace.

Over the past year, more of Breguet's future plans have become apparent. Breguet's distribution has been integrated into The Swatch Group's (http://www.cocogiftstore.com/Product_ListCategory.asp?Bid=1&Sid=4)LED Unique Watch complex infrastructure of national retailers and will be headed by well-known watch expert, Jean Marc Bories, who has recently taken charge of the brand's U.S. distribution. It has been said that this change will be invisible to the Breguet customer except for the fact that service is promised to be of an ever im-proving level. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see whether there is any reaction from Breguet's clientele to this bold move.

Those shocked by such rampant commercialization of the Breguet name should look back to the example set by the great Abraham-Louis himself. Not only was Marie-Antoinette one of his most importantclients, but part of his genius was his ability to market both himself and his watcheswitness the 'Souscription' scheme whereby clients paid de- posits and installments, only receiving the watch with the final payment.

The most significant aspect of the new Breguet plan has been the changes made to the collection offered by the company, most notably the addition of several ladies' semicomplicated and jeweled pieces. This represents a broadening of appeal for Breguet as a brand and runs hand-in-hand with the company's strategic decision to branch out into pens and jewelry. At Basel this year, the ladies' Classique wristwatch in 18K white or yellow gold was introduced to rave reviews. Powered by an automatic movement with 22K gold oscillating weight that is hand engraved on a rose engine, it features an off-center mother-of-pearl dial that is surrounded by a crescent-shaped bezel set with Top Wesselton diamonds weighing some 1.262 cts. Water-resistant to 30m, the new ladies' Classique also boasts dia-mond-set numerals and hour-mark-ers.

The impressive line of jewelry Breguet recently unveiled also manages to remain loyal to the brand's prestigious watchmaking heritage as all of the pieces are in some way inspired by (http://www.cocogiftstore.com/Product_Detail.asp?id=146)Luxury Sport Style LED Digital Date Lady Men Watch black various watch movements. A fine example of this is the elegant "Les Spheres de Breguet" pendant which features a black Tahiti pearl set in a diamond-paved "cage" that was inspired, quite fittingly, by the Tourbillon.

Perhaps the most noteworthy element of Breguet's plans for the future concern the development of a set of boutiques devoted entirely to the house. There is already the Place Vendome store, which also acts as home to the Breguet Museum and this is the model for locations such as New York and, just opened, London. Breguet is also closely involved with the Tourbillon stores that are devoted to haute horlogerie from a selection of the major houses.