Today we have the pleasure of presenting to your attention a representative of a brand that has become synonymous with elegance and has given its name to many patents, and even entire designs. Everyone reading this text has heard of “Breguet hands”, the “Breguet overcoil”, and is certainly familiar with the brand’s classic collections: Classique, Tradition and, of course, Marine. Today, however, we will be speaking about a representative of one of the brand’s lines that many watch collectors define as very suitable as a “first Breguet” – namely the Breguet Transatlantique Type XXI 3810ST/92/SZ9.
This model is the successor to the “Type XX”, developed in the 1950s for the French Air Force, which was offered in two variants – Aéronavale and Transatlantique – the main difference between the two models being the absence of a date in the first one. All watches from the series had a flyback function – very important for pilots, who were the primary users of these watches.
The watch presented today has contemporary case dimensions for our time – 42.5 mm in diameter and 15.4 mm in height – however, because of the bezel design, the watch looks and wears more like a 44–45 mm piece.
Undoubtedly, one of the most attractive things about this watch, apart from the fact that it is a Breguet ;-), is its dial. The ruthenium dial – made from a material rarely used by other watch manufacturers – looks brown or even greyish depending on the light and the angle from which you view it. The seconds register is at “9 o’clock”, the chronograph hour indication and trapezoidal date window are at “6 o’clock”, while the 24-hour indicator is at “3 o’clock”.
The chronograph seconds and minutes are displayed in a very different way – through two central hands, one above the other, mounted on the central wheel, while the minute scale is printed on the outer ring of the dial. The white Arabic numerals, together with the diamond-shaped markers, complement the entire combination very well and reinforce the impression of an expensive and perfectly executed instrument.
The movement used is the Breguet Calibre 584Q, with 25 jewels and a power reserve of over 48 hours, a chronograph with flyback function – in our opinion, the fact that the caseback is solid is a drawback, as it does not allow us to enjoy the beautifully decorated movement. This drawback was corrected in the Type XXI newly released in 2016, and this only reinforces the brand’s reputation as one oriented towards the wishes and preferences of its clients.
The version presented today is on a bracelet, which is rarer and therefore more expensive, and the bracelet itself is very massive, solid and truly “carries its weight”.
