Breguet Type XX Aeronavale
Many works of fiction over the years have made reference
to the watches worn by their protagonists, the most famous
example being, perhaps, James Bond’s association with the
Rolex Oyster (despite, in recent films, the best efforts of
the marketing department of Omega to convince us that 007 is
a Seamaster fan.) But few watchmakers can lay claim to the
kind of name-checking in great works of literature that
Breguet can, with Balzac, Dumas, Verne and Pushkin all
mentioning the company’s creations in their novels.
Famous Breguet wearers have not just been confined to the
pages of fiction, though; in a piece of historical irony, both Napoleon Bonaparte and the
Duke of Wellington used Breguet timepieces at the Battle of
Waterloo, and Marie Antoinette commissioned (although did
not survive long enough to receive) a Breguet that was
fitted with every complication available at the time.
The company was, then, for much of its creator’s lifetime,
synonymous with luxury, quality and innovation in
timekeeping; a reputation that was built upon Abraham Louis
Breguet’s inventive genius that gave the world, amongst
other things, the tourbillon and shock resistance for
balance bearings.
The company continued after his death in 1823, but
suffered somewhat from the absence of the founder, resulting
in ownership shifting away from the Breguet family, through
a series of companies to its current stable position as
member of the Swatch Group.
Which leads us to the Type XX Aeronavale; a watch that
has earned its place on The List by offering the technical
sophistication, elegance and exclusivity of a Breguet
but with a rugged modern feel and aesthetic simplicity
that are sometimes lacking in the company’s timepieces.
The Type XX Aeronavale is actually based on the 1950s Type
20 chronograph that was commissioned by the French air force
for use by its pilots, but it is somewhat more rugged in
appearance than its more delicate predecessor and uses a
Lemania produced calibre 582 movement as opposed to the
Valjoux movement of the earlier watch.
The movement itself is an automatic one with 25 jewels and a
48 hour power reserve. In common with the Type 20, the
chronograph has a flyback function, which enables the wearer
to reset the already moving chronograph seconds hand;
particularly useful for timing two consecutive events.
What sets the Type XX apart from the many other high end
chronographs on the market today, though, is not any one
particular feature, such as the flyback, but the combination
of virtues that the watch exhibits and which, ultimately
make it unique. It has the rugged good looks of a Rolex but
with none of the negative associations that accompany modern
watches from that brand. It is faultlessly made by master
watchmakers with a rich heritage, yet it is not
astronomically priced, or fussily adorned with extraneous
displays of ‘craftsmanship’. And, perhaps, most importantly
of all, it is a watch that speaks quietly, and only to those
‘in the know’ of the owner’s good taste in all matters
horological.
