The Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 represents an extraordinary milestone for one of the most prestigious watchmaking houses. Unveiled this year on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of Breguet, this wristwatch pays homage to the ingenious subscription pocket-watches designed by Abraham-Louis Breguet at the end of the 18th century.
A brief history
When Abraham-Louis Breguet returned to Paris in 1795 after fleeing the French Revolution, he needed to revive his business. His solution was brilliantly simple, yet revolutionary: create a reliable, accessible timepiece with a simple design that could reach a wider audience.
The original Souscription watch embodied this vision. Featuring a single hand on a white enamel dial in a 61mm case, these watches introduced an innovative sales method. Customers paid a quarter of the price in advance (hence the name “subscription“), enabling the Breguet workshop to purchase the necessary materials and begin production. This concept was promoted by means of advertising brochures, which were unheard of at the time.
“This watch is the link between what we want to tell of Breguet’s history and our desire to perpetuate it in the future,” explained Gregory Kissling, CEO of Breguet.
A modern interpretation of classic elegance
The new Classique Souscription 2025 remains faithful to its ancestor while adapting to the needs of today’s wearer. The watch features a 40 mm case in a newly developed 18-carat “Breguet gold“, a special alloy of gold, silver, copper and palladium that gives it a distinctive warm tone inspired by 18th-century watchmaking.
Unlike many anniversary releases, which showcase complicated mechanisms, Breguet opted for elegance and historical significance. The dial is in immaculate white grand feu enamel with black petit feu enamel Breguet Arabic numerals and a circular minute track. At its center is a single open-tipped Breguet hand in flame-blued steel, entirely hand-curved.
“We wanted to surprise people by presenting not a grand complication, as some might have expected, but a single-hand watch,” said Kissling. “We added a great deal of richness to this seemingly simple watch, particularly in the architecture of its movement.“
Technical excellence
Beneath the classic exterior lies Breguet’s new VS00 caliber, a hand-wound movement beating at 3 Hz with an impressive 96-hour power reserve. The movement’s architecture is inspired by historic Souscription watches, with shot-blasted finishes and engraved inscriptions reproducing Abraham-Louis Breguet’s own handwriting from original advertising material.
The watch incorporates modern technical advances, including a Nivachron™ balance spring made of a non-magnetic titanium-based alloy, which offers greater resistance to temperature variations, magnetic fields and shocks.
Details that define luxury
True luxury lies in the details, something that Breguet mastered centuries ago. The dial contains a “secret signature“, a tradition dating back to the time of Abraham-Louis Breguet, to prevent counterfeiting. Using an authentic diamond pantograph, similar to those used in Breguet’s time, craftsmen delicately engrave the “Souscription“, a unique serial number, and the signature between the center of the dial and 6 o’clock – visible only under certain lighting conditions.
The sapphire crystal has a “chevé” profile, an innovation by Abraham-Louis Breguet himself, with a relatively flat surface that gently curves at the edges to blend into the case. The centre of the case is satin-brushed rather than fluted, in keeping with the aesthetic of the original timepieces.
Emmanuel Breguet, Head of the Patrimony, commented: “The Souscription watch brilliantly illustrates the innovative spirit of A.-L. Breguet, whose genius was expressed both in watchmaking technique and in commercial daring.“
The complete package
This exceptional timepiece is accompanied by an equally ingenious presentation box. Inspired by the red Moroccan leather cases used by Abraham-Louis Breguet, the new box is made of lightly grained calfskin leather, hot-stamped in gold with “BREGUET 250 YEARS” and the individual serial number of the watch inside. The interior, lined with fine blue fabric, holds the watch in a vertical position, evoking the spirit of pocket watches.
Pricing and availability
The Breguet Classique Souscription 2025 is not a limited edition and will retail for $48,700 USD. Interestingly, in a nod to the original sales concept, customers can secure their timepiece by paying 25% in advance through the subscription method – a charming nod to the original commercial innovation.
