Breguet Tourbillon Messidor

The Breguet Tourbillon Messidor is a handsome hand-wound skeletonized 18-carat rose gold watch with great pedigree. Named in honor of A. L. Breguet and his patent, it features a mystery tourbillon cage mounted on sapphire discs, giving the impression that the tourbillon is floating. Breguet patented its 'floating' tourbillon on the same day, which more than 200 years ago, was the 7th Messidor of year IX (June 26, 1801) of the French Republican Calendar. Named after the Latin word messis meaning 'harvest', Messidor was the tenth month in the French Republican Calendar, which starts June 19 or June 20. It also represented the first month of the summer quarter (mois d'été). This calendar was proposed during the French Revolution (1789-1799), and subsequently used by the French government for 12 years from late 1793.

The Messidor uses a 558 SQ2 caliber movement, housed in Breguet's unmistakable coin edge case. Its casing is 40mm in diameter with a thickness of only 9.65mm - a refreshing slimness in contrast to the growing number of tall watches today. The Messidor also features a sapphire crystal caseback that exhibits an exquisitely brush-finished movement that has a power reserve of 50 hours. In my opinion, this is easily the most handsome conventional tourbillon in Breguet's collection. It has traditional roots but is also clearly a modern interpretation of the classic skeleton tourbillon.

The Tourbillon regulator with running seconds on the Tourbillon carriage is located at 6 o'clock where it is secured by two sapphire crystals in a gold bezel on the dial crystal. The actual watch dial is also displayed off-centered at 12 o'clock but due to its open dial design, it is not easy to tell the time especially in low lighting conditions. The dark blue hands - while beautifully crafted, provide insufficient contrast for easy reading of the time. Fortunately, the watch has pink gold studs hour markers embedded on the sapphire crystal, which improves visibility. Despite this, the watch, on the whole, is beautifully balanced and looks wonderful on the wrist.