June 26 is generally looked upon as the birth date of the tourbillion, because that was the day in 1801 that the inventor, Abraham-Louis Breguet, filed for the patent for the mechanism, whose purpose in those days was to overcome the lack of accuracy caused by the vertical position of pocket watches in men’s jacket and waistcoat pockets. Breguet is celebrating this birthday with this new and very blue addition to the Tradition collection. The Tradition collection, which was first unveiled in 2005 as an attractive blend of heritage and modernity, was the brand’s first line to present all the movement’s organs on the dial side. It was inspired by the ‘subscription’ watches of the early 19th century, which featured a single hand to read hours and minutes, as also the ‘tact’ watches from the same period, which allowed the wearer to determine time by touching the hands by hand in low-light conditions in the pre-electricity era.

 

The tourbillon, of course, is an ubiquitous watch mechanism these days, and comes in dozens of variations. The fusée-chain tourbillon in this watch features a chain that regulates the torque produced by its winding mechanism ensuring the delivery of a consistent force of energy at all times, resulting in accurate time-keeping at all times.

 

What also makes the Tradition 7047 stand out is the use of colour blue across the watch. The fusée-chain tourbillon mechanism is sprinkled with touches of blue all around. Various treatments have been used on all the components in order to achieve visual uniformity. The tourbillon carriage and the dial are covered with blue coatings, while the chain links are thermally blued. The slate grey, used in other areas, provides an elegant contrast to the striking blue colour, including the midnight blue alligator leather strap. The watch comes in 41mm platinum case and off-centred blue dial in hand-guilloché gold. It is powered by Calibre 569, a rhodium-plated hand-wound movement housing 542 components including an inverted in-line lever escapement featuring horns and Breguet balance spring, both made of silicon. It has a power reserve of 50 hours.