Breguet has reached a milestone that most houses can only dream about. The watchmaker founded in 1775 has hit 250 years of continuous production, and they’ve chosen to celebrate with two additions to their Reine de Naples range, the firm’s sole collection designed exclusively for women. Both the Crazy Flower and Perles Impériales required genuine technical innovation, particularly in how diamonds and pearls integrate with mechanical movements measuring just 3.9mm thick.
The timing feels appropriate. Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, received what historians consider the first wristwatch from Abraham-Louis Breguet himself in the 19th century. These new models acknowledge that heritage whilst pushing the boundaries of what gem-setting can achieve on a curved, moving surface.
Dancing Diamonds
The Crazy Flower takes its inspiration from the frangipani blossom, which explains the interplay of yellow and white tones throughout the piece. But here’s where things get properly interesting: the diamonds actually move. The watchmakers at the Swiss house have created several mobile corollas, concentric rings that follow the distinctive oval shape of the Reine de Naples case. Each ring is meticulously paved with baguette-cut diamonds, set by hand into a structure that permits genuine, fluid movement.
The technical challenge shouldn’t be underestimated. The double curvature of each corolla has been engineered to match the natural curve of the wrist, allowing the 116 baguette-cut diamonds to flow gracefully with the wearer. The effect mimics petals responding to a gentle breeze, though achieving this level of organic movement required serious metalwork in Breguet’s proprietary gold alloy.
Capturing Sunlight in Gold and Stone
The dial presents its own fascinating complications. Entirely paved with diamonds, it features an inverted setting developed specifically for this unusual geometry. The stones sit table-down, points facing upward, each one mimicking the pistil of a flower. The arrangement captures and redirects light in ways conventional settings simply cannot achieve, with each ray curling around the diamond forest and reflecting off the warm gold curves beneath.
Two hand-curved Breguet hands occupy the lower portion of the dial, carefully shaped to follow the natural curve of the surface. The hours and minutes are marked by a delicate path of diamonds, whilst the curved surface holds an additional 206 stones. A Breguet gold cartouche sits at twelve o’clock, identifying the piece above the calibre 586/1 movement with its 38-hour power reserve and that distinctive hand-guilloché platinum oscillating weight.
The case measures 32.10 x 24.5mm in diameter and 10.7mm thick, crafted entirely in 18K Breguet gold. The total stone count reaches 436 diamonds weighing 37.2 carats. Through the sapphire crystal caseback, you’ll discover a hand-guilloché platinum oscillating weight decorated with the two-tone Petit Trianon motif, appearing for the first time in this particular configuration.
Each piece arrives made to order, fitted with a champagne-coloured satin-effect alligator strap and a triple folding clasp set with 28 diamonds. The presentation comes in a special edition red leather case, individually numbered from a run of 250, echoing the red Moroccan leather cases Abraham-Louis Breguet used two centuries ago. There’s something rather pleasing about that continuity.
The Pearl Alternative
The Perles Impériales takes a refreshingly different approach, building its identity around the Akoya pearl. These pearls, cultivated in Japan since the late 19th century, are widely considered the finest available due to their perfectly smooth, round, and gloriously iridescent surfaces. Breguet brought them to Europe in that same century, the period when Caroline Murat received her pioneering wristwatch.
Here, the pearls form a continuous conversation with diamonds and opal across the watch’s surface. The case middle, flange, and bezel carry diamonds, but the bezel’s heart-shaped claws create something genuinely distinctive. This delicate latticework forms a basket holding 38 diamonds of varying sizes, each alcove cut, polished, flame-welded, and hand-finished in Breguet gold.
The dial combines 211 brilliant-cut diamonds and a pear-shaped diamond at twelve o’clock, all set against a noble opal base sourced from Brazil. The Akoya pearls display those mesmerising iridescent reflections ranging from yellow to grey, drifting through shades of green, pink, and blue. Four Breguet numerals and eight gold studs mark the hour circle, whilst two Breguet hands in matching gold track the passage of time.
At six o’clock sits a perfect Akoya sphere, replacing the collection’s traditional ball attachment. This lustrous pearl closes the bezel before the design opens onto something rather special: a Breguet gold bracelet with a central row composed entirely of Akoya pearls. Two additional Breguet gold links flank either side, creating an articulated composition that seamlessly bridges pearl and metal. A second champagne-coloured alligator leather strap is available for those preferring a more traditional attachment.
The caseback reveals the calibre 586/1, numbered and signed by the firm. The movement measures 15.3mm in diameter and 3.9mm thick, operating at 3 Hz with 38 hours of power reserve across 180 components and 29 jewels. The hand-guilloché platinum oscillating weight carries both the Petit Trianon motif and the Quai de l’Horloge guilloché pattern. The case measures 32.8 x 26.40mm in diameter and 9.9mm thick, with a total stone count of 340 weighing 6.2 carats.
Two Visions, One Celebration
Both timepieces share the calibre 586/1 movement and the 250th anniversary designation engraved on their casebacks. Both receive the five-year international warranty and arrive in those handsome numbered red leather cases. But they offer distinctly different propositions. The Crazy Flower delivers mobile brilliance and a rather spectacular 37.2 carats of diamonds. The Perles Impériales provides cultured luminosity with Akoya pearls and 6.2 carats of diamonds.
These watches celebrate a specific milestone for a house that’s genuinely earned the right to produce something exclusive. The technical innovation required to make diamonds move fluidly or to integrate pearls into a mechanical watch case shouldn’t be dismissed as mere decoration. This is jewellery that happens to tell the time, built by watchmakers who’ve been refining their craft since before the French Revolution.
Quarter-millennia anniversaries don’t come around often. Breguet has marked theirs with two timepieces that push high jewellery watchmaking into fresh territory, demonstrating that 250 years of experience still leaves plenty of room for innovation.