Breguet Marine Automatic Review
This Breguet watch is just too hard to miss and makes a statement with your wrist.
Breguet Marine Automatic Review
Breguet is one of the oldest watchmakers that are still in business. Throughout the centuries of its existence, this watchmaker has gained tremendous prestige with its many contributions to the age-old craft and provided many innovations that are found in the watches that we use today. Noteworthy mentions are the automatic winding rotor, tourbillon, and many more.
This 18kt rose gold Breguet timepiece featured here has the signature Breguet style hands and a 39mm 18kt rose gold case with coined edges. A scratch-resistant sapphire crystal to protect the dial. The beautiful black, engine-turned dial is hand-engraved and features a wavy turbine guilloche pattern in the center dial that is absolutely remarkable, aesthetically speaking. A finely brushed silver chapter ring where the rose gold-toned, Roman-style hour markers are applied encircles the black center dial. At the very perimeter of the dial, you will see twelve small, diamond-shaped minute markers at each of the 5-minute intervals.
This is a truly versatile watch with 100m water resistance and possibly one of the nicest watches in the Breguet Marine Automatic Big Date Series. Unlike most luxury watches, this 18kt rose gold Breguet Marine 5817 watch arrives with not just the rubber sporty strap with the clous-de-Paris textured pattern depicted here, but also with a classic alligator/crocodile leather strap as well for those situations that require formal attire. In effect, you can get the best of both worlds with a single watch.
The transparent sapphire crystal case-back allows you to watch the mechanical beating heart of this watch. Powered by the Breguet caliber 517gg featuring thirty-five jewels in movement, this watch can hold its power for approx 65 hours thanks to the weighted 18kt rose gold winding rotor; an innovation of Breguet that is found in all automatic watches these days.
Another convenient feature is the double window Big Date located at the 6 o'clock position. It's a double-date window that changes automatically at midnight. Currently on special at only $17,600 with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of only $22,000, a humble price for a Breguet watch at any stretch. Some Breguet models retail at over $300,000. In terms of style, the 5817 uses black and rose gold which is a combination that has grown in popularity over the years.
Rolex has a watch with similar material and precious metal color combination with the Yacht-Master 116655 and the watch is actually quite popular, not just because it's the first of their watches that ever used a rubber strap but also because just like the Breguet 517gg, the design looks classy, sporty, and makes you look seriously with-it. However, it comes at a steeper price and is from a different type of brand. Breguet is more of a refined brand that has lots of history and prestige behind it.
The Breguet Marine Automatic collection comes in many design variations. Let's take a look at a few of the ones that I feel deserve our attention:
The above is model #5817st/y2/5v8. It comes on a blue rubber strap and has a stainless steel case and a blue engine-turned dial with steel Breguet-style hands. Like the rose gold watch shown above this one, it has a 39mm case with a coined edge. However, this model too is powered by the Breguet caliber 517GG, oscillating at a rate of 28,800 vph (4Hz). It contains 35 jewels features a power reserve of +/-65 hours.
The Above model is model number 5817ba/12/9v8. It comes on a brown alligator leather strap with an 18kt yellow gold case with a coined edge and an 18kt yellow gold buckle. This model has a silver dial that is hand engraved with an engine-turned guilloche pattern with blued steel Breguet-style hands. It's certainly a more classic-looking model. However, this one does not come with a rubber strap option like the 18kt rose gold model depicted below in this review.
As the famous quote goes:
“My tastes are simple: I am easily satisfied with the best.„
- Winston S. Churchill -
