Breguet Type XXI 3815
The Breguet Type XXI 3815 is the latest aviation-themed chronograph from the prestigious Maison. Mark McArthur-Christie, a self-confessed devotee of Abraham-Louis Breguet, explores the composition of this latest titanium encased model.
Louis Charles Breguet
If you stand with your back to the remarkable seaside-gothic Sporting Club de Houlgate on Normandy’s Côte Fleurie you’ll be facing an undistinguished 1970s apartment block called Les Tennis. Even the most ardent fan of 1970s French vernacular architecture wouldn’t describe it as anything but ‘functional’, yet for Breguet obsessives, this is holy ground. Until 1974 when it was demolished, this was the site of Le Clos du Royan, home of Abraham Breguet’s great-great-grandson Louis Charles.
Louis was almost as influential an aviator as his ancestor was as a watchmaker. Not only did he manage to build one of the earliest helicopters but he oversaw the first manned helicopter flight (ok, so it was only a couple of feet in the air but a flight nonetheless). He developed reconnaissance aircraft during WWI, worked with Antoine Saint-Exupery and, in 1919, established Compagnie des Messageries Aériennes which went on to become Air France.
Despite first impressions, Breguet has always been a firm that makes practical watches. Watches to tell decimal time in the first French Revolution. Self-winding watches, tourbillon watches that prove more accurate when held in a single position and the Souscription that democratised time. Now, with the development of practical flight and, almost immediately, aerial warfare, Breguet turned to making pilots’ watches.
Breguet Type XX
Breguet, the timekeeping company, had been building cockpit watches with chronograph functions and installing them in Breguet Aviation’s aircraft for some time. The two businesses were close, with Breguet Aviation testing the early examples of the Type XX pilot watches.
Breguet Type XX and Type XXI
The first Type XX and XXI watches were, like so many military timepieces, built to a predetermined specification by a range of companies. In the 1950s when the French Ministry of Defence issued their spec, the XX and XXI were built by (in alphabetical order) Airain, Auricoste, Breguet, Dodane, Mathey Tissot, and Vixa. Each was tasked with making a c.37mm watch with a robust stainless steel case. It needed a flyback (or ‘en vol’), rather than a conventional, chronograph’s start-stop-reset. That’s because, at 200mph, you’ve covered nearly 150ft in the fraction-of-a-second it takes to stop and restart a conventional chronograph – which doesn’t half add up over a few hundred miles of flight. It had to have a 12-hour bezel and not lose or gain more than 8 secs/day.
Breguet Type XXI 3815
It has to be said at this point that it’s a good job that this new Breguet Type XXI 3815 wasn’t submitted to French defence procurement back in 1956. For a start, it’s too big. The spec demands a watch that “…has a diameter of approximately 37mm…” The 3815 is 42mm. The case material is a fail too. It’s supposed to be “…entirely made of steel..” and the new watch is titanium. But this is – really – mere persnicketiness. In almost every other aspect, even the most hard-hearted procurement manager (some do, apparently, have hearts) would be delighted with the new watch. After all, this is – in the best tradition – a Breguet you can wear every day without worrying. You don’t even need to take off your Type XXI if you go swimming; that titanium case has a screw-down crown, a screw-in back and is waterproof to 100m.
Breguet Caliber 584Q/A
The movement, the Caliber 584Q/A, is equally robust. That’s partly because it’s an evolution of the original Lemania cal. 1340 from the early 1970s. But it’s not just a few steps of evolution. The DNA may be similar, but the Calibre 584 is the workhorse Lemania transformed into a thoroughbred racehorse.
It uses graining extensively for its 319 parts and if it moves, it has anglage. If it doesn’t, it has anglage anyway, just in case. The rotor, like so many Breguets, is guillochéd 18-carat gold and runs on ceramic ball-bearings.
It’s not just a pretty face though. The arms at the end of the fetching little half-moon cutout in the winding rotor are actually designed as built-in shock absorbers. The balance is now free-sprung and running at 4Hz. Should you need to adjust it, there are tiny, square-headed screws mounted just inside its circumference. The hairspring and pallet stones are silicon, which would delight those original spec. writers who demanded ‘…anti hairspring sticking apparatuses…’ Another tick in that procurement box.
With its origins back in an early ‘70s Lemania, it’s perhaps not surprising that the chronograph function is controlled with a functional cam and lever system rather than a posh column wheel. But put a little pressure on that top pusher and if you didn’t know, we’d wager you’d be struggling to tell. The chrono snaps into action straight away with none of the usual cam and lever stuttering. This is proper Breguet finishing in action.
Retour En Vol – a flyback chronograph
The chrono functions are a central chrono seconds and (praise be) chrono minutes. Start the whole thing with that top pusher, stop it with the same one and then reset with the bottom pusher. The flyback works by using the bottom pusher once the chrono is running, snicking both the minute and second hand back to 12 instantly.
The movement does carry over one Lemania quirk, though. Resetting the date when the time is between 8pm and 1am is most definitely not a good idea and will land you with a stiff servicing bill.
The dial deserves a mention all of its own. Of course, there are those languid Breguet numerals on the face and for the date, but it’s the depth of the black background that’s so arresting. It’s nothing like as dark as Vantablack, but it does deliver exceptional richness and contrast.
There’s a 24 hour indicator at 3 o’clock, small seconds at 9 o’clock and a date in the inverted keystone dial opening at 6. With the amount of luminous compound on the dial and hands, you’ll not struggle to read the time halfway across the channel in your Breguet 14 at night.
Breguet Type XXI 3815 – exhibition caseback
The Breguet flying watches have always had a very particular appearance; sculpted coin-edge sides to their cases and raised numbers on the lacquered, bi-directional bezel. The Breguet Type XXI 3815 sticks to the tradition, but at a fraction of the weight of stainless. The crystal is sapphire, as is the display back.
Breguet Type XXI 3815 – closing thoughts
Originally, watches like the Type XX and XXI were handed out on a ‘need to use’ basis and very carefully collected in again once you’d landed. Now you can keep this one on your wrist every day for £12,900. Yes, that’s a stack of money for a watch and your phone will tell you the time, but will it remind you of the dawn of aviation history? And anyway, since when were watches about just telling the time?
We’d suggest you wear your new Breguet Type XXI 3815 to L’Eden on Houlgate’s Rue Henri Fouchard for lunch and raise a glass to Abraham-Louis Breguet and his great-grandson, Louis Breguet.
Further reading
Technical specifications
- Model: Breguet Type XXI 3815
- Reference: 3815TI/HM/3ZU
- Case: Titanium; diameter 42 mm; water resistance 10ATM (100m); sapphire crystal to the front and exhibition case back.
- Functions: Hours, minutes; small seconds; date; flyback chronograph
- Movement: Caliber 584Q; self-winding movement; frequency 28,800 vph (4Hz); 26 jewels; power reserve = 48 hours
- Strap: Calfskin leather with triple folding buckle
- Price: £12,900 (RRP as at 21.7.2021)
- Limited Edition: 250 pieces
- Note – Also available with green numerals, hands and markers – again, limited to 250 pieces