Breguet

In the midst of the so-called Quartz crisis of the 1970s, when the industry of mechanical watchmaking was at stake due to the introduction of Japanese quartz movements to the market, many Swiss manufacturers came up with different solutions to attract and retain their market share and allure. Breguet's defense to the threat of becoming redundant was to exploit their tremendous heritage and savoir faire in watchmaking, recognizing the perpetual calendar as a complication quartz watches could not compete with. Thus, a young Daniel Roth, who had been entrusted with the arduous task of resurrecting Breguet's fame in 1975, developed reference 3050 with a strong dial layout and movement inspiration from a pocket watch he had conceived during his watchmaking education in watchmaking.

With its distinguishable elegant finishing, the astonishing 8 mm thin case with a 36 mm diameter of reference 3050 houses an automatic movement powering the perpetual calendar function. The symmetrical composition of the dial sitting on a silver galvanised gold plate with a charming clou de Paris guilloché finishing is illustrative of Breguet's impressive craftmanship. In fact, it is said that at the time, only two or three examples of the reference would be produced annually, given the lengthiness and difficulty of producing such watches, involving more than thirty watchmaking professions.

Given the success of reference 3050 at the time, in 1986 Roth developed reference 3310, a perpetual calendar that included a power reserve indicator and transformed the symmetrical layout of reference 3050.

The present lot stands as good example of reference 3050 in white gold and will be a great addition to any discerning collection, bringing not only a touch of sophistication but will also bring in an appreciation for the history of haute horlogerie.