Breguet Classique 7337

Breguet just announced a new version of one of its most traditional and recognizable dress watches, the Classique Calendrier 7337. Available in 18k white or rose gold and featuring slight aesthetic tweaks from the last time Breguet reworked the reference, in 2020, the overall appearance and technical specifications of the new model remain consistent with the model’s long-running history
The Breguet Classique 7337 has had a long life at Breguet. You can trace a direct lineage of the design all the way back to the early nineteenth century, when Abraham-Louis Breguet first started experimenting with off-centered displays to indicate the various complications on his top-of-the-line pocket watches. One reference in particular, No. 3833, a quarter-repeating pocket watch that was sold to a client named M. Thomas Hawley on May 12, 1823, and can be currently seen at the Breguet Museum in Paris, is considered the originator of the specific dial layout found on the current 7337 family.
In the modern era, the 7337 was officially reborn in the late 2000s, under the aegis of the late Swatch Group co-founder Nicolas G. Hayek, who served as Breguet CEO from 2001 until his death in 2010 and played a pivotal role in expanding the awareness of Breguet’s one-of-a-kind history. But the off-kilter dial architecture of the 7337 actually has an even earlier modern predecessor, dating back to a smaller-diameter model known as the Classique 3337, created during Daniel Roth’s tenure at Breguet in the 1980s.
The two new 7337 models don’t go out of their way to rewrite history, but they do contain a number of modest design updates that result in a sharper, more contemporary appearance. If you compare the 2020 release to those featured in today’s announcement, it’s easy to see that the date and day apertures have been given a stronger rectilinear cut-out that is bolder and more legible. The off-center time display – containing the hours, minutes, and small seconds – has been adjusted, featuring new positions for the Breguet wordmark and number (every Breguet watch is signed with its own individual reference number). The small seconds display has also been significantly simplified, now placed directly on the clous de Paris hobnail guilloché-decorated surface of the center dial and consisting only of a straightforward 60-second track with Arabic numerals marking every 15 seconds.
Outside a light rejiggering of the dial format, the new Breguet Classique 7337 is largely identical to its most recent predecessor. The outer dial area utilizes a barleycorn guilloché decoration, and the moonphase display remains in the traditional 12 o’clock position on the dial. The moon is crafted from hand-hammered gold, the clouds are sandblasted for contrasting texture, and the surrounding blue sky is coated in lacquer that glitters like starlight. Breguet calls on the self-winding caliber 502.3 QSE1 inside the Classique 7337, an ultra-thin movement that can be found in previous 7337 examples. Just 2.4mm in height, the slim caliber 502.3 QSE1 comes equipped with all the technical trappings you’d expect from a contemporary Breguet movement, including an off-center oscillating weight made of solid white gold, a silicon balance spring, and a unique escapement design utilizing an inverted straight-line pallet lever with silicon horns. All the action is visible through a sapphire crystal exhibition caseback, revealing rhodium-plated bridges, delicate chamfers, and traditional Geneva stripes. The case, of course, is quintessential Breguet, measuring a lithe 39mm × 9.95mm and equipped with the expected baroque flourishes of the fluted caseband and welded lugs with screwed spring bars. Available in 18K white gold or rose gold with a silver-tone dial, the latest Breguet 7337 has a list price of $43,000 in both metals.
We don’t talk about Breguet enough.

Sure, the newness of the Breguet Classique 7337 mostly surrounds a dial refresh, but I also think it’s fair to characterize the new Classique as one of the more charismatic and thoughtful dress watches released so far this year. Very few watchmakers are focusing on the formal category these days, but it’s an arena that Breguet has always specialized in.
It’s also hard not to be impressed by the total horological package that the Breguet Classique 7337 represents. The self-winding caliber 502.3 QSE1 isn’t a brand-new release whatsoever (in fact its architecture actually dates back to the 1970s), but its specifications put it nearly in a class of its own when compared to precious metal dress watches from other makers. Seriously, just take a look around – it’s both thinner and more advanced than the movements used in comparable watches, such as the caliber L086.1 inside the current A. Lange & Söhne Saxonia Automatic and the caliber 2450 Q6/3 inside the Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Self-Winding. The caliber 30-255 inside the new-gen Patek Philippe Calatrava ref. 6119 is mighty impressive, but it’s hand-wound, which makes a comparison to Breguet’s caliber 502.3 QSE1 like apples and oranges.

In fact, I wouldn’t hesitate to describe the BREGUET Classique 7337 as an endangered species. It feels like complicated precious-metal dress watches with high-grade, fully specced-out movements are harder to find right now than at any point in the past 30 years. Although I’ll admit I find the minuteness of total changes between the 2020 and 2022 iterations of the Classique 7337 to be a bit silly, I’m still happy to see Breguet experiment and iterate on the 7337 formula as often as it deems appropriate.

Breguet Classique 7337 and 7137

Perhaps the quintessential modern Breguet watches, having been in the line-up for decades, the Breguet Classique 7137 and Breguet Classique 7337 have elegant proportions and classical dials that showcase the exacting art of traditional engine-turning.

And they have just been face-lifted, retaining the traditional look while getting sleeker engine-turning and a streamlined moon phase. Though the changes are slight, the watches differ significantly in look and feel from the initial versions. breguet classique moonphase replica

Unusually, the new dial is also offered in dark blue (with a white gold case), historically an uncommon colour for Breguet. The other combination is the conventional rose gold with a silver dial. Both models feature a slim, 39 mm case with straight lugs and a reeded case band. Replica Breguet Classique Moon Phase Watch
Mechanically, they are identical to the earlier generation versions. The movements of both watches vary in height and calendar complications, but they share the same ultra-thin cal. 502.3 as the base.
The Classique 7337 in pink gold with a silver dial

Before going on to the details of the two, it’s worth a quick look at their history.

The two models are descended from the refs. 3137 and 3337 respectively, both watches designed by the independent watchmaker Daniel Roth when he helped create the modern Breguet identity in the late 1970s. Mr Roth, in turn, was inspired by important, 19th century Breguet pocket watches; he successfully translated Breguet’s glorious past into the modern era.

Being small watches by modern standards, the two were replaced by the Classique 7137 and Classique 7337 in 2014 and 2009 respectively.
Classique 7137
As with many Breguet wristwatches, the Classique 7137 features a dial that was adapted from a historically-important pocket watch – the Perpétuelle no. 5. One of Breguet’s rare self-winding watches, hence the “perpetual” moniker, the no. 5 featured a toc, or dumb, quarter repeater where the time is struck by a hammer against the inside of the case rather than on gongs, producing a muffled sound.

The Perpetuelle watches – there were a handful made – were important enough that the company recruited master watchmaker Michel Parmigiani to build a series of approximate replicas in the 1990s, and today Breguet itself produces an exact replica in limited numbers.
The Classique 7137 adopts the asymmetrical yet balanced dial of the Perpetuelle no. 5. Though not exactly identical, the Classique 7137 is close enough it is as classically beautiful as the pocket watch.
The Classique 7137 in white gold with a blue dial

The dial, made of solid gold, is finished with guilloche executed with a hand-operated rose engine as well as a straight-line engine, while the chapter rings and scales are finished with concentric brushing.

Just as on the first generation 7137, the dial guilloche is in three distinct patterns – panier maillé, or basket weave, for the power reserve indicator; damier, or checkerboard, for the date display; and clous de Paris, or hobnail, for the rest of the dial. But in contrast to the first generation that combined three starkly-different patterns, including a radial floral motif, the patterns on the new watch model blends together harmoniously.
Engined-turned dial with blued steel pomme hands and Breguet’s secret signature on either side of 12 o’clock

In addition to the revamped engine-turning, another major update is the moon phase display. It now features a lacquered disc inset with a solid gold moon that’s engraved to resemble the real lunar surface, replacing the traditional, man-in-the-moon motif of the first generation.

In terms of proportions and mechanics, the watch remains unchanged across generations. The case retains the same slim profile that’s just 8.65 mm high.
Inside is the ultra-thin cal. 502.3 DR1 movement, based on the cal. 502.3, itself derived from the Frederic Piguet calibre 70 introduced in 1970, and later known as the calibre 71.
While it has been substantially upgraded over the years to include a free-sprung balance as well as a silicon lever and hairspring, the cal. 502 still retains its distinctive architecture, namely an off-centre, solid-gold rotor that occupies three-quarters of the movement plate as well as an open barrel, all in the name of thinness.
Classique 7337
Like its sibling, the Classique 7337 was derived from an important, original Breguet pocket watch – the quarter-repeating watch no. 3833 featuring a calendar and moon phase. Notably, the no. 3833 was one of Breguet’s garde temps timepieces, built to be a precision chronometer.
The dial layout of the Classique 7337 is a faithful reproduction of the no. 3833, channeling the feel of the original without being an exact remake. The hour and minutes are indicated in a large sub-dial with an off-centered small seconds. At 12 o’clock is the moon phase, which is flanked by a day and date display.
The 7337 has received the same makeover as the 7137, again dispensing with the contrasting guilloche. The dial is finished with a trio of guilloche – grain d’orge, or barleycorn on the periphery; clous de Paris for the hours and minutes sub-dial; and damier for the seconds.

And like on the new 7137, the moon phase disc features a lacquered sky with a gold moon, instead of the moon with a face.
The Classique 7337 has a thickness of just 9.9 mm, with the cal. 502.3 QSE1 inside based on the same cal. 502.3.