What an act to follow. How do you follow in the footsteps of a man who has, in horological terms, done it all? Montres Breguet are quick to point out the answer, ‘… The remarkable heritage left by A-L. Breguet today offers the brand’s watchmaking craftsmen and designers a rare and extraordinary legitimacy in terms of ingenuity, vision and, from a more technical point of view, horological complications.’
In 2004, Breguet enjoyed an exceptional year. Having invested 20 million Swiss francs on new machines and made major investments in material and software for the Research and Development department which was accompanied by the addition of several master watchmakers, the brand had a large increase in the number of watches sold and, logically, an increase in its turnover. This increase in production of complicated watches confirmed Breguet’s position as the leading manufacturer and seller of tourbillons. Furthermore, the brand strengthened its presence in Germany, the USA, Asia (where new markets were opened in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan) and Jordan.
I asked Nicolas G. Hayek, President of Breguet and Chairman and Delegate of the Board of Directors of the Swatch Group, if buying Breguet had been more to him than a pure business deal and what his motivating factor was for bringing Breguet into the Swatch Group?





Nicolas G. Hayek: First of all I wanted to buy Breguet because Breguet watches are a synonym for beauty, beauty, beauty. They also have a long-range value worldwide, just like a Rembrandt painting for example.
When I buy a watch company, I have to bring it into the “imperium”.


E.S: At the Breguet press conference in Basel, you mentioned that 20 million Swiss francs has been invested in machines to enable the brand achieve an annual production level of 50,000 timepieces. If I understand the sales situation correctly, at present all the Breguet watch production is sold. Scarcity breeds demand, so do you think that a large increase in production could create a situation whereby production will be greater than demand?

N.G.H: Even more is invested into the buildings, training, creation of new products, testing, quality control, etc. Since I took Breguet over, the company has multiplied its production tenfold. And we still have much more demand than the increased production can cope with.
If you compare these 50,000 units to Omega's some 700,000-800,000 units, or to Rolex's some 700,000 units, or even to the number of billionnaires worldwide, it is still a very low volume in units. You have to be very strict and courageous to stop at 50,000 units when the demand is higher. We are strong enough to do so.

E.S: This year’s collection of new Breguet timepieces is quite remarkable. Do you feel that you can continue to create ‘Breguet-inspired’ watches, or “Beautiful pieces of art” as you called them, ad infinitum?

N.G.H: Nobody can judge if something is going to happen ad infinitum - not even whether our small planet and sun system will survive ad inifinitum. I am directly and closely managing the creation of movements and the watch design, and we have enough new exciting things in our pipeline for the next seven to ten years, depending on how quickly we want to launch all these creations. However, you can be sure that we are not going to create absolutely ridiculous watches just to be different. We are ignoring everybody else and creating according to our intuition, our feeling and sense of beauty.

E.S: How and where do you see the future of Breguet?

N.G.H: If I answer this question honestly, your readers might laugh at me as many did some twenty years ago, when I estimated the future of the Swatch Group. Speech is silver, silence is golden.

So there you have it. Nicolas G. Hayek is not only following in the footsteps of Abraham-Louis Breguet, he appears to have also stepped into the great man’s shoes.




La Tradition Breguet timepiece is one of this year’s mechanical watch highlights. Inspired by one of Breguet’s inventions, the pare-chute, created in 1789 and designed to protect the balance-staff against shocks, the watch reveals the very heart of watchmaking. Revolutionary in concept, we can observe the symmetry of the bridges, the wheels, escapement, barrel and other components that would normally be hidden beneath the baseplate and the dial.
As the brand states, ‘La Tradition Breguet is an invitation to travel across time … beyond time.’
La Tradition Breguet in 18 carat yellow gold equipped with a hand-wound movement. The guilloché dial, at 12 o’clock, is in 18 carat silvered gold, with Roman numerals, 50-hour power reserve indicator, sapphire crystal front and back, water-resistant to 30 metres.

The Classique Grande Complication is a minute repeater and perpetual calendar. The minute repeater (Breguet invented the spring gong for repeaters) is considered to be one of the summits of horological art and only master craftsmen with an excellent ear spend numerous hours in the intricate adjustment of the gong. The platinum case (40 mm) contains a movement entirely hand-engraved and there is a silvered gold guilloché dial. At 10.30 there is a sophisticated retrograde jumping month indicator, the date is at 6 o’clock, the day is indicated between 2 and 3 o’clock and is counter-balanced by a leap-year indicator between 8 and 9 o’clock. Moon phase and age of the moon are indicated at 2.30.
The Classique Grande Complication is in platinum 950 and is equipped with a hand-wound movement. Roman numerals on a silvered guilloché dial with four subdials and a retrograde month indicator. Sapphire crystals front and back, power reserve of 40 hours.




The Reine de Naples was launched in 2004 and created quite a stir because of its highly original appearance. This year the Reine de Naples 8929 Haute Joaillerie version in white gold spectacularly set with diamonds caught people’s imagination. The case is set with baguette diamonds and there is a pavé dial with mother-of-pearl hour markers. The crown, at 4 o’clock, is set with a cabochon briolette diamond echoing the diamonds set into the ball lug at 6 o’clock.
The Reine de Naples is in 18 carat white gold and is set with a total of 350 diamonds weighing 1.95 carats. The folding clasp of the black satin strap is also set with 26 diamonds (O.14 carats). The watch is equipped with a mechanical self-winding movement with a platinum rotor with guilloché decoration. There is a sapphire crystal front and back and the watch is water-resistant to 30 metres.

The Breguet No. 5 was completed by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1794 and purchased at auction by Nicolas G. Hayek. His determination to recreate this extraordinary pocket watch was an enormous challenge, which entailed dismantling the original movement completely down to the smallest screw, photographing the parts and having them redrawn for reproduction. One concession was made however, the use of a modern escapement to enhance the watch’s performance. The Breguet No. 5 has now been re-born and reflects not only the skills of the Breguet master craftsmen, but also the importance the brand attaches to its heritage. It is a Limited Edition of 6 pieces.
The Breguet No. 5 is in 18 carat yellow gold with a ‘barleycorn’ guilloché pattern. The guilloché silvered gold dial is cambered with ‘vieux panier’ and ‘Clou de Paris’ guilloché and has engraved and painted black Roman numerals, there is a 60-hour power reserve indicator, a moon phase and age indicator and a recessed sub-dial for the seconds. The movement is perpetual winding with an ‘à toc’ quarter repeater - the quarter-strike hammer taps against the case; the oscillating weight is in platinum and the self-winding mechanism has a weight-locking device that is activated when the watch is fully wound.


July 19, 2005 saw the publication of the book ‘Nicolas G. Hayek im Gespräch...’ (Nicolas G. Hayek in conversation…) and takes you into the world of a true entrepreneur. Nicolas G. Hayek speaks about the Swatch Group and its companies, such as Swatch or Breguet. He talks about the Swatchmobile adventure. He also gives his opinion on the European Community – to name only a few topics in this book full of fascinating anecdotes and stories. For details, see http://www.swatchgroup.com/message.php]


Source: August - September 2005 Issue

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