A Legacy In Motion: Breguet’s Souscription Spirit Is Reborn After 250 Years
6 min read
In 2025, the house of Breguet marks a monumental milestone — 250 years since Abraham-Louis Breguet first laid his tools down at 39 Quai de l’Horloge. And what better way to celebrate than with a watch that doesn’t just tell time, but tells a story: the Classique Souscription 2025. A resurrection of radical simplicity, the new timepiece bridges centuries with its refined silhouette, beating at the heart of tradition and innovation alike. But to understand this watch — and why it matters — one must step back into the shadows of 1775, to a quieter revolution in the making.
A Love Story at the Heart of Horology
The year was 1775. France was on the brink of transformation, and a young Abraham-Louis Breguet had just turned 28. It wasn’t yet the time for grand horological breakthroughs — instead, his first monumental chapter was personal. On August 28th, in Paris’s stately Saint-Sulpice Church, he married Cécile-Marie-Louise L’Huillier, a woman from a respected bourgeois family with ties to the royal court. The union also marked his formal conversion to Catholicism — a powerful symbol of his assimilation into French society.
Their home at 39 Quai de l’Horloge, in the attic of a building owned by the Polignac family, sat in the heart of Paris’s horological quarter. Just a stone’s throw from the workshops of Berthoud, Lépine, and Le Roy, this tight-knit ecosystem of craftsmen, scientists, and visionaries quietly pushed the boundaries of what time could mean. In 1776, Breguet’s son Antoine-Louis was born. But joy soon turned to grief. Cécile died in 1780, followed by two of their three children. Breguet, devastated yet resolute, continued building his legacy — aided by Cécile’s younger sister, Suzanne-Élisabeth, who would become both caregiver and the steady force behind his rising empire.
The Watch That Changed Everything
Years later, in the wake of revolution, Breguet returned to Paris in the spring of 1795. His workshop on the Quai de l’Horloge was in disarray. The French Revolution had shaken the very ground beneath him. But Breguet, ever resilient, rolled up his sleeves to rebuild not just his business, but his reputation. He reentered the scene with a flurry of ideas, and among them was a creation both radical and refined: the subscription watch.
Launched in 1796, it was unlike anything else of the time. Instead of complex dials and multiple complications, this timepiece had a single hand—an elegantly restrained design powered by a large central barrel, with its gear train spread symmetrically on either side. The simplicity was deliberate. It spoke of clarity, of democratizing fine watchmaking for a wider audience.
Breguet, ever the marketer as much as the inventor, had pamphlets printed to explain his vision. “The price of the watches will be 600 pounds. A quarter of this sum will be paid by subscribing… delivery will be made in the order of subscriptions.” A revolutionary idea for a revolutionary time. But innovation attracts imitation. As counterfeiters began passing off forgeries under his name, Breguet introduced another first: the secret signature. Engraved into the dial with a specialized drypoint pantograph, it was invisible at first glance, detectable only to those who knew where and how to look. This quiet stroke of genius protected the integrity of his work for generations. The subscription watch became a runaway success, with some 700 pieces sold between 1798 and 1805.
A New Dawn
Today, as the maison celebrates 250 years of legacy in motion, it looks back to its illustrious past for inspiration. Now, 250 years after Breguet first laid down his tools in the Quai de l’Horloge workshop, the House celebrates this legacy with the Classique Souscription 2025. This exceptional timepiece resurrects the purity and innovation of the original while showcasing Breguet's unyielding pursuit of excellence.
“We wanted to surprise people by presenting not a grand complication, as some might have expected, but a single-hand watch. We added a great deal of richness to this apparently simple watch, particularly in the architecture of its movement, inspired by that of the tact watch. Through this model, we wanted to tell a story, our story. We had never show-cased a movement with a Tradition architecture in a wristwatch featuring a full dial,” says Gregory Kissling, CEO, Breguet.
Here are some of the key features of the new Classique Souscription:
- A grand feu enamel dial, with a single, flame-blued hand and hand-curved Arabic numerals.
- A new Breguet Gold case, warm and complex, echoing the tones of 18th-century alloys.
- Satin-brushed flanks, curved lugs, and a minimalist profile — all quietly luxurious.
- The VS00 calibre, visible through a domed sapphire caseback, channels the past with shot-blasted bridges, a proudly engraved ratchet wheel, and the new Quai de l’Horloge guilloché pattern — an ode to the very geography of Breguet’s Paris.
- A red Moroccan leather-inspired presentation box, vertically set like the pocket watches of old, seals the tribute.
The dial, a canvas of grand feu enamel, carries the refined aesthetic of the master himself. Its flame-blued, hand-curved Breguet hand glides over inclined Arabic numerals and a chemin de fer track, effortlessly marking time in five-minute intervals. Between the centre and 6 o’clock, the words "Souscription," a secret signature, and a unique serial number appear discreet, almost ghostlike, waiting to be discovered by those who look closely.
Housed in a 40mm case made from the brand's new proprietary alloy Breguet gold the watch speaks to a heritage of material mastery. Warm, subtly pink, and composed of gold, silver, copper, and palladium, this alloy recalls the gold used by 18th-century watchmakers. Satin-brushed sides replace the traditional fluting, while curved lugs provide ergonomic elegance.
A Gilded Balance of Gears and Movements
Flip the watch over, and a domed sapphire crystal reveals the VS00 calibre, a manual-wind movement inspired by the very first souscription architecture. Its bridges and plates are shot-blasted, its screws blued, and at the centre sits a proudly engraved ratchet wheel, bearing Breguet’s own cursive words from his 1797 brochure. A new guilloché pattern, Quai de l’Horloge, pays tribute to the graceful curves of the Île de la Cité and Saint-Louis, capturing the very geography of Breguet’s life in rhythmic geometry.
Equipped with a Nivachron™ balance spring and boasting a four-day power reserve, the movement beats with the precision Breguet always pursued. Every part, from the single-hand dial to the elegant case and box, is rooted in authenticity and artistic restraint.
How can you get a Classique Souscription 2025?
True to its name — “Souscription,” meaning “subscription” — the model follows the same principle Breguet introduced in his 1797 prospectus: “A quarter of this sum will be paid by subscribing…” In the same spirit, collectors today must pay 25% upfront to reserve the Classique Souscription 2025.
In true Breguet tradition, each Classique Souscription 2025 will be delivered in a special presentation box crafted in lightly grained red calf leather — a tribute to the Moroccan leather cases once used by A.-L. Breguet. Embossed with “BREGUET 250 YEARS” and the watch’s individual serial number, the box opens with a discreet push-button and reveals a refined blue interior that houses the watch vertically, echoing the spirit of historic pocket watches. More than packaging, it's a collector’s piece in itself.
More than a commemorative edition, the Classique Souscription 2025 is a bridge between epochs. It whispers stories of the past while ticking steadily into the future. In it, one finds not just the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet, but the enduring rhythm of watchmaking’s highest ideals.
