Breguet’s Revolutionary Year: Sealed With A Night At Versailles #Expérimentale 1

Standing inside the Palace of Versailles - its gilded halls glowing under candle-warm light, the air thick with history, music and couture, I realised something: Breguet is no longer just a brand rooted in legacy; it is leading the future. And that night, as we celebrated the unveiling of Expérimentale 1, the most daring technical advancement I have seen in years, I knew exactly why Breguet is my Brand of the Year.

A Night at Versailles: Red Carpet, Royal Rooms & Rare Conversations
The evening itself felt cinematic. Walking past the marble hallways and glittering chandeliers, I found myself drifting through rooms that once echoed with footsteps of queens and kings - including the Queen’s Bedroom, with its ornate tapestries and impossibly delicate detailing.

Artists performed live, creating a dreamlike ambience that matched the grandeur of the launch. And then there was the dinner, an intimate, indulgent evening where I had the chance to dine and converse with Gregory Kissling, the man now driving Breguet with a fearless vision. Over wine, music, and watch talk, it became abundantly clear: Breguet is not looking backwards anymore - it is leading the next chapter. And nothing captures that shift more boldly than the Expérimentale 1.

The Watch That Changes Everything: Breguet Expérimentale 1

The Expérimentale 1 isn’t just another complicated watch - it is an invention.
The first timepiece in history to use a full magnetic escapement, it replaces traditional mechanics with magnetism to control the movement. This allows Breguet to achieve something few brands would dare: a full-size oscillator running at a blazing 10 Hz. Not a miniaturised, compromised version. A real, full beating heart - fast, stable, frictionless.

How it works (in human language)

• The lever functions like a Swiss anchor escapement……but instead of jewel pallets, it uses samarium-cobalt magnets.
• The escape wheel has three levels - titanium above and below, each with magnetic “ramps,” and a central stop wheel.
• There is zero physical contact between components - the wheel moves purely through magnetic repulsion.

This means:

• No friction
• No lubrication
• Utterly consistent energy delivery
• And a level of precision and stability almost impossible in a classical setup
  It is, quite literally, a constant-force system powered by invisible forces.

A 10 Hz Tourbillon Like No Other

Breguet didn’t stop at the magnetic escapement - they built the whole thing into an ultra-light, beautifully architectural tourbillon.

Inside the cage:

• The balance wheel sits on one side
• The triple-level magnetic escape wheel sits in the center
• A nickel-phosphorus supplementary wheel sits opposite, linking the tourbillon to the fixed fourth wheel

Look closely and you see the oscillator vibrating insanely fast, while the magnetic escapement pulses with a futuristic, almost sci-fi beauty. It is hypnotic.

The Beauty Around the Brains
Breguet hasn’t just packed groundbreaking innovation into the Expérimentale 1,  they’ve wrapped it in breathtaking beauty. Despite its 43 mm size, the watch sits surprisingly comfortably on the wrist, its 13.3 mm thickness remarkably slim for such complex mechanics. The iconic coin-edge caseband is rendered in a deeper, more sculptural 3D form, complemented by faceted lugs that alternate between polished and brushed surfaces. Inside, solid gold bridges are hand-bevelled with razor-sharp internal angles, a showcase of true artisanal mastery. And with its fully openworked architecture, nothing is hidden - every component is on display, every detail meant to be admired. It’s the perfect demonstration of what happens when centuries of Breguet finishing meet a bold, modern vision.

Why Expérimentale 1 Matters - Not Just for Breguet, but for the Whole Industry
For too long, the watch world has played it safe, leaning heavily on reissues, vintage-inspired designs, and gentle tweaks of old favourites - beautiful, yes, but rarely bold or genuinely new. The Breguet Expérimentale 1 is the antidote to that stagnation. It proves that innovation is very much alive, that mechanical watchmaking still has unexplored frontiers, and that emotion can come from invention just as powerfully as from nostalgia. It shows that tradition and modernity don’t need to compete, they can elevate each other and pieces like the Expérimentale 1 are exactly what drive that forward. This watch isn’t merely a launch, it’s a spark, a reminder that progress isn’t optional for watchmaking - it’s essential.

Royal Rooms, Radical Innovation: The Year Belongs to Breguet
In the end, my conviction is rooted in experience, emotion, and a deep appreciation for what true horological progress looks like. Seeing the Expérimentale 1 in person - and witnessing its unveiling in the opulent halls of Versailles - made it unmistakably clear that Breguet is no longer content with simply honouring its legacy; it is boldly defining what comes next. This is not a brand relying on nostalgia or marketing gloss, but one driving watchmaking forward through genuine, courageous invention. With only 75 pieces and a price of CHF 320,000, the Expérimentale 1 stands not just as a collector’s treasure but as a declaration that real innovation has returned to the industry. And that is why, without hesitation, 2025 belongs to Breguet.