Mario C 
Swatch Group haute horlogerie brand Breguet is the nest in line to jump on board with the Year of the Snake, thanks to this latest release of a limited edition Classique 7145.
New year, new me! Nah, just kidding – same old me, but brand-new watches! With the Year of the Snake just around the corner, watch brands worldwide are pulling out all the stops to celebrate China’s most wonderful time of the year. From Jaeger-LeCoultre to Blancpain, Longines to IWC, everyone wants to hop aboard the snake hype train.
Not that it’s a bad thing, though! Commemorating a new Zodiac also means that these watch brands will stop at nothing to make the most incredible works of art based on the mysterious and wise nature of the snake, and Breguet is no exception. The descendant of esteemed industry pioneer Abraham-Louis Breguet, the L’Abbaye-based brand has taken the appropriate time to thoughtfully and artfully depict the image of intuition and mystery in Chinese culture.
The Breguet Classique is the extension of Abraham-Louis’ creative vision in watchmaking. Despite being released in the 80s – long after Breguet’s passing – the Classique lineup still upholds the exacting standards that the famous Swiss watchmaker set upon his own brand. The elegant, refined structure of the Classique lineup often belies the true horological power that lies beneath, and the typically simplistic dial layout also lends itself to opportunities for artistic expression. Sometimes, that means guilloché and other times; it means engraving. On the new Classique 7145, however, it means both.
The Classique 7145 has long been the canvas with which Chinese New Year has always been expressed at Breguet, and this newest release is no different. First, Breguet tasks a master artisan with performing a bas-relief (low relief) engraving atop an 18k gold dial. Requiring meticulous handiwork and immense patience, this work enables even the finest details of the artwork to become apparent, with the craftsmen often doing so whilst viewing their work in a microscope. After cleaning and polishing the engraving, the dial is strapped onto a lathe, where guilloché brings the entire piece to life. Ever the craft experts, Breguet’s lathes can cut accurately to a tenth of a millimetre, enabling the creation of precise details too risky to be done by a masterful hand alone.
The result is the Classique 7145 Lunar New Year, depicting an elegant image of a snake in the grass. Despite the phrasing, the image itself does not betray the fine craftsmanship of the rest of the watch: At 40mm case diameter and just 6.5mm thick, the Classique 7145’s rose gold case is complete with coin-edge bevelling that gives it a distinct appearance, contrasting the cooler tones of the dial. The entire artwork is brought together by the Cal. 502.3 movement, which boasts an automatic movement with its own guilloché, off-centre rotor.
My Thoughts
Though they only made 8 pieces in celebration of the New Year, the newest Classique 7145 Lunar New Year 2025 always brings the brand’s A-game to the table. With all the flavour text you see about how great artistic expression in watchmaking is, it can be really easy to desensitise yourself to ‘guilloché this, engraving that.’ Us as watch enthusiasts can easily lose just how insanely difficult those processes actually are, which bars us from truly being able to appreciate art when we see it.
The Breguet Classique 7145 Lunar New Year 2025, in effect, is just that: art. It’s not meant to time spectacular motor racing; It’s not meant to dive into the depths of the ocean. It’s meant to be marvelled at, a representation of and a celebration of time specific to Chinese culture. As we move forward into the new year, I can only hope that I, too, keep the same level of appreciation for these horological heavy hitters that I had when I first entered into this business.
Reference: 7145BR/15/9WU 06
Specifications:
- Dimensions: 40mm case diameter x 6.5mm thickness
- Case Material: 18k rose gold with coin-edge bevelling
- Dial: Silver (white gold) & Green with bas-relief snake motif
- Movement: Automatic Cal. 502.3
- Power Reserve: 45h
- Water Resistance: 30m (3bar)
- Strap: Green alligator strap with 18k rose gold pin buckle
