Marine Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887

1801–2026: 225 years since the invention of the Tourbillon

Breguet celebrates the Tourbillon legacy with a number of exclusive creations

In 2026, Breguet pays tribute to the invention of the Tourbillon, for which Abraham-Louis Breguet was granted his historic patent on 7 Messidor Year 9 according to the French revolutionary calendar, corresponding to 26 June 1801. This means that this eminent complication has been an enduring part of day-to-day life for the Manufacture Breguet, its collectors and the entire watch industry – which has since widely adopted its founding principle – for exactly 225 years.

Since then, the Manufacture has continued to foster the progress of the great watchmaker’s invention, constantly drawing on its original inspiration, while over the decades introducing valuable technical refinements serving a single purpose: the quest for precision. All the new models presented today are part of this vision.

An invention at the heart of history

1793: the turmoil of the French Revolution eventually convinced Breguet to leave his workshop on the Quai de l’Horloge and enjoy a much-needed escape with his family. In Neuchâtel and subsequently in Le Locle, the watchmaker took advantage of this respite to revisit some of his creative visions and contemplate the future of his company.

Upon his return to Paris in 1795, Breguet unveiled a number of inventions that would prove decisive not only for his own future, but also for that of horology as a whole: the sympathique clock (a clock that sets the time of a pocket watch that is placed on top of it), the souscription watch (whose minimalist design redefined the aesthetic codes of watchmaking, and which the House of Breguet reinterpreted in 2025), along with the à tact watch (serving to read the time by touch), among many others.

A.-L. Breguet developed two new mechanisms: firstly, the constant-force escapement, patented in 1798 and secondly, a Tourbillon regulator device patented three years later in 1801. It is the latter that we are now celebrating on its 225th anniversary.

Origins of a watchmaking revolution

The Tourbillon regulator, or Tourbillon, is based on the observation that the oscillation of certain watch components – and more critically the balance and balance-spring – is “pulled” downwards by the force of gravity. The regulation organ’s operation is thus affected, and indeed unevenly so, when the watch is held vertically – which was almost always the case for a pocket watch in Breguet’s day.

To resolve this difficulty, Breguet was naturally aware that he could not defy the laws of gravity. In a sense, he therefore circumvented the problem by inventing a system based around a cage (also known as a cage) in which the escapement and the regulating mechanisms (balance and balance-spring) are enclosed and kept in constant rotation around an axis, in all positions. The balance-and-spring assembly’s centre of gravity is thus continually realigned with the axis of rotation, compensating for the adverse effects of the uneven oscillation of a watch held in a static position. Breguet designed this system to “mix up” all vertical positions and ultimately achieve higher average accuracy.

If we consider that the Tourbillon took shape in Breguet’s mind between 1793 and 1795 (during  his  stay  in  Switzerland),  six  years elapsed between his return to Paris and the granting of the patent on 26 June 1801 – and a further six years would pass between the official approval of this patent and the first sales.

Breguet and his employees went on to produce 40 Tourbillons between 1796 and 1829, along with nine other such timepieces that were never completed and are recorded in the accounts as written off, scrapped or lost.

Since then, the Manufacture has never ceased striving to perfect this mechanism – one of the trickiest and most complex in the realm of Haute Horlogerie – in order to open up new chronometric horizons. With this in mind, the House continues to develop new watchmaking processes (high frequency) and also ventures to explore other disciplines with a view to enriching the Tourbillon with the latest scientific breakthroughs (such as the constant-force magnetic escapement).

Marine Tourbillon treated with French blue

The Marine collection draws on the historical ties between A.-L. Breguet and the French Royal Navy: following his appointment to the Bureau des Longitudes on 10 December 1814, the master watchmaker was awarded the official title of Horloger de la Marine Royale by Louis XVIII on 27 October 1815. This title was the most prestigious that a watchmaker could receive at the time, in recognition of his exceptional expertise in marine chronometry.

It was a personal and unique title, an individual office held by only one watchmaker in the entire kingdom.

The Marine collection honours this heritage. The Tourbillon Équation Marchante 5887, which is the most complicated wristwatch in all of the brand’s contemporary collections, is unveiled here in a historic livery, its dial adorned with an exact, luminescent representation of the sky over Paris at midnight on 26 June 1801 – the date on which Breguet was granted his patent for the Tourbillon.

This model is a 25-piece limited edition in which each watch can be personalised with the sky corresponding to a chosen date and location.

A word from Gregory Kissling, CEO of Montres Breguet:

“Abraham-Louis Breguet exercised a considerable influence on scientific chronometry, notably producing 78 marine chronometers, one of which can still be found at the Musée national de la Marine in Paris. It was the first to feature Breguet Arabic numerals, hence our desire to remain faithful to this typography, which we have reproduced on the 5887 model unveiled today, representing a return to our roots.

Some of these instruments remained in use for 70 years, a longevity that offers undeniable proof of their extraordinary accuracy. Seventy years of navigation at sea means that at least three generations of sailors relied on Breguet to cross the seas and oceans, without ever finding anything more precise or more reliable in seven decades of horological progress. Breguet was significantly ahead of his time.

These “instrument watches for scientific purposes”, as he called them, were extremely precise and stable. It is moreover no coincidence that Breguet supplied the world’s two greatest navies, those of England and France.

The Marine Équation Marchante 5887 that we are introducing today is the strongest tribute we have ever paid to this extraordinary journey. It evokes the spirit of early maritime navigation using a sextant and compass, with only the observation of the sky and true solar time as reference points. What finer homage could one render to Breguet’s eternal quest for precision than to choose the representation of the sky above Paris on 26 June 1801, when A.-L. Breguet obtained his patent for the decisive development of this quest, the Tourbillon?”

What is the equation of time?

The equation of time is a signature Breguet complication displaying the difference between conventional mean time – which remains constant and is shown on the main dial – and true solar time which varies by a few minutes each year due to the elliptical shape of the Earth’s orbit. This the difference between true time and mean time is known as the equation of time. Four times a year, the two coincide perfectly and otherwise the difference ranges from -16 to +14 minutes depending on the time of year.

An exceptionally simple complication

While the equation of time can be interpreted in various ways, the Manufacture is one of the few to enable immediate and intuitive reading thanks to an additional minutes hand directly indicating the difference between the two reference times (true and mean) on a given day. This is known as a running equation of time.

For the date to be accurate, the equation of time must necessarily be coupled with a perpetual calendar. These two major, Equation of Time and Perpetual Calendar, complications are complemented in this model by a third one: a Tourbillon, ensuring the movement’s utmost chronometric precision in the purest spirit of the marine chronometers produced in their day by A.-L. Breguet, appointed watchmaker to the French Royal Navy.

Throughout the great 19th century scientific and maritime expeditions, Breguet timepieces accompanied some of the greatest explorers of their time. Its marine clocks and chronometers were notably taken on board by Louis de Freycinet during his round-the-world voyage between 1817 and 1820; by Hyacinthe de Bougainville on his round-the-world expedition; as well as by Jules Dumont d’Urville whose Breguet regulator No. 4367 became the very first timekeeping instrument to reach Antarctica, in 1840. As true instruments of navigation and precision, these models testify to the essential role played by Breguet in the history of great maritime discoveries.

A limited edition for the history books

A new version of the Marine Équation Marchante 5887 is unveiled in 2026 to mark the 225th anniversary of the patent obtained by A.-L. Breguet for his Tourbillon on 26 June 1801.

The timepiece belongs to the third generation of this iconic collection, launched in 1990 and significantly revamped in 2017. The watch is housed in a 43.9 mm-diameter platinum case. Its dial is adorned with Arabic numerals, a style introduced by A.-L. Breguet himself in the late 18th century, once again reflecting an aesthetic that was particularly innovative for its time.

The dial is composed of two parts. At the centre is a sapphire dial featuring a miniature painting done by hand in gradient-blue Grand Feu enamel that is translucent on its underside. On its upper surface is a hand-painted miniature painting in luminescent enamel depicting the night sky with its constellations and the moon in their exact positions as seen from Paris on 26 June 1801. The Arabic numerals are applied in gold.

The caseback is adorned with an exceptional hand-engraved depiction of the 18th century ship Royal Louis, sailing across oceans rendered in Breguet gold to create an elegant contrast with the rhodium-plated sky and sea. A rosace motif – a first in the Marine collection – has been affixed to the barrel drum, hand-engraved and crafted in Breguet gold.

The stylised fleur de lys in Breguet gold, symbolising the North is a discreet nod to King Louis XVIII who entrusted Breguet with guiding his fleet across the world’s seas. Around the edge of the movement runs a platinum peripheral weight with an engraved guilloché “Quai de l’Horloge” motif – inspired by the historic address of Breguet’s Parisian workshop – finished in blue. The text inscribed on it is hand-engraved.