This is arguably the most masculine Breguet, but also a Breguet that seems to be forgotten. When I first saw it in a magazine, it didn’t really look good, because the Breguet watch always gave people a gentle and elegant, complicated but not introverted look, but it was full of sports and masculinity, It seemed so out of place in Breguet’s product line, I thought, this is not Breguet at all. But when I play with the real thing carefully, I find that although it has a taunting appearance, the side of the case still uses the famous coin pattern of Breguet, and the overall shape is restrained. This is enough. It was proved that Baodi’s blood flowed in his bones, which inherited Baodi’s noble bloodline. More precisely, it should be regarded as the Breguet watch that is least like Breguet.
It’s not just the appearance, but the name. Why is it named like a password? In fact, it is such a password-like name telling its deep origins and origins with the military. In the 1950s and 1960s, the French Army ordered a number of air force chronographs from several watch factories, including 1950 from Breguet, Vixa, Boullier, and Auricoste, and 1960 from Dodane and Airain. Because the French military code for these watches is Type 20, the surface of these military watches can only be engraved with Type 20. This is why when the Breguet watch later released a civilian version, it adopted the Type 20 Chronograph name. Later, the French military felt that these watches were too expensive to build and repair, and began to order military watches made with other movements under the code name Type 21 since 1961. Breguet has also tried to continue bidding for Type 21 orders in France, but was rejected because the price was too high. In the 1970s and 1980s, Breguet produced the second-generation Type 20.
Breguet began producing the third-generation Type 20 in 1995, using a 582 movement adapted from the Lemania 1351 self-winding movement. At the beginning of 1998, a limited edition of 1500 stainless steel Type XX Aeronavale was launched, equipped with a see-through sapphire crystal case back, becoming the only transparent bottom model in the Type 20 series. Today, the Breguet’s Type 20 Chronograph has become the only model in the Type 20 watch that is the only one remaining and still in production.
The reason why the Type 20 can be called a professional watch is that the French Ministry of Defense had very high performance requirements for the Type 20 and Type 21, and one of them was to have flyback timing performance. The flyback timing performance is not a very complicated mechanism, but it has extremely high requirements on the quality of the movement. It is especially important for flight personnel who often need to repeatedly or continuously measure a certain length of time. The Type 20, however, relies on its reliable performance to help pilots complete their mission time and time again.
What we are seeing now is the latest Type 20, published in 2001, with a diameter of 39.5 mm and a water resistance of 100 meters. It uses Caliber 582Q movement (an improved version of 1351), and a calendar window is added at six o’clock. And changed its name to Type XX Transatlantique (meaning Transatlantic). Although the hands of the three auxiliary dials have only luminous treatment for the chronograph minute hand, the difference between the scales has been deliberately increased so that everyone can easily distinguish each other when using it.
The curved mirror used in it feels exactly like the shape of the sky, perfectly integrated with the bezel, and from the side, it looks like a contact lens clasped on the dial. This watch not only improves the pressure resistance, but also has an excellent anti-glare treatment, which makes it easy to read the time even at large angles or long distances.
The chronograph scale on the two-way rotating bezel is simple and clear, and the elasticity is moderate, and the rotation is extremely smooth, so that it cannot be easily displaced due to collision. The crown itself is also very tactile. Although the distance to the timing buttons on both sides is small, it is easier to catch the fingers on the winding or timing, but it can quickly adapt.
The three-section chain belt adopts two contrasting surface treatments, which are well matched with the classic-looking shape, and the chain links are thinner and fit closer to the wrist. But the most exciting thing is to talk about the feel of the timing button. Put your thumb on the timing button and close your eyes as if you are pressing the red missile launch button of a fighter. ‘Click’, very smooth! The second hand moved and the enemy aircraft was hit …
2010 is the 50th anniversary of the Type 20 and the centennial of the French navy aviation. To this end, Breguet reinterpreted this legendary chronograph and launched the Type XXII, which has been transformed by modern technology. It can be said that it is equipped with heavy equipment with vitality.
The 44mm stainless steel case contains a Breguet chronograph movement with a silicon escapement and balance spring (all Bremat is called Breguet movement after it has been acquired by Breguet). It has been increased to an astonishing 10Hz (that is, 72,000 vibrations per hour), which makes the movement with unparalleled adjustment capabilities. The chronograph second hand can complete a week of rotation in 30 seconds, and the starting function and reading accuracy are doubled. This technology is mainly based on the use of silicon materials to make moving parts more lightweight, thereby avoiding the lubrication problems caused by high frequencies.
We see that this watch has two large hands in addition to the hour and minute hands, but don’t think that this is a double chase. The hand at the bottom of the center is actually used to record the minute, moving one division every 30 seconds. The short red and white lines on the scale circle are used to record the minute scale, plus the red and white counting second hand scale, which is used to determine whether the chronograph counter is in the first circle (red area) or the second circle (white area) rotates for 30 seconds.
This watch has a flyback function, which can reset the accumulator to zero and restart it quickly with just one operation. This can be seen from the zero reset button marked in red. In addition, the dial has a second time zone display window, accompanied by a calendar window. With the two-speed crown, you can adjust the central hour hand and reset the second time zone indication without affecting the minute hand. When the crown is in that position, the calendar changes with the time in the central main time zone.
The 24-hour day and night indicator at 3 o’clock on this watch helps the wearer to know whether the area covered by the second time zone is day or night. The sub-dial at 9 o’clock shows the rotating second hand, which is also a 30-second lap. It must be said that this is an artifact. At the same time, we are full of expectations. Hope to see what it will look like on its 100th birthday?