Breguet's Tradition line draws its inspiration from the calibre of the subscription watch made by Abraham-Louis Breguet at the end of the 18th century. The new Ref. 7597 offers a dial-side view of the movement, characterised by its architectural forms and displaying not only the hours and minutes but also a retrograde date display. Housed in a 40 mm 18K white or pink gold cannelé case, the self-winding Calibre 505Q (14 ½ lignes, 21,600 vibrations per hour, 50 jewels, 50-hour power reserve) is equipped with an inverted-line anchor escapement with silicon horns, as well as a hairspring with a Breguet curve, also in silicon. On the caseback, the gold oscillating weight, visible through a sapphire crystal porthole, is reminiscent of 'perpetual watches' powered by movements. A perfectionist, as attentive to technique as he was to aesthetics, Abraham-Louis Breguet had devised a movement that still surprises today with its modernity. Today, one can see how his design lies at the origin of the Tradition family: located in the centre, the large barrel is surmounted by a symmetrically arranged gear train. The central wheel at 8 o'clock corresponds to the oscillating organ of the same size at 4 o'clock. The latter is equipped with the famous parachute invented by the Master Watchmaker, the ancestor of all current shock-protection devices, as well as the "signature element" of the Tradition collection. The hours and minutes dial, off-centred at 12 o'clock and made of gold, is inspired by certain Breguet tact watches. Indeed, the new Tradition 7597 has an hour circle with Roman numerals, surrounded by a hand-engraved "clous de Paris" motif and equipped with blued Breguet hands. Between 3 and 9 o'clock is the retrograde date display, with a hand curved in the vertical plane. A patented mechanism allows fine adjustment of the date hand. Finally, at 10 o'clock, a screw-down corrector allows the date to be safely adjusted.
