Marine Hora Mundi: Breguet’s elegant traveller

To think of classicism, in watchmaking, is to think of Breguet. And, within its collections, the Classique and Marine lines, with the latter containing exquisitely crafted pieces such as the Hora Mundi. As its Latin name suggests, this is a World Time, a complication that Breguet interprets in its own way with a mechanical and aesthetic expression that would not have displeased Abraham-Louis, considering the heights of excellence to which both this watch and the entire Marine collection lead.

A collection that somehow represents the soul of the brand – if we think of the sporty-chic side of Breguet – and whose history has distant origins: it takes its name from the “horloger de la Marine Royale” title that Abraham-Louis Breguet received in 1815. Being the official chronometer manufacturer for the French Royal Navy was one of the most prestigious tasks a watchmaker could take on at the time. Breguet began creating new chronometers for the Royal Navy almost immediately after his appointment and, in keeping with tradition, constantly introduced new versions and improvements. For several decades, Breguet’s name was linked to the French Royal Navy, as his son and grandson also supplied the Navy with chronometers. In 1990, the Maison revived this story to present the Marine collection, inspired precisely by the classic look and technical grandeur of 19th century marine chronometers. The line, refreshed in 2018, is still one of the brand’s pillars.

FOUR PATENTS FOR THE BREGUET MARINE HORA MUNDI

From a technical point of view, the Breguet Marine Hora Mundi incorporates a GMT memory function with dual time zone and instantaneous change. This instant-change memory system was the real challenge in the making of the watch, and is a technical feat made possible by manipulating the pushpiece at 8 o’clock and the crown. Once the first city, time and date have been set, it is only necessary to set the second city. The timepiece mechanism then calculates the time and date of the second city thanks to an ingenious system of cams, hammers and the use of an integrated differential. 

The movement of the Breguet Marine Hora Mundi overseeing all this is the automatic IWC-manufactured calibre 77F1, created back in 2011 and found inside the Hora Mundi case on the Classique line, ref. 5717. Its strength lies in its patented add-on modules: complex to develop but simple for the wearer to use. The technical architecture of the calibre 77F1 required three years of development, which led to the filing of four patents and the creation of the dual time zone instant change system. 

The calibre 77F1 driving the Breguet Marine Hora Mundi is visible through the sapphire crystal case back and is state-of-the-art in the Maison’s technology, thanks to its patented add-on modules: dual-time-zone mechanism, second-time-zone display, reprogrammable memory mechanism and day/night hand display. The movement operates at 28,800 vibrations per hour (4 Hz), has a silicon escapement wheel and balance spring, thus a-magnetic, and 55 hours of power reserve. In keeping with the Breguet tradition, it is finished to a very high standard, from classic Côtes-de-Genève to guillochage decoration.

A DIAL AS DEEP AS THE SEA

The other major effort spent on the Breguet Hora Mundi concerns the dial. When it was designed, the aim was to create a 3D effect, a sense of depth. In addition to realism, Breguet also wanted to make the dial easy to read, and to achieve this, the designers played on the superimposition of different plates. The first, made of gold, consists of hand-worked waves with a blue guilloché motif and features a soleil machining, the effect of which gives the impression that the waves are moving, as a real sea. Subsequently, an additional sapphire plate shapes the meridians. The continents, on the other hand, have a horizontal satin treatment and their ribs are subtly outlined by a metallic turquoise border. Finally, an external grid encloses the various elements on the dial. The result is a watch with perfectly executed dimensions and surfaces, thanks to various treatments, each of which took several weeks to complete.

The work done on the three-dimensionality of the Breguet Marine Hora Mundi dial is clearly visible when looking closely at its parts and details. At six o’clock, the second time-zone window opens beneath a gold plate with hand-worked waves, as recalled by the inscription on the flange at 7:30; above this window is a metallised anchor (consistent with the Marine collection) indicating the city whose time is to be consulted. At 4 o’clock, the day/night indication is visible in a crescent-shaped window and is rendered visually with the alternation of the rose gold sun and the grey rhodium-plated moon, which look very realistic thanks to the hand-hammered finishing.

The hour and minute hands, and the hour markers are covered with a luminescent material that makes them visible in the dark. The date, in a window at 12 o’clock, has a retrograde hand added to the calendar system: positioned below the window itself, it has a U-shaped end that indicates the day, partially framing it so as not to disturb the view.

BREGUET MARINE HORA MUNDI: CASE AND BRACELET

The dimensions of the watch are in line with the standards of the Marine collection. The case is available in white or pink gold and has a diameter of 43.9 mm: a size that is consistent with the type of indications on the dial, and with the ‘scenographic’ effect that the craftsmen of the Breguet Maison wanted to achieve with this timepiece. It is water-resistant to 10 bar, the minimum you could ask of a watch with a maritime vocation. The thickness is significant, at 13.8 mm, but this is easy to understand considering the complications enclosed within the case, whose sides are Breguet’s typical coin-worked sides. The mirror-polished bezel is almost non-existent, so thin as to leave full view of the dial. Yet its presence is clearly perceptible precisely because of the polish, which contrasts with the satin finish of the short lugs, typical of the Marine.

Screwed to these lugs is the strap, which can be in structured blue rubber with a white or pink gold triple folding clasp, or in alligator, also blue. The most precious versions, on the other hand, include a bracelet, in white or pink gold, characterised by a beautiful satin finish in continuity with that of the lugs. The satin finish, however, only affects the upper part of the links, while the sides are polished. This alternation creates interesting plays of light, and is further proof of the maniacal attention paid by Breguet to the creation of the Marine Hora Mundi. As is understandable, the presence of bracelets and straps influences the watch’s final price: it ranges from 89,100 euros for the versions with rubber or alligator straps – in both white and pink gold – to 118,000 euros for the two bracelet versions.

In conclusion, the Hora Mundi is totally consistent with the history of the Breguet Maison and the Marine collection it belongs to. Indeed, incorporating a dual time zone with instant memory makes perfect sense within this collection, which represents travelling and exploration. A demonstration of technical prowess that is also in keeping with the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet, a master of complications; suffice it to say that he was the first watchmaker to introduce, on the dial of a timepiece, the equation of marching time, indicating civil and solar time with two separate hands. We wrote it at the beginning and confirm it at the end: we are certain that the man who, in addition to becoming “horloger de la Marine Royale” at the behest of King Louis XVIII, also carried out numerous researches on orientation at sea and was a member of the Bureau des Longitudes, would be delighted to see his name on the dial of the Breguet Hora Mundi.

By Davide Passoni