The Top Selling Breguet Tradition Collection has evolved into the one of the company’s most recognizable lines since the releasing in 2005. The basic design of the Tradition Collection’s movement was motivated, by the way, by the so-called souscription watches made during the replica Breguet’s lifetime – these could be bought “on subscription” and had a clean, distinctive movement design. This was hidden in the original souscription replica watches but the front and center are actually in the Tradition Collection.
The replica Breguet is no stranger to ladies’ watches. As a matter of fact, you could argue that the lost (and then miraculously recovered) “Marie Antoinette” No. 160 is one of the most popular women’s fake watches ever to exist. Besides, they have the Queen of Naples models, with their egg-shaped cases, which have proven to be one of their mainstay ladies’ pieces, despite its unusual shape. Honestly the Queen of Naples has never been my favorite, so I was glad to see a ladies’ piece become part of the more typical Tradition collection.
The Tradition Dame comes in an 18k rose gold 37mm round case. The case band has the same familiar coin-edge that has become a Breguet trademark. It is obvious that 37mm is a pretty healthy size for a ladies’ watch and I am not one to oppose it. The bezel is set with 68 brilliant-cut diamonds, which add a nice little element of sparkle, and while I do love diamonds in general. However, as to me, I don’t believe that they are really necessary on this unique watch.
While I don’t like the stones, I am totally impressed by the movement. For this debut ladies’ piece, Breuguet used the caliber 505SR movement with full-size rotor. The power reserve is 50 hours and the movement features an inverted in-line lever escapement with silicon pallets and silicon balance spring. This is a really high-powered ladies’ watch. You can see both sides of the movement through the crystal and the display caseback, which is not something you see very often in dedicated lades’ pieces. By the way, it’s easy to miss but there is also a retrograde seconds hand, which gives some additional animation to the dial.
The movement is really amazing and it really is so refreshing to see a ladies’ watch with so much mechanical clout and effort given to design; I love so much for this watch. But for me some of the stylistic and design elements don’t quite add up. After all, the dial – albeit beautifully finished! – is very hard to read.
I understand that this watch is very much about the movement and achieving a very traditional kind of feminine elegance, but at the end of the day a watch is a timekeeper before it’s anything else and I found readability challenging. What’s more, the overall aesthetic is a little fussy for me, but I could see how it would appeal to other women.
The replica watch is pretty comfortable on the wrist. The size was just right for me and it felt impressive to put on. While, in general, I like to consider myself a lady who could rock a diamond watch with a t-shirt and jeans, this one felt too formal for that.
As a whole, I think this is a gorgeous watch. It checks all the boxes: amazing movement, beautiful finishing, and it may be not your usual run of the mill quartz ladies’ watch. I truly applaud the best replica Breguet for this one, as it is difficult for brands to truly understand and execute a watch that women want that is both technical and wearable. However, from a personal standpoint, I think that this watch is slightly overdone.