Letter from the Publisher

Breguet is a competitor of Blancpain, which you have been leading since 2002: how will
the competition between the two brands develop in the future?
It is notably thanks to the spirit of rivalry that has always existed between Breguet and
Blancpain—each of which have around a 700-strong staff—that the two brands have
achieved regular progress. This rivalry—whether internally within the Swatch Group
or with other competitors—is an excellent stimulus. Breguet and Blancpain are of
course sister brands, but have always vied with each other on the markets. This
competition has been beneficial to both brands in the past, and still is today. It has
in particular enabled each to distinguish itself and to establish its own personality.
How would you describe these personalities?
Their common core lies in their mastery of mechanical watchmaking and their
undeniable know-how. But this core is interpreted in very different ways at Blancpain
and Breguet. Blancpain embodies a more youthful, sometimes sporty and more
conventional spirit, an extremely Swiss brand strongly rooted in the Vallée de Joux
and brimming with new projects. Breguet is a slightly more stolid brand endowed
with a Gallic spirit, impeccable and rigorous styling, a brand bound up with history
through the destiny of certain famous figures, and which bears the name of the man
who is acknowledged as the greatest horologer of all time. It is also characterized by
a will to move ahead, driven by an extremely effective R&D department. As I mentioned
before, my grandfather was a true visionary, as is powerfully confirmed by the legacy he left me
in Breguet.
How can this healthy emulation between the two brands be maintained? What is your
perception of and your own position in relation to each of them?
Blancpain has been my baby since 2002, so I obviously feel a special attachment to this brand;
the renewal of Breguet epitomizes the work of my grandfather, and possesses an incredible
history that he has taken far beyond what we could ever have imagined—to where it belongs,
at the very peak of the art. Both have been the object of substantial investments in recent years
in terms of both production facilities and personnel, and are thus perfectly well armed for
the future. At Blancpain, there is an extremely loyal team of staff with whom I have been
working for many years and who are well acquainted with the brand, my ambitions for it, and
my demands. At Breguet, there was naturally a vacuum to be filled, a spirit to be honored and
an exceptional heritage, as well as a competent and highly motivated team. The CEO of both
brands can thus build on excellent foundations!
• 412 Grand Complications, Vol. VII
top
The first Grande Complication
in the collection, this Reine de
Naples features a sonnerie au
passage, meaning a striking
mechanism that chimes automatically
or in passing.
above
The Type XXII chronograph
is equipped with an escapement
and a flat balance-spring
in silicon beating at 72,000
vibrations per hour, meaning
10 Hertz—a world first!