Novelties

Oceans Six: Breguet Latest Releases Signal a New Era for Its Marine Collection

Wave hello to two trios of sophisticated, sport-chic timepieces: the Marine 5517 and the Marine Chronographe 5527.

Image © Breguet

When a watchmaker has been around as long as Breguet (established in 1775), a brand can have a lot of fun digging into its history to come up with contemporary timepieces. And that’s the spirit behind these two new releases: the Marine 5517 and the Marine Chronographe 5527.

Back in the day, Breguet’s instruments accompanied famed and fabulously named explorers like Louis Le Goarant de Tromelin and Hyacinthe de Bougainville as they sailed the seven seas.

Inspired by Abraham-Louis Breguet’s appointment as Horologer to the French Royal Navy, the Marine collection aims to embody this link to the past by marrying traditional wave-pattern guilloché, satin-brushed finishes, and refined engravings with a spirited, sporty architecture.

The Marine 5517

Above all else, the new Marine 5517 seeks refinement through simplicity. With this three-hander, Breguet strikes the right balance. By placing the Breguet logo at 12 o’clock and the date at 6 o’clock, the dial achieves an attractive symmetry. Subtle guilloche work in the “Quai de l’Horloge” pattern, which was created on the occasion of the Maison’s 250th anniversary and named after the address where Abraham Louis Breguet established his workshop.

Image © Breguet

With a case (available in 18K white gold, 18K rose gold, and titanium) measuring in at 40mm in diameter, 47.7mm lug-to-lug, and 11.5mm thick, the Marine 5517 meets all the metrics of a modern sports-chic watch, but is anchored by touches that recall Breguet’s deeper history such as hollow apple hands (or “aiguilles à pomme”) and Breguet numerals. These elements form a thread that leads back to the original Marine chronometers.

Flip the Marine 5517 over, and you’ll observe that even the self-winding Calibre 777A movement makes nods to the sea. The oscillating weight is shaped like a ship’s rudder, for example. And if it sounds like Breguet has gone overboard with the nautical heritage, note that these finely finished details are actually quite subtle. But added up, they trigger subliminal oceanic emotions.

Image © Breguet

The counterpoint to the delicate touches noted above is the dial’s unique, artisanally worked gold base. The metal has been worked to create a play of light across the surface. A layer of lacquer is then added to create an intense illusion of depth. The Breguet workshops have played alchemist with this finish, resulting in a bevy of colorways: ice blue for the white gold edition, a black dial for the pink gold version, and deep blue to complement the titanium model.

Each version comes with either a metal bracelet or an embossed rubber strap (whose pattern echoes the Quai de l’Horloge guilloche of the dial)

The Marine Chronographe 5527

The Marine 5517 represents an overall industry trend toward more formal sport watches. The Marine Chronographe 5527 keeps things more complicated. Here, Breguet adds a flyback chronograph function to the Marine collection.

Image © Breguet

As a Breguet, the Marine Chronographe 5527 still prioritizes balance and logic. The placement of every element on this watch – the chronograph seconds are counted off through a large central hand while the chronograph minutes and small seconds are displayed on counters placed at 3 and 9 o’clock – is meant to enhance legibility and wearability while still maintaining a sense of storytelling.

Like the 5517, the 5527’s dials are hand-decorated with the Quai de l’Horloge guilloche pattern. And depending on the variation, the dials flash different colors that evoke the changing moods of the sea.

Image © Breguet
Image © Breguet

There are three iterations of the Marine Chronographe 5527: two in either 18K white or rose gold with blue dials and a titanium model with a stormy grey face. All share a diameter of 42.3mm, a lug-to-lug length of 50.7, and a thickness of 13.9, and all are powered by Breguet’s flyback chronograph 582QA calibre.

Image © Breguet

This trio also comes with either a rubber strap whose color matches the dial or a bracelet that matches the case’s material.

With all six models now available, you can learn more, including pricing, via the Breguet website.

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