The short answer
A replica Breguet copies the look of a complication. Most do not copy the function. Working tourbillons exist in the replica market from Chinese movement makers such as Seagull and Hangzhou. Perpetual calendars, minute repeaters and equation of time complications do not exist in replicas at scale. A listing that claims a minute repeater for a few hundred dollars is false.
Complications Breguet builds
- Tourbillon, one cage rotation per minute. Tradition 7047 adds a fusee and chain.
- Perpetual calendar with date, day, month and moonphase. Classique 5327 is one example.
- Minute repeater, listed in the Classique line.
- Chronograph with column wheel and flyback. Type XX is the best known.
- Equation of time, seen in historical pocket watches such as the Marie-Antoinette.
Check the calendar
Watch the date change at the end of a 30 day month. A perpetual calendar jumps from 30 to 1 with no input and needs no correction until 2100. A replica with a complete calendar module needs a pusher press at every short month. Many replica perpetual calendars hide those pushers on the case side at 8, 9 and 10 o'clock. The pushers are the tell.
Check the tourbillon
Time one rotation of the cage with a stopwatch. A real tourbillon cage turns once in 60 seconds. Some replicas use a balance wheel with a decorative plate that turns at a different rate. On most tourbillons the seconds hand sits on the cage. If a hand at 6 o'clock runs from the balance bridge and the cage does not move, the part is decoration.
Check the moonphase
A moonphase disc completes a cycle in 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes. A day and night disc completes a turn in 24 hours. Note the position, wait 24 hours, then look again. A full turn means day and night, not moonphase. Sellers still label it a moonphase.
Check the chronograph
Start the chronograph and watch the seconds hand. A mechanical chronograph sweeps at 5 to 8 beats per second. A quartz movement ticks once per second. A quartz chronograph also resets with a jerk and the pushers feel flat. Genuine Breguet Type XX uses a column wheel and flyback. Replicas often use a Seagull ST19, a hand wound column wheel movement that does work.
Case, weight and metal
Breguet cases are 18k gold or platinum on most references. A 38 mm gold case on a leather strap weighs about 75 g to 100 g. A steel replica of the same size can weigh more than the gold watch, so weight alone proves nothing. Look for hallmarks inside the caseback and a case number that matches the movement number.
Dial and finish
Breguet Classique dials use hand turned guilloché cut on a rose engine. Replicas use stamped or printed patterns. Under a loupe the replica lines show shallow cuts and a stamp seam. Breguet hands are blued steel with a hollow eccentric moon tip. Replica hands are painted or have a solid tip. Breguet hides its signature in the guilloché on some models. The location changes by reference. Ask for a dial photo at that spot.
Movement markings
Genuine Breguet movements carry the Breguet name, a calibre number and a serial. Breguet calibres include 591A, 502.3 and 777Q. A replica movement carries a generic stamp or none, and independent watchmakers may refuse to service it. Ask for a photo of the balance bridge and the rotor edge.
Questions to ask before you buy
- Does the date change from 30 to 1 with no pusher?
- Does the tourbillon cage turn once in 60 seconds?
- Does the moonphase disc take 24 hours or 29 days for one full turn?
- Does the chronograph hand sweep or tick?
- Is the caseback marked 750, 950 or steel?
- Does the case number match the movement number?
Breguet publishes calibre and case data for each reference on its own site. Match the reference number to that data. If a seller cannot answer the six questions above, the complication is a display copy.