The launch of the Type XX and Type 20 chronograph pairing, the 4th generation of a watch developed in 1954 for the French Air Force, which took place in Paris in June 2023, was accompanied by the introduction of a powerful high-frequency (5hz, or 36,000 vibrations per hour) automatic flyback chronograph movement developed exclusively by Breguet for this collection of timepieces.
After some 4 years of development, the Type XX calibre 728 reference 2067 sets the course for a new mechanical era. Featuring a silicon balance-spring, lugs and escape-wheel assembly, this sturdy and reliable heart, assembled using 350 components, carries a vertical clutch mechanism coupled to a black-tinted column wheel and an efficient barrel that delivers a 60-hour power reserve. On the dial side, it drives the current hours and minutes, the small seconds at 9 o’clock, the date at 4:30 and, of course, the information relating to the measurement of short times, i.e. the central second hand that powers the oversized 15-minute totalizer between 2 and 4 o’clock and the hour totalizer at 6 o’clock. A variant of this new engine, the caliber 7281 fitted to the Type 20 reference 2057, the “military” version, is also equipped with a monoplane-shaped oscillating weight, giving rhythm to the ballet of hours and minutes, off-center seconds at 6 o’clock, the date, and a minute counter, this time set to 30, swept by a small leaf-style hand at 3 o’clock.
