The Type XX collection is based on two historical pillars of Breguet, two branches that have intertwined over time: Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), the peerless master clockmaker who founded a workshop in Paris in 1775 and transformed the science of timekeeping, and Louis Breguet (1880-1955), the revolutionary aircraft designer and great-great-grandson of the former, who built aircrafts that contributed to the victory of 1918.
Originally, before becoming an indispensable chronograph for navigators in the skies, the Type XX was an administrative code name determined by the French Air Force. When the latter issued a call for tenders in 1953 to design a flight instrument to be worn on the wrist, Breguet’s two areas of expertise came together: the company’s past as an aircraft manufacturer joined with its age-old watchmaking expertise to build a watch to very precise specifications: a sturdy timepiece that could withstand extreme conditions, measured at least 38mm in diameter, with a dark dial featuring luminescent numerals and hands to capture time information even in the dark, and equipped with a flyback chronograph function, a complex system mastered by Breguet. In 1954, after numerous tests, the company’s watch was chosen by the French Air Force, which ordered 1,100 examples, followed by the French Naval Aviation which bought 500 pieces. Each model had its own particularities to suit the needs and uses of these two military entities.
