WHEN A HEART BEATS…
Love, in every shape and form or how to express what a heart experiences when it falls in love on a watch dial is the task which Breguet set itself with its sublimely-feminine reine de Naples.
When it comes to expressing our emotions, our feelings, most of us find it pretty hard. Finding the right words, getting over our shyness, conquering our fear of being misunderstood or, worse still, rejected. Breguet, however, has found the most poetic way ever to declare undying love discreetly, elegantly by depicting it on the face of the most feminine watch in the world: its Reine de Naples Cœur limited edition. This lyrical and fine-engineering musing boasts four patents to protect this totally one-of-a-kind mechanism which breathes life into a hand designed like a heart whose shape changes as time passes by.
The translucent, white-lacquered-backdropped sapphire-crystal dial embraces an extended golden minute hand comprising two curvaceous arms which link together to create a small garnet-hued heart. These two limbs expand or contract as they make their way around the oval dial in time to a speed determined by an ingenious mechanism included in the automatic 78A0 caliber and which has been patented by Breguet. This subtle arm movement is split into three periods (0 to 20, 20 to 40 and 40 to 60 minutes).
A fan-shaped opening, encircled by a painted minute tracker whose quarter hours are highlighted with a burgundy glow, displays the dragging hour indicated by a droplet also featuring red. Delicate endearment is subtly veiled within details, miniscule hearts which reign supreme every five minutes around the flange.
The rose gold case strewn with 128 diamonds and set off with a ruby cabochon on the crown at 4 o’clock wraps round the wrist with a carmine-colored alligator strap attached by a stone-set folding clasp.
Price: CHF45,000 breguet.com
By Sharmila Bertin