Wristwatches · Wristwatch
Breguet Type 20, 1976
- Maker / attribution
- Breguet (maker)
- Date
- 1976
- Historical period
- Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Object type
- Wristwatch
- Dimensions
- Case 40.7 mm
- Stock no.
- Product 11145912972
- Credit line
- Dealer listing, S.Song Watches (product 11145912972)
- Catalogue title (original)
- Breguet Type 20 (English)
View the source record (dealer listing) ↗ (opens another website in a new tab)Suggest a correction
Record summary
Catalogued by S.Song Watches (dealer), Seattle (stock number Product 11145912972), this is a wristwatch by Breguet, made in Switzerland, dated 1976. The Atlas places it in the Quartz Revolution period (1969 – 1990) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: Case 40.7 mm. The record is illustrated with 6 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Dealer description — S.Song Watches
Breguet has had a relationship with aviation for more than 100 years, supplying watches to both civilian and the military, and at the centre of it all is their flagship, the Type 20. This example is known as the ‘Second Generation’ Type 20, first released in the 70’s and featured a completely new design to its predecessor. With a larger 40.7mm case with thick square lugs and a black anodised bezel, it was quintessentially 70’s in it’s styling. Initially intended to be used by the French Air Force, it was deemed too expensive and thus it was only sold to civilians. Through my correspondence with Emmanuel Breguet from the Breguet archives, he confirmed with me that this Breguet Type 20 was completed in 1976 and sold in 1977. While we are all more familiar with the earlier first generation, steel bezel Type 20, the second generation is one rare bird. With its characteristically ‘Big Eye’ dial layout, where the right subdial is larger than the left, along with its leaf shape minute counter hand and flyback chronograph movement, this is unmistakably Breguet in it’s DNA. I do feel these are somewhat under the radar, partly due to its rarity and the fact that Breguet on the whole didn’t make too many watches. That being said, there is a certain air of rarefied taste in wearing a vintage Breguet- understated, yet to those who know, it is something special.
Historical context
Quartz Revolution (1969 – 1990)
Seiko's Astron begins mass quartz timekeeping; traditional industries contract sharply.
Quartz and digital watches transformed the market after 1969. Swiss employment collapsed, Japanese and Hong Kong production soared, and the Swatch (1983) helped the Swiss industry recover; mechanical watches survived as luxury goods.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Modern Mechanical Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
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