Buying, Selling, & Collecting Surveying The Last 25 Years Of Pilot's Watches At Breguet

That's what happened to the Breguet Type XX (and XXI, and XXII) over the past decade. The Swiss company got an early start in the 21st-century chronograph race, reviving what is arguably the most famous pilot's chronograph of the 20th century in the mid-1990s and sticking with it ever since. But for some reason or another, the Type XX family has struggled to retain the same level of enthusiasm for watch collectors that it initially enjoyed in the late '90s.

The Type XX/XXI/XXII series fascinates me. The history is lovely and the watches themselves are beautiful. But more importantly, it's just so unlike anything else Breguet produces – even the sporty Marine has an entirely different vibe. That's why I think it's quite unfortunate that new from the Type XX front has been fairly quiet recently.

Sure, there've been sporadic updates, including a pair of colorful Type XXIs released just last year, as well as some critically acclaimed unique pieces for the biennial Only Watch charity auction (see here and here). Yet, it's hard to shake the feeling that the collection has been on Breguet's back burner since the Type XXII debuted in 2010.

I want to take a moment to look back at the evolution of the Type XX/XXI since its mid-1990s revival. It might provide some clarity on where exactly this collection has been – and where, pray tell, it might be headed.

I'm focusing on the modern and contemporary pilot's watches produced by Breguet within the Type XX, XXI, and XXII lines, so I won't be doing a deep dive on the history of the Type 20 military specification, or on the greater history of Breguet in aviation. Jack touches on all of that quite a bit in this 2015 piece, so I recommend giving that story a quick read if you're unfamiliar with the historic relevance of Breguet in aviation and the influence of vintage Type 20 wristwatches.

Although I won't delve too much into the history of it all, there are a few things we should clear up in advance before diving into all the various references Breguet has produced since the mid-1990s.

The name Type XX, on the other hand, solely refers to civilian-grade versions of the Type 20 design language; those include 99 percent of the watches that Breguet has produced under its pilots' chronograph banner since it was brought back in 1995.

It's also worth noting that Breguet produced an original Type XXI wristwatch in the 1970s, but it has little to nothing to do with the brand's current Type XXI. The first XXII wristwatch that I'm aware of was produced in 2010.

Based on the original specification sheets, modern-day Type XX and Type XXI watches are all flyback chronographs and typically feature retour-en-vol, or "fly back" in script on the dial. Most of the chronograph movements Breguet uses in the collection today were originally developed by Lemania, which Breguet acquired in 1992, a few years prior to bringing its signature pilot watch line back. 

All right, that's enough of a history lesson to understand a bit of the background, as well as the inherent differences that separate the Type XX, XXI, and XXII lines. Now let's go back to the beginning to better understand how Breguet's aviation-inspired chronograph has evolved to its current position.

The Type XX 3800 evolved the original Type XX design language. It increased the diameter from 38mm to 39mm, plus it brought in decorative effects like the now-characteristic coin-edge fluting on the caseband and a polished bezel. The watch also featured the self-winding Breguet caliber 582, based on the Lemania 1350, outfitted with an in-house flyback module, rather than a manual-wind movement like past examples. It retained the original's flyback functionality and bidirectional bezel (a few early examples have been reported with unidirectional bezels), and it had a conventional white-on-black matte dial for easy legibility. Early examples of the reference featured tritium lume and a gold-capped crown. 

Breguet soon followed the success of the stainless steel watch with the ref. 3800BA, a run of 150 pieces in yellow gold with a black dial, and the 3800BR, in rose gold with a blue dial. The latter is, in my opinion, one of the most attractive and resplendent orientations in the Type XX family to date.

The 3800PT was another little-known release from this period, from the first or second year of the model's production; it was a platinum Type XX with a black dial, limited to 100 total pieces.

The only non-chronograph Type XX of the post-1995 era that I'm aware of was also released in 1998. The Type XX ​3860 Réveil was an alarm watch that was highly limited in production and featured the same case as the Transatlantique, available in either stainless steel or gold. I think this makes an awesome non-chronograph, non-Marine alternative for anyone interested in a sport watch from Breguet.

Breguet jumped headfirst into an experimental phase at this point. A watch known as the Aeronavale 3807 was limited to approximately 1,500 pieces and came with a polished bezel and bracelet, a glossy dark blue cobalt dial, and the first application of an exhibition caseback in the Type XX family. Simple and beautiful, in stainless steel.

Other offbeat releases from around this period included a Transatlantique 3820 in titanium with a black carbon fiber dial, a platinum-cased Transatlantique 3820 with a blue dial, and a run of solid-gold Transatlantique 3820s in yellow (BA), white (BB), or rose gold (BR), with deep blue, black, or white dials. The white gold, white dial combination offers a particularly unexpected look for the traditional mil-spec-inspired chronograph.

Breguet also released the ref. 4820 in the same early-2000s period, a smaller Type XX Transatlantique with a 33.5mm diameter and targeted toward female watch collectors. The little-known ref. 4821 was a Type XX outfitted with a mother-of-pearl dial and a diamond-set bezel.

The Type XXI used a titanium case, in a larger 42mm diameter. Interestingly, the watch's flyback chronograph functionality now utilized a centrally mounted co-axial seconds and minute hand to track elapsed time, with the addition of 24-hour hand operating as an AM/PM indication. 

There were a few other design quibbles if you compare the first iterations of the modern Type XX and Type XXI side-by-side, including a stepped dial and recessed sub-dials on the Type XXI, compared to the relatively flat dial on the Type XX 3800. The first 3810 design featured a brown dial and a titanium case, but it was soon followed by an attractive, warm rose gold case to complement the brown dial.

Around the same time that Breguet was experimenting with the new Type XXI, it released a limited edition of 90 pieces in the Type XX with date. The 3827PT was cased in platinum and featured a gorgeous salmon dial and an exhibition caseback. This is my personal favorite Type XX/XXI that's been released to date. A Christie's Online Sale auctioned off an example this past December, and I won't lie to you – I was watching it closely, even though it quickly sailed outside my price bracket.

One of the results of the freakishly fast operating speed was that the chronograph hand would actually make a complete rotation around the dial once every 30 seconds, or twice per minute, when engaged, instead of a single 60-second rotation. The higher frequency also allows for greater accuracy when measuring elapsed time, an attribute that Breguet emphasized by using alternating red and white dashes on the dial's rehaut. Somehow, Breguet was able to squeeze a second time-zone display onto the dial, as well.

After the watch debuted as a prototype during Baselworld 2010, it returned in 2011 as a production model inside of a stocky 44mm stainless steel case with a black dial. Two years later, Breguet added a rose gold alternative, with a brown dial, on either a matching gold bracelet or strap. Since then, we've heard next to nothing about the Type XXII, although some of the technology used in its development can clearly be found in 2014's Aiguille d'Or-winning Classique Chronométrie 7727.

It's a bit ironic that at the same time Breguet was using the Type XX family as a catalyst for technical innovation, the company also introduced one of its most attractive and classically learning takes on the Type XX platform. In honor of the 100th anniversary of the French Aeronavale, Breguet released the Type XX ref. 3803ST, a 1,000-piece limited edition in the Type XX's signature 39mm stainless steel case. It featured a black-lacquered rotating bezel with raised numerals and a solid caseback engraved with the official centenary emblem for French Naval Aviation.

In the late 2010s, Breguet discontinued its original modern pilot's chronograph, the Type XX. The no-date 3800 line was officially killed off in 2018, while the Transatlantique 3820 models ceased production in 2020. The most recent news to come from the Type XX- series as a whole, however, took place just last year, with a pair of limited-edition Type XXIs cased in grade-5 titanium, with a pick-your-poison choice of green (3815TI/HM/3ZU) or orange (3815TI/HO/3ZU) lume.

This oddball twosome came out of thin air in 2021 – I'm not quite sure anyone expected the quintessential mid-century pilot's chronograph to be jazzed up with such an off-kilter choice of colorful lume. While the luminescent material was certainly a distraction, Breguet pulled off a pretty neat trick here, streamlining the displays on the dial to turn the Type XXI into a two-register chronograph, by removing the 12-hour counter and maintaining the "big eye" day/night indicator and running seconds, at three and nine o'clock. Of course, the co-axial central chronograph hands for seconds and minutes remain ready for action, like always.

Cased in platinum, the Type XXI 3813 Only Watch 2015 had a warm grey dial that complemented the case metal. The design of this Only Watch model would go on to influence the aesthetic of the Type XXI 3817, which debuted the following year, in 2016. The Breguet Type XXI 3813 eventually sold for CHF 90,000.

Breguet returned to its pilot's watch line for the 2019 edition of Only Watch, but instead of featuring a Type XX, Breguet opted to reissue a first-generation, military-issued vintage Type 20 wristwatch – that means a two-register dial with same-size sub-dials, an onion crown, Arabic numerals, and a 38.3mm stainless steel case. Inside the watch was a manual Valjoux 23 flyback chronograph movement, an updated version of what would have appeared in an original example; the dial was even deliberately aged to achieve a soft brass/brown tone. Interest picked up, and it sold for CHF 210,000.

And just last year, during November's Only Watch 2021 sale in Geneva, Breguet once again turned to its vintage archive – opting to create a new interpretation of a vintage Type XX chronograph, complete with a 38.3mm stainless steel case, a "big eye" sub-dial at three o'clock, and a graduated bidirectional 12-hour bezel. Although not a precise reissue of an existing vintage reference, it appeared to be exciting enough – the Type XX Only Watch 2021 eventually sold for CHF 250,000.

I think it is. A similar question was posed 15 years ago at Blancpain, Breguet's premium Swatch Group sibling. Blancpain went decades without releasing a Fifty Fathoms dive watch, arguably the company's biggest historical claim to fame, before reintroducing the line into serial production in 2007. And now, it's clear that more people than ever before own one or at least are able to appreciate the merit and historical influence of the collection.

I'd love to see Breguet's Type XX achieve a similar level of categorical fluency – and soon.

Lead image, Christie's