My Pick for the Top Watch Brand of 2025 May Surprise You

A lot of watch brands had big years in 2025. Some, like Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet, were celebrating big anniversaries. Others, such as Rolex and Patek Philippe, decided to kill it just because they can.

But for my money, there is one brand whose 2025 stood head and shoulders above the rest of the industry. And it’s none of those aforementioned heavyweights.

It’s Breguet.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be.

In recent years, Breguet has become a bit of a punching bag in certain corners of watch collectordom. People say that Breguet has lost its way, that the Swatch Group has diluted the brand and should sell it, that their watches don’t hold their value … yada, yada, yada.

Well, someone at Breguet was apparently listening, because the brand celebrated its remarkable 250th anniversary in 2025 by proving it’s still among the best to ever do it — “it” being creating mind-boggingly impressive, complex and elegant watches — with one of the most impressive runs of new models I’ve seen from any brand, ever.

Breguet

Souscriptions and magnets and tourbillons, oh my

Breguet kicked off its 2025 releases with the Classique Souscription 2025, a watch based on a legendary pocket watch designed by the brand’s founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, in the 18th century.

Beautiful in its simplicity with its single hand and white enamel dial, the ostensibly old-school watch was surprisingly forward-thinking. It debuted a new proprietary gold alloy called Breguet Gold — a gorgeous shade somewhere between pink and yellow gold — that would continue to be featured in the cases and movements of new models throughout the year. And it established an entirely new, more contemporary case design that was curvier, sleeker and sexier than what we’re used to seeing from the brand.

The industry took notice, with the Classique Souscription 2025 taking home the top prize at this year’s GPHG Awards, AKA the Oscars of Watchmaking (the watch also earned a spot in Gear Patrol’s GP100 for 2025).

Breguet

GP100 Winner

Breguet Classique Souscription 2025

Specs

Case Size	40mm
Movement	Breguet Cal. VS00 manual-wind
Water Resistance	30m

• $59,400 at Breguet

But as it turns out, Breguet was just getting started.

The brand followed up the Classique Souscription with an inspired take on the closest thing Breguet has to a flagship model, the openworked Tradition, with a new version in full Breguet Gold with a hand-guillochéd, blue grand feu enamel dial and a rare retrograde seconds complication.

Next came a pair of Type XX Chronographs, the brand’s mid-century pilot’s watch icon, both in Breguet Gold. Perfectly vintage-coded, these two beauties — one with a black aluminum dial, the other with a vertically brushed dial in solid silver — were extremely well received, and arguably stand as the best modern examples of the Type XX I’ve seen.

Breguet

That same month (we’re only in June, at this point) saw my personal favorite release of the year, the Tourbillon Sidéral 7255. Executed in Breguet Gold (are we sensing a theme here?), this stone-cold stunner marked two big firsts for the brand.

It’s Breguet’s first aventurine dial and the first time the brand — whose founder invented the tourbillon — created a flying tourbillon. The combination of the seemingly floating tourbillon combined with the starry dial encased in gorgeous Breguet Gold is just impossibly stunning and magical. I love it.

Breguet

Breguet normally releases just five or six new watches per year. This year, the brand doubled its creative output to a cool dozen.

We got incredible new versions in the ladies’ Queen of Naples line, a lumed-up Marine Hora Mundi worldtimer featuring an phosphorescent emamel dial depicting a map of the world, Breguet’s first water-resistant minute repeater, pocket watch-inspired showstoppers with hand-guillochéd Breguet Gold dials … there are simply too many incredible watches to discuss at lenth here.

Breguet

Breguet Marine Hora Mundi 5555

Specs

Case Size	43.9mm
Movement	Breguet Cal. 77F1 automatic worldtimer
Water Resistance	100m

• $104,700 at Breguet

But I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Breguet’s final release of 2025, the mind-boggling Expérimentale 1. The watch’s radical, angular, hyper-modern design is one thing — this ain’t your great-grandfather’s Breguet — but where it truly impresses is with its movement.

A 10Hz tourbillon paired with a newly invented and patented magnetic constant-force escapement that replaces the Swiss lever escapement found in virtually all other mechanical watches, the Expérimentale 1 boasts an accuracy of +/-1 second per day — the best of any mechanical watch — and does so at a gravity-negating mega-high beat rate and without any friction.

Breguet

Breguet Expérimentale 1

Specs

Case Size	43.5mm
Movement	Breguet Cal. 7250 manual-wind tourbillon
Water Resistance	100m

• $398,000 at Breguet

It’s a remarkable feat of engineering and ingenuity that capped off an astounding year for Breguet during which the brand reminded everyone that it’s still just as capable of world-changing horological innovation as it was when Abraham-Louis Breguet was inventing the tourbillon and other mainstay watch components over two centuries ago.

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