Type Casting: Comparing The Breguet Type XX And Type XXI Chronographs

December 02, 2015

The Type XX and Type XXI chronographs dont seem to get quite as much attention as you would think theyd get, at least in the USA, where the world of pilots chronographs skews much more heavily towards companies like IWC, Omega, and Breitling. Maybe part of the reason for that is that when you think of tool watches, you might think of an awful lot of companies but Breguet just isnt one of them C tourbillons, certainly, and a history of making aesthetically irreproachable, often complicated, and very elegant watches from the end of the 18th century right down until the present day, but not tool watches as such. And yet, aviation is perhaps just as important a part of the Breguet familys history as watchmaking, with the Type XX and XXI chronographs representing one of the most important aspects of the inventiveness that characterized Abraham Louis Breguet and his descendants. Breguet Type XX "Aeronavale" Breguet Type XXI "Transatlantique" Lets go back a bit. A. L. Breguet passed away in 1823, leaving the business in the hands of first, Louis-Antoine Breguet, and then Louis Francois Clement Breguet. The latter was at least as inventive as his illustrious grandfather; a pioneer in telegraphy, he was responsible for expanding the companys production to include scientific instruments, at one point overseeing the manufacture of an apparatus that allowed the speed of light to be accurately measured (and hes one of the 72 French scientists whose names are written around the base of the Eiffel Tower). ?His grandson, Louis Charles, was not involved in the family watchmaking business at all (operation of the company having been handed over to the English watchmaker Henry Brown in the early 1900s) but he was one of the great figures of the early history of aviation. Founder of Breguet Aviation, his work spanned many decades, beginning with the gyroplanes in 1907, and then the Breguet Type I in 1909, and going on through both World Wars up until the company merged with Dassault in 1971. ? Breguet Type XX The number of important aviators and flights associated with Breguet Aviation are enormous but just two of them are Antoine St.-Exupery, who flew a Type XIV on the Toulouse-Casablanca-Dakar mail route that inspired The Little Prince, and the first reverse Lindbergh flight (transatlantic, no refueling, Paris to New York) by Costes and Bellonte, in 1930, in a Breguet Type XIX. Breguet Type XIV in flight So thats a snapshot of Breguets history in aviation; but what about the Type XX chronograph? The original Type XX and Type XXI watches were made in the 1950s, and the type was not a model produced by any one company, but rather, a military procurement specification from the French government. The specification was for a wristwatch chronograph meant to be used for aviation and for aerial navigation and the single most important feature called for in the specification was the retour-en-vol or flyback function. A flyback chronograph is one in which you can press the reset button while the chronograph is running, which will cause the chronograph to instantly reset to zero, and then begin running immediately without the user needing to press restart. This is a very useful function for aviators who are navigating by dead reckoning, allow the legs of a plotted course to be timed with the greatest possible accuracy (the time lost by using a conventional reset and restart might seem seem minimal, but bear in mind that an aircraft is moving at hundreds of miles an hour, and the accumulated error can result in the plotted position being considerably off). Breguet was not the only maker of Type XX/XXI watches (there were a number of other contractors) but its probably the best known maker, and the Type XX and XXI chronographs are today not only the most affordable Breguets, but also a really interesting alternative if youre looking for an aviation chronograph with an in-house movement. Now lets take a look at the watches themselves. The Type XX is the vintage enthusiasts obvious choice. In production since Breguet re-started production of the model in 1995, this is a 39mm self-winding, flyback chronograph with a pretty interesting movement: its the Breguet caliber 582, which started its life as the Lemania caliber 1350 but with the addition of a flyback function. There is what I think is a pretty characteristically French feel to it C despite its being nominally a tool watch, it still has quite a lot of somewhat subdued but definitely present elegance as well. The mirror polished bezel and curvilinear form of the hands, as well as the really attractive, serif Arabic numerals, give the watch just a bit of an archaic flavor, which, in combination with the case size, make the Type XX feel as if it popped onto your wrist straight out of a time machine from the 1950s. I would have expected the Type XXI to be, at least for a vintage/retro-watch design fan like myself (and a lot of HODINKEE readers) to be the clear second choice. In reality though, its not quite so clear-cut a decision once you have both watches in hand, and on the wrist. The Type XXI is slightly larger, at 42 mm and the case isnt steel (the material chosen for the Type XX) but rather, titanium, which makes the watch wear very comfortably. Like the Type XX, this is a self-winding, flyback chronograph, however the set-up is different: Type XXI has both a central minute and a central chronograph seconds hand (the movement is the Manufacture Breguet/Nouvelle Lemania 584Q) ?with a day/night indicator (24 hour hand) and date. ? The bezel is black with contrasting raised Arabics, and while the Type XX gives up nothing to the XXI in beauty, theres no doubt that the bezel on Type XXI is quite a bit more legible. The dial has rather more depth as well, thanks to the stepped dial center and recessed sub-dials, and in general, Type XXI very pleasantly surprised me by feeling very connected to the world of aviation (seen through a French lens) while, at the same time, like a very contemporary watch. So often, with updated versions of classics, the update merely succeeds in making you more nostalgic for the original but thats actually not the case here. Which one would I pick if I had to choose? Tougher call than Id have thought. Ultimately, pricing aside (the Type XX is the less expensive of the two by a couple of thousand bucks) I think Id still be more won over by the austere charms of the Type XX, but that date, and the very cool co-axial minute/seconds hands on the XXI (as well as the more legible bezel) go a long way towards keeping it in the running. I dont think you can really lose with either one of these, despite the fact that the nostalgist in me finds the Type XX ultimately the most irresistible of the two. These watches are a bit of a niche product for Breguet, whose center of gravity understandably is in its complicated watches, dress watches, and, of course tourbillons. But if you are in the market for a watch with some real aviation heritage behind it thats just a little different from the usual suspects, you should definitely take a look at these two. Call them the thinking mans tool watches. The Breguet Type XX retails as shown, for $9,500. The Type XXI, as shown, $12,800. Read more about both at Breguet.com. Shop this story Visit Hodinkee affiliate Crown & Caliber to shop pre-owned Breguet models.