Say hello to Breguet’s newest Classique Chronograph, an update on a classic… with a twist. The new ref. 5287 is built on a solid and historic movement. Something about the watch got me thinking… So pardon our little tangent. OK, so there are two very contradictory types of feedback that we get on aBlogtoWatch. Well, I lied. We get many different types of feedback but I am about to refer two in particular. Some people fault us for covering so much “weird” stuff they don’t want to buy. Other people praise us for covering such a variety of watches in terms of design as well as price point. No, you can’t make everyone happy, but this type of feedback does make me stop and ponder people’s sentiments a bit.

While you can’t please everyone it is important to consider how people react to content, and more importantly, why it is that I choose what we cover. While we have an impressive roster of very talented writers (each of whom I am very proud to have at aBlogtoWatch), I ultimately decide the watches we cover. So how do I make these decisions and why? I think it really goes back to what I want to be reading myself. Yes, just like all watch lovers I make very picky, sometimes conservative purchase decisions. But to be honest I have little interest in only reading about those things that I can strictly afford or would buy as a prudent investment. I like to pretend I am in a world where watches don’t cost me anything and I can consider wearing, if even for just one day, a remarkably avant garde creation that is by many accounts just plain “weird,” and possibly impossibly extravagantly priced. aBlogtoWatch is about covering all the products you want to know exist and perhaps play with the notion of wearing on your wrist. At the same time we make it a priority to include all the stuff you’d buy if you are “most people.” The trick is that we aren’t going to tell you which is which. That is a very personal decision you have to make on your own. Though we try to give you the right tools to make such decisions.

So how does any of that fit into the Breguet Classique Chronograph ref. 5287 watch? A timepiece from an illustrious brand with the type of history and prestige your grandmother would easily approve of. Is this one of those prudent investment watches and not one of the weird ones? Yeah, it probably is, but that isn’t why it inspired the above thoughts. I am clearly someone who enjoys strange and less common watches, but I do quite love Breguet. This perhaps isn’t the piece I would own above all others, but it is both prudent and anything but boring – so it seems to fit into both camps equally. Anyhow, what is the new for 2013 5287 watch all about?

At 42.5mm wide, this is larger than most Breguet Classique collection watches which average maybe 39mm wide or less. In fact, the 5287 is a larger and more distinctive version of the Breguet 5247 collection. Each of those watches was 39mm wide, and included the same movement. I think the last 5247 watch was the version with an enamel dial. Most all of them featured a retro-style snailed tachymeter scale. Those are neat, but I prefer the scale on the 5287, which is beautifully subtle.