With its rich aviation connections in the 20th century, Breguet launched the Type XX product family. More recently, Breguet produced what I believe are the most beautiful-looking luxury aviation-style chronographs, with the more modern-generation Type XX (and Type XXI) products. Now, the Type XX name is solidly back, with an interesting assortment of watches that begin with a newer automatic mechanical chronograph movement developed by Breguet. This reference 2067RK/Y9/9WU Breguet Type XX is my favorite of Breguet’s new crop of Type XX aviation-inspired watches that relaunched in 2023. That said, this is a higher luxury model that will likely be followed up with (slightly) less expensive variants in the near future that don’t feature gold cases. While Breguet uses the Type XX moniker to refer to these watches, the reality is that Type XX is a model category as opposed to any one specific watch. The various newer-generation Type XX watches are different in a number of ways, so a closer inspection regarding the details of each is important to understand which version could be ideal for you.
The watch features the in-house made Caliber 728, which now allows Breguet to have similar technology as sister brand Blancpain when it comes to a high-performance chronograph mechanism. The Caliber 728 is a beautifully over-engineered system, comprised of 350 parts and operating at 5Hz with 60 hours of power reserve. Immense focus went into the operation of the flyback chronograph system, which is a delight to operate. The dial has a full 12-hour display (though there are two-register Type XX models available as well), a date window, and of course the time. The watch is equipped with a silicon balance spring for maintaining accuracy. You can admire the movement through the sapphire crystal caseback window.
What Breguet introduces here (for the first time, apparently) is ceramic as a material in a Type XX timepiece. This is hardly revolutionary, as much of the watch industry now relies on scratch-resistant high-grade ceramic for many components, including the bezel as it is used here. That said, the blue ceramic, bi-directional 12-hour second-time zone bezel insert is beautiful and really does modernize the look and feel of the classically-inspired Type XX’s personality.
For the case material, Breguet opts for 18k rose gold, which is as beautiful as it is pricey. The case is 42mm wide and 14.1mm thick (the movement is thick but, again, designed to be a real performer). The case has a domed AR-coated sapphire crystal over the dial and is water-resistant to 100 meters. In furtherance of the sporty, yet high-end personality, Breguet includes a blue alligator strap and a blue and white NATO-style strap with the reference 2067RK (2067RK/Y9/9WU) Type XX.
Compared to some of the other newer-generation Type XX watches, this model has a dial with more visual depth. That was actually one of our complaints about the simpler, modern Type XX watches (that the dials appeared too flat). To remedy this, Breguet returns to the use of applied metal hour markers (with luminous paint), as well as an applied Breguet logo. That, along with the slightly recessed subdials, allows for a much better-looking dial display, in my opinion. Again, my suspicion is that Breguet will carry on this particular “deep-dial style” with future versions of the Type XX, which not necessarily be in gold. I think an all-titanium (with a matching bracelet) version of this watch would do rather well.
Gold and blue are a beautiful color combination together, and if you are in the market for a luxury sports-style watch with classic elegance, this new Breguet Type XX 2067RK is a very solid choice, especially if you like modern movements as I do. Price for the Breguet Type XX reference 2067RK/Y9/9WU is $37,900 USD. Learn more at the Breguet website.
