Breguet, a watchmaking brand that was established in Paris, France back in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet himself and is now a part of The Swatch Group, has released a rose gold version of its Marine Royale 5847 collection that features a mechanical alarm system. Soon to come to a boutique near you, the new timekeeper costs almost €30,000 and makes a strange, yet painfully powerful first impression.
Yes, Breguet’s new Marine Royale 5847 is a strange piece of gadgetry.
Well, at least it may strike you as a ‘strange’ one if your idea of a classic dress watch is something compact and elegant, discreet and deceptively unassuming. This one, surprisingly, possesses neither of these virtues. It is massive, it is deliberately brutal, and it surely doesn’t want to be discreet: it wants to make a statement in as firmest and most unambiguous way as practically possible without looking vulgar.
It looks like Rudyard Kipling’s ‘gentleman ranker’: a person of noble origin who, at some point in time, decided to enlist as a private in the British mercenary army of times long gone. He may look rugged and his hands may be dirty and covered with calluses, but it still takes just a single glance to see that the person was born to give orders, not to execute them.
Well, enough poetry. This particular model is a new iteration (or, rather, a spin-off) of the gorgeous Marine 58xx collection that has been further ruggedized following the current trend of ‘supersizing’ dressy timekeepers.
Increasing the original case’s diameter by almost ten percent and adding a unidirectional rotating bezel with luminous markers to the elegant (yet painfully overweight) design of the Marine 58xx series, the revered Manufacture effectively created an amphibious monster that looks stupid on a wet suit and feels funny with a formal suit and a long-sleeve shirt.
On the one ahem hand, being whole 45 millimeters in diameter, the case looks massive thanks to its impressive thickness, intimidating rubber strap, and inserts of the same material on the crowns, and would perhaps ooze mojo from all of its orifices if not being watertight to 10 ATM.
However, on the other hand, the timekeeper comes equipped with an elegant dial decorated with a painstakingly executed guilloche pattern and a set of Roman numerals crafted from rose gold.
The refined hands with luminous dots on them also successfully contribute to a disturbing feeling of cognitive dissonance, which is inflicted by this strange watch.
Yet, from the technical point of view, it is a masterpiece, which is something that you expect from such a well-established brand with hundreds of years of experience behind its back.
The Marine Royale 5847 is powered by Breguet Cal. 519R automatic movement featuring an alarm complication, which is functional both on the ground and underwater.
The alarm is set with a rubber-sheathed second crown at 4 o’clock and is turned on or off with a dedicated push-piece at 8 o’clock.
There is also a small round window at 12 o’clock that displays a “note” sign if the alarm is in the “ON” position and a power reserve indicator at 10 o’clock.
Here is a short video of the Marine Royale 5847 presented in a white gold body:
WWR Verdict
Originality 5/5
Build Quality: 5/5
Usability: 4.5/5
Overall Legibility: 4.5/5
Nighttime Legibility: 3.5/5
Value for Money: 4.5/5
Overall Rating: 5/5
Photos: Breguet
Breguet Marine Royale 5847 specification
Price range: $42,000 (Retail)
Movement: Breguet Caliber 519R, engine-turned 18-karat rose gold rotor, individually numbered and signed, in-house, Swiss Made
Winding: Automatic
Jewels: 36
Balance wheel frequency: 28,800 vph
Complications: Power reserve, date, alarm
Power reserve: 45 hours
Case: Rose gold
Shape: Round
Transparent back: Yes, sapphire crystal
Size: 45.00 mm
Case height: 17.50 mm
Dial: 18K gold with black rhodium finish, hand-guilloched
Hands: Breguet hands, 18-karat gold
Water resistance: 100 meters
Strap: Rubber
Crystal: Sapphire, antireflective