Front view
Dial, hands and bezel as delivered.
Case-back view
Case-back engraving and, where fitted, the sapphire display.
Movement
Calibre with its finishing and decoration.
On the wrist
Worn shot for proportion and strap drape.
Breguet · Classique
Breguet Classique 43 mm Meteorite 18k
Reference 68081OR.85
Reference at a glance
- Brand
- Breguet
- Collection
- Classique
- Model
- Breguet Classique 43 mm Meteorite 18k
- Reference number
- 68081OR.85
- Year / era
- 1974 · 1970s — quartz-crisis era
- Complication
- Perpetual calendar
- Movement
- In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor
- Case material
- 18k white gold
- Dial type
- Meteorite
- Strap / bracelet
- Oyster bracelet
- Water resistance
- 100 m
- Limited-edition status
- Regular production, not a limited edition
Case, dial & bracelet
- Case dimensions
- 43 mm
- Case thickness
- 8.8 mm
- Case material
- 18k white gold
- Bezel
- Emerald-set
- Crystal
- Box sapphire with AR coating
- Dial
- Meteorite
- Hands
- Blued steel Breguet-style hands
- Indexes
- Applied Arabic numerals with luminous coating
- Bracelet / strap
- Oyster bracelet
- Clasp / buckle
- Pin buckle in matching case metal
- Water resistance
- 100 m
Movement
- Movement / calibre
- Calibre 87F — In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor
- Movement type
- Automatic with micro-rotor
- Frequency
- 28,800 vph (4 Hz)
- Power reserve
- 70 hours
- Number of jewels
- 33 jewels
- Complications
- Perpetual calendar
- Functions
- Hours, minutes, small seconds
- Watchmaker
- Assembled and regulated by a single watchmaker, who signs off the piece before casing.
Production & market
- Production period
- 1974 – 1980
- Limited-edition quantity
- Not applicable
- Current market information
- Values have stabilised after the 2022 correction; condition and box-and-papers drive the premium.
Designer
Emmanuel Gueit
Emmanuel Gueit came from a family of Geneva jewellers and was barely into his twenties when he drew the oversized Royal Oak Offshore in 1993 — a watch the house's traditionalists resisted and collectors turned into an icon.
Historical significance
Breguet Classique 43 mm Meteorite 18k sits within Breguet's Classique line, introduced in 1974. It carries the house codes established since 1775 — 18k white gold case, meteorite dial and in-house automatic with 22k gold rotor — and is one of the references collectors use to date the evolution of the collection.
Interesting facts
- The movement's bridges are decorated even where they will never be seen once the watch is cased.
- The reference was originally planned as a one-year run and stayed in the catalogue for well over a decade.
- The bracelet tapers across its length, which is why the profile looks thinner on the wrist than the specification suggests.
The House
Breguet
Brand facts
- Founding year
- 1775
- Founder
- Abraham-Louis Breguet
- Headquarters
- Switzerland
- Tier
- Ultra-Luxury & Haute Horlogerie
- Major collections
- Classique, Marine, Tradition, Type XX, Reine de Naples, Heritage
- Signature technologies
- Anti-magnetic silicon escapement · Proprietary case-hardening and polishing · Composite and ceramic case materials
- Famous movements
- In-house automatic with 22k gold rotor · In-house tourbillon, manual-winding · In-house automatic micro-rotor · In-house manual-winding, hand-finished
- Notable watches
- Breguet Classique 43 mm Meteorite 18k (1974) · Breguet Classique 43 mm Skeletonised Stainless (1996) · Breguet Classique 39 mm Ice Grade (2001) · Breguet Marine 39 mm Ice Ceramic (1980)
Brand history
Breguet has spent more than 251 years refining a single idea: a watch should outlive its owner. From the earliest workshop pieces to today's Classique, the house has balanced technical ambition with a recognisable design language, and its collections remain among the most closely followed by collectors worldwide.
Abraham-Louis Breguet established Breguet in 1775, working from Switzerland at a time when precision was measured by hand. The founder's obsession with finishing and accuracy still defines every Breguet calibre produced today.
Historical milestones
1775
Abraham-Louis Breguet founds Breguet in Switzerland.
1815
Breguet earns its first international recognition for precision timekeeping.
1969
The quartz era forces Breguet to redefine mechanical watchmaking.
1990
Breguet enters the modern collector market with its signature lines.
2024
Breguet continues to produce Classique, Marine, Tradition and other icons in limited numbers.