Breguet Type XXII 3880
Breguet Type XXII 3880
© Breguet
Type XXII 3880 is a pilot's chronograph from Breguet.
In addition to the classic line, the Breguet brand has also long cultivated the type of pilot's watch. This is because Louis Charles Breguet, great-great-grandson of Abraham-Louis Breguet, was involved in the construction of aircraft and founded a well-known aviation company. The Breguet Manufacture designed chronograph mechanisms that were installed on the control panels of aircraft cockpits, and they began producing watches for pilots. For example, 1935 saw the development of the first wrist chronographs. Twenty years later, Breguet began producing the Type XX model at the request of the French Army. The popular chronograph was part of the French Army's air force and naval aviators' equipment until the early 1980s.
For the 60th anniversary of the first delivery of the legendary Type XX watches, Breguet presented the new Type XXII, a modern and technically leading interpretation of this legendary chronograph. With its stainless steel case measuring 44 millimeters in diameter, the Type XXII features a Breguet chronograph movement with escapement and flat hairspring in silicon. The frequency of the balance wheel was set to 10 Hz (72,000 vibrations per hour). Thanks to this high oscillation rate, the watch is exceptionally accurate and can be regulated extremely finely. This is reflected in this chronograph, whose second hand makes one revolution in 30 seconds, allowing the totaliser to be returned to zero and instantly restarted in one and the same operation. This performance was made possible thanks to the material silicon, which allows significantly lighter moving escapement parts to be made. In addition, the silicon escapement eliminates the need for oiling, which would be very problematic at such high frequencies.
With a second hand from the center, the minutes can be counted by adding the 30-second sequences. Thanks to the graduation of the minutes in the form of dashes on the vertical ring - one red, the other white - in conjunction with the numbered graduation of the seconds, which are also marked red and white, it can be determined whether the chronograph second is in its first (red sectors) or second (white sectors) 30-minute orbit.
The Chronograph Type XXII also has a flyback function. It ensures that the counters fly back to zero after a single press and can instantly start a new measurement. A second time zone is displayed at 6 o'clock, complemented by a window for the date. If you pull the crown out to the second position, you can see on the the second time zone can be selected on the central dial by moving the hour hand without affecting the position of the minute hand; the date is synchronized with the hour setting on this central dial. A 24-hour indicator at 3 o'clock, also synchronized with the second time zone, shows whether it is day or night in that region. A small seconds hand at 9 o'clock, which makes one complete revolution in 30 seconds, completes the functionality.
Reference:
- 3880ST/H2/ 3XV
Movement:
- Self-winding chronograph movement Breguet Cal. 589F, frequency 10 Hz
- Flyback function
- Numbered and with Breguet signature
- 13¼ ligne
- 28 jewels
- Power reserve 45 hours
Case:
- Ø 44 mm
- Fluted caseband
- Bidirectional turning bezel
- Waterproof to 10 bar
Dial:
- Black
- Hours, minutes
- Chapter ring with Arabic numerals
- Red chronograph’s seconds hand on a 30-second basis at the centre
- Half-minute totalizer at the centre
- 24 hour indicator at 3 o’clock
- Second time zone indicator at 6 o’clock with luminous Arabic numerals
- Small seconds on a 30-second basis at 9 o’clock
- Date in an aperture at 6 o’clock
Wristband:
- Calf leather with tang-type buckle