Breguet 7800BB Classique La Musicale Review

Watch enthusiasts obsess over mechanical alarm watches. Icons in the genre include the Vulcain Cricket and the Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox, but do either play you a real melody? No, they do not. Most of these watches alert you using a mechanical buzz or chirp, reminding you that you’ve got somewhere important to be right now. Breguet, in true over-the-top fashion, looked at the traditional alarm complication and decided that more may not be absolutely necessary, but it would be an incredibly cool demonstration of their mechanical mastery. 

The Classique La Musicale 7800BB, rather than sounding an alarm, plays you a little ditty. This 48mm white-gold mechanical music box performs its own rendition of Gioachino Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie overture, either as an alarm or on demand. You’d know the tune if you heard it. If you’re not a classical music buff, it’s the “Clockwork Orange” song. If you’re not a film buff, then just enjoy listening to it on our Instagram post here. 

Making a wristwatch chime is hard enough, but making one play an entire tune is no easy feat. Rather than using a cylinder as you might find in a typical music box, Breguet developed a rotating disc beneath the dial. The disc is fitted with pins that interact with 15 metal blades. As the mechanism runs, those blades produce the individual notes that play the melody. A special membrane beneath the automatic Calibre 0900 then helps amplify the sound.

Breguet even developed a magnetic strike governor to regulate the musical mechanism. Using magnets, it reduces unwanted mechanical noise and the wear associated with more traditional mechanisms. The Calibre 0900 contains 55 jewels and offers 55 hours of power reserve, while the musical mechanism receives its own winding crown, power-reserve display and alarm controls.

There are subtle reminders of the watch’s purpose everywhere. The alarm-setting hand has a treble clef counter-balance, and instead of Breguet’s familiar fluted case sides, this piece is engraved with a musical staff. The solid caseback bears Rossini’s name alongside La Gazza Ladra—The Thieving Magpie. Everything about this watch speaks to its musical nature. Even the engine-turned dial rotates while the music plays, adding visual wonder to match the tune. 

Is all of this necessary to tell the time or to alert you to an important moment? Absolutely not. Is it a fantastic example of exactly what can be done within the confines of a complicated timepiece if someone combines significant mechanical chutzpah and a hankering for musicality? That’s a resounding yes.