The watch is powered by the Breguet 517GG movement which is Breguet’s version of the Frederic Piguet 1150. The 1150 is these days more closely associated with sister company Blancpain.


The movement is an ultra thin full rotor automatic movement with 65 hours of power reserve from double barrels. Breguet increased the beat from 3hz to 4hz for their version; the Blancpain versions deliver 100 hours with 3hz. Introduced in 2004, it unfortunately does not have the latest Breguet tech such as the silicon hairspring and escape wheel nor does it feature a free sprung balance (it is regulated by a Triovis fine adjuster). The date can be quick set from the crown but the movement does not hack.


The movement is however one of the more attractive full rotor automatics I’ve seen. The bridges are very shapely although the rotor obscures half of it at any given time (waving the watch lightly and letting the rotor spin freely gives a nice view though).


This picture of the Blancpain manual winding version of the movement shows the architecture quite nicely. The pic is from an article by Walt Odets on Time Zone and is worth a read. http://people.timezone.com/library/h...71438575639341





When it comes to the finish my main frame of reference is the Glashütte Original Panograph, which is admittedly a more expensive manual wind chronograph.


A fuller examination of the GO movement can be seen here


Compared with the straight 45 degree cut anglage of the GO the Breguet edges are curved from top to bottom and more highly polished. The edges of the bridges are a delight to behold and gleam with a bright polish. There are a couple of sharp exterior angles but no sharp inward angles.














The screws are black polished and counter sunk (again with nice polishing on the sinks), however I noted that the inner slot of the screws are not beveled while on the Panograph they are bevelled and polished.

Edit: correction, that only seems to be the case with the screw below which seems to be holding the second barrel. I'll take a closer look at the others.

edit 2: Ok I haven't been able to determine if the other screws are bevelled on the inner slot either. I am getting some reflections off the edges but my loupe is not powerful enough to be sure and I have reached the resolution limit of my lens and camera. Perhaps if I get the new 1:1 Ziess 50/2.8 macro I can find out. In the endit is not of major consequence, but it has piqued my curiosity to find out. If the inner edges are indeed beveled then there are smaller than the ones on the Panograph on which it was easier to determine.




The gold rotor is decorated with engine turned guilloche like the dial and is shaped like a nautilus shell in keeping with the marine theme (did Patek miss a trick here?)


The plates of the movement are decorated in geneva stripes while the regulator is brushed and the mainspring barrels have a radial pattern.













I would be curious to compare the movement up close with something like the AP 15400 movement. In any case I believe it to be well finished although nowhere near as spectacular in overall terms as the Panograph (anglage notwithstanding, The Panograph has more flair and uses more techniques including extensive black polishing of steel parts ). Just as importantly, it simply looks good through the caseback.


A thorough look at the Panograph movement for comparison can be seen here:
http://www.intlwatchleague.com/showt...aph&highlight=


I have not conducted substantial accuracy tests but average rate over the course of daily wear on the wrist has consistently been between 1.5 and 6 seconds per day which is pretty good.


In conclusion I can say I am very satisfied with the Marine. It looks great on the wrist and is a no fuss and supremely comfortable daily wear. It is both refined and rugged and it has that Breguet style to boot.


Thanks for reading and viewing!


Next to my father's 7337