After visiting several major cities around the world this past year, Singapore hosted the worldwide Breguet Classic Tour. The contemporary Breguet gentleman is elegant and detailed – just like a Breguet watch.
On 22nd November, Breguet welcomed collectors, VIP clients, business partners and journalists to step into a Gentleman’s journey. The House, alongside Kevin Seah Bespoke tailor, Truefitt & Hill – the oldest grooming service in the world and La Maison du Whisky, introduced various facets of craftsmanship.
The watchmaking is a blend of art that combines elegance and innovation from the assembling of a movement to its casing. An engine-turned dial is indisputably a true work of art. Smooth to start with, the solid gold dial plate is first worked with a hand graver to outline and hollow out the areas of the dial reserved for such indications as the power reserve, the phases of the moon, the subdial for the seconds and others, depending on the model. Today still, Breguet craftsmen continue to use engine-turning lathes designed and built over a century ago. With a precision of a tenth of a millimetre, they engrave intricate patterns reflecting their uncommon virtuosity. From start to finish, engine-turning depends essentially on the craftsman’s sharp eye and a steady hand, of which the lathe is but an extension. On the occasion of the Breguet’s Classic Tour, the hundred-guests were invited to experience a dial engraving with a guillochage machine.
“Danglars’ watch, a masterpiece by Breguet which he had rewound with care before setting out the previous day, chimed half past five in the morning.” – Alexandre Dumas, “The Count of Monte Cristo” (1845)
The elegance is a combination of precise choices, timeless style and care. This quest led the path of Kevin Seah, founder of Kevin Seah Bespoke. After a 15-year career in haute couture, he is considered of the premier modern tailor and luxury men’s outfitter in Singapore since its establishment in 2009. Catering to each client’s individual needs and tastes, Kevin Seah Bespoke specialises in-design-savvy tailoring balancing classic elegance and contemporary comfort, with a unique expertise in creating sartorial garments suited to life in the tropics.
The wonders of bespoke extend to premier qualitative and bespoke service, such as the one that provides Truefitt & Hill since 1805. Catering to the exacting standards of London’s gentry when vanity and good grooming were the essential marks of the gentleman, the company enjoys a reputation as a world-renowned barbershop offering a wide range of treatments and services designed to groom gentlemen to perfection.
The exploration of arts continued with the introduction of the only of its kind blend of rum from a Jamaican distillery. For rum enthusiasts, Hampden is all but a common name. “The highest praised rum in the world was distilled in Jamaica over the past centuries. And for 275 years, there was such a demand that Hampden did not have time to produce their own”, indicated Matthieu Musnier, General Manager of La Maison du Whisky. Until the unveiling of their first bottlings in 2018 that the privileged guests had the opportunity to discover in Singapore.
