Editor’s Note: It’s easy (too easy, really) to pigeonhole a brand, often unfairly. For me, my first association with Breguet was all fluted cases, engine-turned dials and precious metal cases. To be fair, the brand does all those things exceptionally well, but you know what else they do pretty darned well? Steel sports watches, like this Type XXI 3817 … Turns out that Breguet, not content with nailing the brief when it comes to dress watches and innovating left, right and centre are also quite the dab hand when it comes to pilot’s watches. And they’re no Johnny-come-latelies at the genre, either. In fact, in the early 20th century, Abraham-Louis Breguet’s grandson — Louis Charles Breguet — made planes under the name of Breguet Aviation. There is no connection, however, between Louis Charles’ aeronautical business and the Type 20 chronograph that inspired the Type XXI 3817 that we’re looking at today. It’s important to note that Type 20 and 21 chronographs used by the French Air Force in the early ’50s were made by a variety of suppliers. A group of six brands produced them according to a set of minimum requirements covering off form and function, with key features being the flyback chronograph, rotating 12-hour bezel and some fairly rigorous accuracy…
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