The watchmaker’s new Queen of Naples Coeur 9825 is a rose gold valentine to love.
Breguet enhances the technicality of its annual ode to Valentine’s Day with a new invention that mimics a beating heart. The luxury watchmaker’s 2021 Reine de Naples watch, released in time for the lover’s holiday on February 14, features a minute hand in the shape of a heart that slowly expands or contracts as it makes its way around the elongated oval dial.
The hand on this Breguet Reine de Naples Cœur (Heart) edition is centered at the 6 o’clock position. Mimicking a beating heart, the hand stretches as it moves across the top half of the dial, and become more rounded as the hand reaches the lower part of the dial.
To propel the unusual minute hand, Breguet devised an oval-shaped cam (shaped to mirror the case) located under the dial. The cam controls two independent arms that together make up the hand. Each rotating arm moves at a different speed, creating the illusion of a beating heart.
The red heart-tipped hour hand points to minutes along the hours indicators, which are set with small hearts every five minutes. The watch dial itself is sapphire and finished with translucent white lacquer. The hour is indicated by a dot of purple lacquer within a window just above the minute hand.
Breguet enhances the romance here with a generous use of rose gold for the 36.5mm by 28.45mm oval case and sets diamonds along the bezel and again around the dial just beneath the crystal. The sapphire-crystal caseback allows a view of the new automatic caliber 78A0 that features an in-line escapement with a silicon escape wheel and balance spring. Though we were not provided with pictures of the movement, Breguet has undoubtedly finished the caliber to its usual superlative level.
The brand notes that the Reine de Naples, one of the brand’s most successful collections, is inspired by Breguet model no. 2639 made in 1810 for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, who commissioned it. 
Breguet will make twenty-eight Reine de Naples Coeur watches and will offer them at its own brand boutiques. Look for each watch to be presented in an envelope clutch bag finished in grained calfskin leather and dyed vermilion red to match the strap. Price: $46,100.