I was interested to see a rather unsubtle example of product placement involving a watch in the BBC series Sherlock. In series 2, episode 2, The Hounds of Baskerville, Benedict Cumberbatch checks his watch just before entering the military site. It doesn’t play any part in the plot. The watch is “The Sherlock Watch” by Swiss company Rotary, and like all the company’s products, it has a quartz movement. It’s a sort of Breguet look-alike, with Breguet hands and a dial with a printed guilloché pattern. Wearable on all wrists at 38 mm, slim at 7.6 mm. Price €125, available from the Rotary website.

The Breguet original

The real thing is a watch such as the Breguet Classique 5140BB/12/9W6 in white gold, 40 mm in diameter, with a Calibre 502.3 SD self-winding movement, 46 hours power reserve. Price about €16,900. More info from the Breguet website.

A more accessible mechanical version similar to the Sherlock watch

A lower-cost mechanical watch with the same sort of looks as the Sherlock Watch and its noble predecessor, the Breguet Classique 5140, is the Guilloche Roman 40 by Tourby. While Breguet makes its guilloché dials on antique guilloché machines, the stainless steel dial by Tourby is cut using CNC milling machines. The case is 40.5 mm in diameter and slim at 8.75 mm thickness, and it has a sapphire caseback revealing the movement.

The Tourby Guilloche Roman 40 is powered by a hand-wound ETA Unitas 6498.1 movement, originally made for pocket watches and running at 18,000 vibrations per hour, 2.5 Hertz. It has 48 hours power reserve.

The Breguet-style hands are heat-blued. The watch is supplied with a Cordovan leather strap or an alligator strap. The price of the watch starts at €1,325, or €1,400 with alligator strap. The price includes shipping but not VAT and duty. Further information and ordering at the Tourby website.