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Rather than assume the mantle of the famed French watch company his family founded in the 18th century, early aviator Louis Charles Breguet decided instead to fly. While the company (now based in Switzerland) was pioneering chronographs for cockpits in the late 1920s, Louis Charles perfected the gyroplane (a helicopter precursor) and developed a reconnaissance aircraft. The watch manufacturer’s relationship to the dynamics of flight is now evoked in the new Type XXI 3817 chronograph, based on a Breguet model worn for decades by the French air force. Its steel case features a retro dove-gray dial with luminous Arabic numerals, and a slew of complications including a fly-back function and a 12-hour counter.