Short answer: the replica Breguet 7787 copies the Breguet Classique 7787, a 39mm solid gold dress watch with a moonphase display and a power-reserve indicator. The better replicas get the case size, dial layout, and wrist presence close enough that most people will not question them from a few feet away. They fall short in three places: the engine-turned dial, the moonphase disc, and the movement you see through the back. Knowing which parts matter is the whole game.
The real 7787 in one paragraph
Breguet builds the Classique 7787 in 18k rose, white, or yellow gold. The case measures 39mm across, the dial is silvered gold with hand-turned guilloché, and the hands are blued steel in Breguet's own style, with the hollow eccentric tips that are easy to spot once you know them. There is a moonphase aperture showing a gold moon and stars on a dark blue lacquered disc, plus a power-reserve scale. Inside sits the self-winding Calibre 591 DRL with roughly 38 hours of reserve. Sapphire on both sides, alligator strap, gold buckle, and a retail price in the tens of thousands.
Where replicas hold up, and where they do not
Case diameter and silhouette usually land close. Strap color, dial tone, and hand shape are handled well on mid-tier and top-tier builds. The problems show up in the small stuff:
- Guilloché that looks flat instead of catching light as you tilt your wrist
- A printed moonphase disc instead of a lacquered one with applied moon and stars
- Hands painted blue rather than blued, with soft or rounded tips
- A power-reserve needle that never moves
- Caseback engraving in the wrong font or the wrong depth
- Weight, because steel never feels like gold
The dial deserves most of your attention
On the genuine watch the dial is engine-turned in zones, and the pattern shifts as light moves across it. Cheap replicas stamp that pattern into a thin plate, so it reads grey and lifeless under any indoor light. Ask for photos in daylight and side light. If the pattern disappears the moment the angle changes, you are looking at a stamp.
The moonphase is the other tell. Breguet uses a lacquered blue disc with a gold moon and stars. Many replicas use a flat printed disc, and plenty use a simple day and night wheel that flips every 24 hours instead of tracking a 29.5-day lunar cycle. Ask the seller directly which one it is, and ask for a short video of the aperture.
Case, thickness, and gold color
The genuine case is slim enough to slide under a shirt cuff, which is the point of a dress watch. Replicas often run a touch thicker, and that extra millimeter shows at the lugs. Check the crown size and shape too; oversized crowns are common on copies. On plating, gold-tone PVD wears through at the lug edges and crown within a year of daily use. Solid gold replicas exist, but the price stops being replica money.
Movement and the power reserve
Expect an Asian automatic, often based on a Seagull or a Miyota pattern, occasionally a cloned Swiss design. It will keep time. It will not look like the 591 DRL through a sapphire back, where the real watch shows hand-finished bridges and a signed rotor. Replica engraving is shallow, and the screws are plain. The power-reserve indicator is the bigger question: on many copies it is decorative and fixed. If the listing does not say it functions, assume it does not.
Price tiers and what each buys
- Under $100: quartz or basic automatic, printed dial, fixed moonphase, plated case.
- $150 to $350: better case profile, closer dial work, working automatic movement.
- $400 and up: high-end factory builds with sharper guilloché, a functioning moonphase, sapphire front and back, and cleaner finishing.
Inspection checklist before you pay
- Real photos of the actual watch, not catalog renders
- Daylight shots of the dial from two angles
- A video of the moonphase and power-reserve needle
- Case thickness measured with calipers if the seller will do it
- Close-ups of the caseback engraving and the buckle
- Strap material confirmed as real leather or alligator
- A stated return window
Reasonable expectations
A replica 7787 is a costume piece, not an investment. It is not gold, it will not go to Breguet for service, and resale value is close to nothing. Treat water resistance claims on a dress watch with suspicion and keep it away from pools and showers. Buy it because you like how it wears, and judge it on the dial, the hands, and the moonphase. Those three things decide whether anyone looks twice.