The introduction of the jumping hour mechanism is broadly attributed to the Austrian engineer Josef Pallweber in 1883, and the jumping hour was very fashionable in the mid-18th century and later during the Art Deco period. During the Roaring Twenties, they were produced by eminent names of watchmaking, including Breguet, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, but the fashion declined with the Great Depression, and ended definitively by World War 2 only to see a rebirth in the early 1990s. The present Breguet reference 3420 BA from circa 1992 marks a continuation to the tradition, and it is a splendid display of technical mastery with the jumping hours movement.

The timepiece boasts a very simple dial design. The only graphic details are the signature at 6, discreet dotted minute divisions, and the black Breguet numerals. The hour is subtly indicated in red through an aperture positioned at 12 o’clock. A hidden Breguet signature is delightfully revealed under the 60 minutes when the dial is put under specific lighting condition. Complementing the minimalistic dial design, the watch has retained some familiar characteristics emblematic of Breguet’s timeless elegance, including the "Breguet" blued steel minute hand, Breguet style lugs, caseband fluting, and winding crown with a sapphire cabochon.

Preserved in excellent condition, and accompanied by the original Breguet certificate of origin dated December 1992 and stamped Friedrich Haute Joaillerie, Frankfurt, the present timepiece, numbered 260 of a limited edition of 800 pieces, is a most charming and unusual early example epitomizing the subtle and supremely elegant Breguet design.