Short answer
The 7787BB is a Breguet Classique dress watch in white gold with a moon phase and a power reserve display. When someone searches for a "fake Breguet 7787BB," they mean a replica of that reference. What is actually sold under that name sits in the middle of the replica market: the case, dial and hands can pass at arm's length, but the finishing, the movement and the two complications rarely survive close inspection.
What the real 7787BB is
In Breguet's reference code, BB means white gold. The full number usually reads 7787BB/12/9V6. It is a 39mm Classique with a silvered dial, hand-turned guilloché, Breguet hands, and a self-winding in-house calibre that Breguet lists as the 591 DRL with a silicon escapement. The moon phase and power reserve indicator are the whole point of the model. Breguet also engraves a small secret signature on the dial that you only catch at a sharp angle, a habit that goes back to Abraham-Louis Breguet's day.
What replica versions get right
More than you would expect from photos, and less than the listings promise.
- Case proportions are close enough that the watch sits correctly on a 6.5 to 7.5 inch wrist.
- The general dial layout reads as Breguet from three feet away: fluted caseband, coin-edge, Roman numerals, pomme hands.
- White gold plating or polished stainless can look convincing in a phone photo with soft light.
Where they fall apart
I look at four things first, in this order.
- The guilloché. Real hand-turned patterns have depth and a slight irregularity. Machined imitation looks flat and repeats too cleanly.
- The hands. Genuine Breguet hands are heat-blued steel, so the color shifts as the light moves. Replicas are usually chemically blued or painted, and the tone is uniform and dull.
- The moon phase. It should advance once per lunar month. Plenty of replicas use a 24-hour disc or a decorative aperture with a moon that never moves.
- The power reserve. Almost always decorative. A real sector tracks the mainspring over roughly 38 hours; fakes either don't move or sweep in the wrong direction.
The caseback tells the rest. The rubies, the anglage and the engraving on a genuine 591 DRL are done by hand. On a replica you see a decorated generic automatic movement, often a modified 2824-type, with rotor engraving that looks stamped because it is.
Money and legal reality in the US
Genuine 7787BB examples trade in the high teens to low twenties on the secondary market depending on condition and box and papers. Replica pricing runs from about $150 to $600, and the gap tells you which one you are buying. Importing counterfeit goods into the United States is prohibited under 19 U.S.C. 1526, and Customs and Border Protection seizes and destroys shipments. Selling a replica as genuine is trademark infringement and fraud. If you ever plan to resell, keep the paperwork, because a watch with no service history and no original invoice is the one that gets flagged.
Bottom line
If you want the look of a Classique 7787BB on a budget, know what you are buying: a costume piece that photographs well. If the moon phase, the silicon escapement and the hand finishing are what drew you to the reference, no replica at that price gets you there. Buy it as a visual stand-in, not as a substitute for the watch.