Napoleon's Mother's Genius Invention
5 Video Views·May 5, 2025
This remarkable "mother watch," crafted for Letizia Bonaparte-mother of Napoleon Bonaparte-represents a rare fusion of artistry and innovation. Created between 1805 and 1809 by the jeweler Pierre Benjamin Tavernier and the clockmaker Basile Charles Le Roy, it features diamonds and pearls arranged for tactile reading of time. Later owned by Matilda Bonaparte, this important object now resides in the Walters Art Museum, preserving a unique chapter in the history of horology and the Bonaparte legacy.
When blindness stole Napoleon's mother's sight,
a brilliant watch was created specifically for Laetitia Bonaparte to restore her sense of time.
No hands, no numbers, just diamonds marking the quarters, pearls for the hours,
and a raised diamond arrow moving across guilloche gold and translucent enamel.
Laetitia could feel four diamonds marking the quarters,
with pearls dividing the rest of the 12 hours.
A raised arrow, set in diamonds, swept across smooth enamel,
allowing her to tell the time by touch alone.
Jeweler Pierre Benjamin Tavernier and clockmaker Basile Charles Leroy crafted this piece of genius.
Laetitia used the watch for 30 years.
After her death in 1836, it likely passed to her granddaughter, Mathilde Bonaparte,
Princess of San Donato.
It was later acquired by Anatole de Midoff, Prince of San Donato,
then made its way to Tiffany & Coers in New York by 1893.
In 1897, American collector Henry Walters purchased it,
and today it remains in the Walters Art Museum.