Many consider this watchmaker to be the godfather of modern watchmaking. And his name is still today one of the most prestigious names – if not the most prestigious – in high-end watchmaking. Breguet was a scientific watchmaker who invented crucial systems for timepieces that are still used today. Just think about the tourbillon or the pare-chute (anti shock) system, for instance. Breguet was a close friend of John Arnold, the London-based watchmaker who is said to have the privilege of testing the first tourbillon system in one of his movements. Breguet was not only an inventor, he was also a very demanding craftsman in terms of putting demands on himself and his coworkers. The quality and perfection of his pieces speak for themselves. His designs were balanced, legible, and very pure – as was the morphology of their movements.
Breguet also had a great artistic touch. Focusing on rather simple decoration, he emphasized the quality of the execution, looking first for subtle details that show off ornamentation. Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, in 1747, he opened his Parisian workshop in 1775. Very soon, Breguet became the watchmaker of French aristocrats and monarchs. Queen Marie-Antoinette, who already had a few of his watches, ordered the most complicated watch ever made to that point. She was not able to see it before her untimely demise, but this masterpiece marked time before it was stolen from a museum – and reappeared in 2007. But before it was recovered, the modern Breguet brand had taken the decision to create an exact reproduction of it. Abraham-Louis Breguet also created an oval-shaped wristwatch upon request of the Queen of Naples, Caroline Murat. It now forms the basis of a strong ladies’ collection in brand’s current catalogue. Napoleon Bonaparte, Sultan Selim from the Ottoman Empire, Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, and eminences from Russia were also Breguet’s customers.
Abraham-Louis Breguet died in 1823 in Paris. The Swatch Group bought the brand in 1999 from Investcorp and made it into one the four most prestigious and exclusive names of the holding that also includes Blancpain, Harry Winston, and Jaquet Droz.
When you think about Breguet, it is difficult to dissociate the brand from the man himself.
Abraham Louis Breguet was a genius of his time, in the late 18th, early 19th century,
and influenced a lot of fellow watchmakers, but also had a great influence among great
people of the time that all wanted to have a Breguet watch.
They were kind of fan of the time.
Abraham Louis Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1747 and opened his Parisian
workshop in 1775 on the Ile de la Cité.
And it is no surprise that his first circle of clients and admirers were French aristocrats
and the elite of the time.
And what better example than Queen Marie Antoinette, who possessed a few of his timepieces and
most importantly, her name was given to the most complicated watch of its time with all
known complication.
This watch could be the star of a Hollywood movie with all the intrigues and fascinating
stories around it.
But to make it short, its development started in 1782 and was completed only in 1827 by
Breguet's son, four years after his death.
Naturally the vicissitudes of history, the French Revolution, the Napoleon era and its
imperial wars partly explain this, but it just highlights the complexity of this incredible
timepiece.
The Marie Antoinette, also known as the Queen or the Breguet No. 160, was part of a private
collection for many years and on display at the Jerusalem L.A. Meyer Institute for Islamic
Art before being stolen in 1983.
Nicolas Hayek, the man that made what Breguet is today, decided in 2005 to rebuild a replica
of the watch based on existing plans and drawings and it took this new dedicated team almost
four years to rebuild it using as much as possible the same techniques as the one used
during Abraham-Louis Breguet era.
Miraculously, the original watch reappeared in 2007, but it doesn't take anything away
from the achievement of the Breguet team.
Napoleon Bonaparte was also a firm admirer of Breguet's work and commissioned some
watches and clocks that follow him during his troubled ruling time and one owes the
first known wristwatch to his younger sister, Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples.
This is now a collection of its own in the Breguet family of watches with this fine example
of the Reine de Naples Journuit and its rotating sun-like escapement and moon display.
But Breguet's influence went further than French elite and for instance he produced
some specific timepieces for the Ottoman market with this example of a pocket watch, minute
repeater crafted for Sultan Selim III.
Russia was also an important market, but some other illustrious people such as 19th century
Italian composer Gioachino Rossini were also strong customers of the brand, for whom Breguet
recently dedicated a new chiming timepiece called the Musical and features a center rotating
dial on which you'll find the same principle as in a music box with little pikes producing
the music.
The list of famous Breguet customers naturally doesn't stop here, such as Sir Winston Churchill,
but the Breguet name is really one that resonates uniquely in the world of fine watchmaking.
This exhibition will be on display at Baselworld then and will probably go on some kind of
world tour, but we don't yet have the dates or the itinerary of this.
So thanks to TheWATCHES.tv, we brought this exhibition directly to you.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
