Large French silver Montre de Souscription watch Circa 1817

Cylinder Souscription watch by Breguet et Fils
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A large French silver and rose gold open faced key wind Montre de Souscription watch, circa 1817. Sold to Mister Dupont the 24 February 1817, for the sum of FF 580. Souscription calibre, gilded brass movement with central going barrel wound from the front only, overhanging ruby set cylinder escapement, mono-metallic gilded brass balance, blued steel flat hairspring, index regulator with temperature compensating bimetallic curb fitted to the index regulator, top pivot with parachute. White enamel dial with Arabic numerals, unique pointerhand and secret Breguet signature bellow 12h00. Plain silver case with rose gold rims. Original silver Breguet key and chain. Dial signed, case and movement signed and numbered. Back plate signed by Lucard.
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Diameter: 62 mm
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Signed: Breguet & Fils
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Souscription 
The concept was both simple and brilliant: to offer his clients a watch that was ordered in advance and delivered upon completion. In silver, with the gold rims being the only decoration, the ‘souscription’ watches were of a large diameter allowing the enamel dial to be divided in such a way that both hours and minutes could be read from a single hand. The movements had a single plate, the spring barrel mounted in the centre and the wheels elegantly positioned and retained by bridges. The single hand was driven directly off the barrel arbour, eliminating the motion work and the intendant friction, and the ruby cylinder escapement was fitted with a parachute (shock protector) and a compensation curb to assist in correcting temperature errors; features that were the norm for all of Breguet’s first class watches. To further reduce the selling price, Breguet decided to produce these watches in small series (between 12 and 20 examples at a time), with the buyers paying an account of 25% in advance and the balance on completion. Hence the term ‘de souscription’ (by subscription). The success of these watches enabled Breguet to both re-establish his business, which had understandably been badly affected by the French Revolution and his exile, and to finance much of his research into other areas of horology.