Extremely rare 18k gold grande sonnerie repeater Circa 1807

Quarter repeating grande sonnerie striking ruby cylinder clock watch by Breguet
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A very fine, extremely rare and large 18 carat gold two train quarter repeating grande sonnerie striking clock watch with ruby cylinder escapement, circa 1807. Sold on 14 January 1807 to Monsieur Castaneda for the sum of 3,240 Francs. Half plate gilt brass movement, ruby cylinder escapement, plain three armed brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring, parachute on the top pivot, striking mechanism with the hour cam set on the minute wheel driven by four leaf cannon pinion, repeating and striking on two gongs, detachable gilt cuvette with winding, regulating and sonnerie/silence apertures. White enamel dial with Breguet numerals, outer minute track, secret signature below 12 o’clock, secured by a single screw and blued steel Breguet hands. Forme collier case, engine turned back, push button at 6 o’clock in the reeded band to activate repeating. Case numbered 3108/170 and stamped with Pierre-Benjamin Tavernier’s master mark, dial, cuvette and movement signed.
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Diameter: 62 mm
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Signed: Breguet et Fils – Breguet Paris No. 2044 ‘montre répétition à grande sonnerie’
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Masterpieces from the workshops of Abraham-Louis Breguet
This watch is an example made by on of the workshops of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) and his successors, widely acknowledged for having set the standard by which all fine watchmaking has been judged ever since.
This is a very rare grande sonnerie clock watch.
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Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823)
Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, but it was in Paris that he spent most of his productive life. No aspect of watchmaking escaped his study, and his inventions were as fundamental to horology as they were varied. His career started with a series of breakthroughs: the development of the successful self winding perpétuelle watches, the introduction of the gongs for repeating watches and the first shock protection for balance pivots.
Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie-Antoinette, were early enthusiasts of Breguet’s watchmaking. Each watch from his workshops demonstrated the latest horological improvements in an original movement, mostly fitted with lever or ruby cylinder escapements that he perfected. Breguet took refuge in Switzerland from the perils of the French Revolution. He returned to Paris overflowing with the ideas that produced the Breguet balance spring, his first carriage clock (sold to Bonaparte), the ‘sympathique’ clock and its dependent watch, the tact watch, and finally the tourbillon, patented in 1801.
Breguet became the indispensable watchmaker to the scientific, military, financial and diplomatic elites of the age. His timepieces ruled the courts of Europe. For his most celebrated clients, Breguet designed exceptional timepieces. For Caroline Murat, queen of Naples, he conceived in 1810 the world’s very first wristwatch. Honours saluted his enormous contribution to horology. Appointed to the Board of Longitude and as chronometer-maker to the navy, he entered the Academy of Sciences and received the Legion of Honour from the hands of Louis XVIII.
When he died in 1823, all mourned the architect of the greatest revolution in the science and art of time-keeping.