French gold Montre Médaillon à Tact watch Circa 1805

Gold Montre Médaillon à Tact watch by Breguet
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A very fine and rare French 18k gold, enamel and pearl set Montre Médaillon à tact, sold to Monsieur Castaneda for 1500 francs, circa 1805. Accompanied by a Breguet certificate. Gilt brass, souscription caliber with central barrel and five-wheel train, ruby cylinder escapement, plain three-arm brass balance, blued steel flat balance spring, blued steel regulator arm with arc terminal. Signed and numbered on the cuvette, case numbered and punched with Tavernier’s mark.

Front cover with translucent pale green enamel over sunburst engine-turning, back with gold and seed pearl set arrow, reeded band with twelve pearl touch pieces (including the pendant), detachable polished cuvette with apertures for winding, setting, regulating and the dial, pendant set with seed pearls, loose ring. Silver, small dial, eccentric set in the cuvette aperture, Breguet numerals, outer minute dot divisions. Blued steel Breguet hands.
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Diameter: 40,5 mm
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Signed: Breguet
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The name of Castaneda comes up in Abraham-Louis Breguet’s correspondence and appears frequently among the buyers in Breguet’s sales ledgers. As is explained by Emmanuel Breguet in his book, Breguet Horloger depuis 1775, Mr. Castaneda was one of the couriers. These were specialized companies handling commercial transactions as well as the transport of merchandise, in this case between France and Spain. Mr. Castaneda must therefore have been a Spanish businessman who traveled regularly to France, liaising with important Spanish clients, and particularly the Spanish royal court.