French rose gold ring watch with visible balance Circa 1820

Rose gold navette form ring watch by Breguet
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An extraordinary French 18 Carat rose gold and enamel navette shaped ring watch with visible balance, circa 1820. Moulded movement, cylinder escapement.
Eccentric white enamel dial with Arabic hours, in the upper part a polished disc with four curved arms illustrating a visible balance on an opaque blue enamelled ground with golden flowers. Comes with the original presentation box.
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Dimensions: 27 x 18 x 10 mm
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Weight: 15 g
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Signed: Breguet A Paris
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Even as early as the 16th century watchmakers were fascinated by the idea of fitting a watch into a ring, however, only a few of them managed such a feat. This did not change during the 19th century, any successful attempt to create a watch of this kind brought immediate fame to its maker, especially if the watch found a prominent buyer. It was probably James Widman’s ring watch that was worn by the Duke of Mantua and Antoine Rojard’s fame based itself on Napoleon Bonaparte’s watch, even the young John Arnold was able to present an exquisite ring watch to King George III of England, this immediately made him a celebrated watchmaker.
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Abraham-Louis Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1747 and died in 1823 at the age of 77. At age 15, he left for Paris where he studied various disciplines, mathematics, astrology, horology, etc. He began his watchmaking career by marrying a wealthy heiress and establishing his first watch factory in Paris. He hired the most skilled and renowned horologers and master watchmakers. They realized his brilliant and innovative ideas. In 1786, he moved to London and set up a workshop where high-quality pocket watches and chronometers were manufactured. In 1789, he returned to Paris, where he remained until 1793 when he fled for political reasons. With the arrival of Louis XVIII, he became in charge of the ‘Centre Horloger de Versailles’ and was appointed ‘Horloger de la Marine’, he further entered the Academy of Sciences, and the King personally imposes on him the ‘Legion of Honour’. His innovations and improvements shocked the already existing watchmaking industry.