French gold open faced cylinder pocket watch Circa 1826

Gold single-handed pocket watch
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A fine, small French 18K gold pocket watch with ruby cylinder escapement, circa 1826. A Monsieur Regnault by Breguet,  sold to Monsieur Regnault on September 22, 1826, for 1,080 francs. A forme collier by Joly (master mark), engine-turned with polished bezel and border.

White enamel dial with Breguet numerals, outer five-minute, quarter-hour and half-hour track. Blued steel Souscription hand. A gilt movement, souscription calibre, central barrel wound from the back or front, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, plain three-arm balance with parachute on the top pivot, blued steel flat balance spring, index regulator with bimetallic temperature compensation curb. Dial and movement signed.
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Diameter: 49 mm
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Signed: Breguet  Paris
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It is interesting that in the Breguet archives the watches familiarly known as Souscription are, after about the mid-1820s, described as Moyenne à 1 Aiguille. Most souscription watches were sold between 1796 and about 1815, after this date, the souscription type was still being made but probably not paid for by instalments as in earlier years, hence the subtle change in name of the records for these watches.