French heavy quarter repeating pocket watch Circa 1804

Important open faced ruby cylinder watch
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A French important, heavy, quarter repeating Repetition à Ponts pocket watch with jumping hours and ruby cylinder escapement, circa 1804. It was sold to Baron Guillaume-Louis Ternaux on October 24th, 1804, for the sum of 1,800 Francs, with the original box and certificate no. 3608.
This timepiece is a high-quality watch by Breguet, which possesses most of the technical features of the so-called Premiere Classe repeater watches Breguet had created for everyday use: jumping hour, overhanging ruby escapement, spring suspension of the top balance pivot and bimetallic temperature compensation. The case is 18-carat rose gold engine turned. The dial is white enamel, with a secret signature dial manufacturer Borel No. 169. It has a bridge movement, a three-arm brass balance, a temperature compensated balance spring and a shock protection parachute.
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Diameter: 57 mm
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Weight: 110 g
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Signed: Breguet & fils, Paris
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William-Louis Ternaux (1763-1833), the eldest son of Charles-Louis Ternaux (1738-1814), took over the direction of his family’s small woollen cloth business at Sedan (Department of Ardennes) in 1781 and rose to become the leading woollens manufacturer in France under Napoleon and during the Restoration. During 1781-1789 he very capably expanded the family woollens business at Sedan from 8 to 150 looms, giving work to over 3,000 men, women and children. The politics of the Revolution interrupted his achievement. They led to his exile from France during 1792-98, but he used these years to his advantage by studying the woollens industry in England, Germany and Switzerland. By the time of the “Exposition of the Products of French Industry” in Paris in 1823, when he composed his daring challenge cited above, he had created. He was orchestrating a giant mechanized woollens industry employing overall some 20,000 people. He had commerce houses in cities throughout Europe and New York, Mexico, Valparaiso and Calcutta. Ternaux contributed significantly to the introduction and perfection of merino sheep from Spain. Most famously, in 1818-19, he brought Tibetan cashmere goats to France and experimented with their fine for his famous luxury shawls. Napoleon, on the occasion of visiting Louviers in June 1810, awarded Ternaux the cross of the Legion of Honor.
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In private societies and the councils of Napoleon, as well as in the legislative assemblies of the Restoration, Ternaux was a key spokesman for economic and educational policies for the advancement of French industry. By the late 1820s, however, he was in trouble financially and forced to withdraw gradually from the field. He found it increasingly difficult to compete with less expensive English woollens, and there was growing consumer demand for cheaper machine-made cotton goods. In addition, he was having growing problems acquiring fine wools to produce his luxury goods. Finally, in 1829, he organized a partnership to raise over 2 million francs to construct a large, up-to-date linen and canvas factory. Unfortunately, just as the factory was about to begin production, the Revolution of July 1830 in France scared off his investors. The venture’s fate was still in question when Ternaux died accidentally (April 2nd 1833) at his home in Saint-Ouen.