French rare Breguet “Montre de Souscription” Circa 1805

Gold/silver open faced pocket watch by Breguet et fils
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A rare French Breguet “Montre de Souscription” one handed pocket watch, circa 1805. Sold on February 13th (year unkown) to Mr. de Calvierre for 630 Franc.
18 carat gold/silver engine-turned case with engine-turned band and case maker punch mark “LJ” (Jolly). White enamel dial with secret signature, Arabic Breguet numerals and blued steel Breguet hand. Bridge movement, frosted, gilt, central barrel, overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three arm brass balance, flat blued steel balance spring with temperature compensation and shock protection.
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Diameter: 61 mm
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Weight: 138 g
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Signed: Breguet & fils
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Montre à Souscription
This type of pocket watch was launched in 1796 by Abraham-Louis Breguet . The idea was to manufacture watches on pre-order (Souscription = subscription = pre-order) combined with a down payment in small series of up to 20 pieces. The manufacturing costs should thereby be reduced. The clocks were structurally simplified, for example there was a model with a pointer and only four gears. The different models cost between 600 and 1000 FF. Despite this low price, they were high quality, robust and relatively accurate. They were a little big, had a symmetrical movement in accordance with the Lépine caliber with a large, central, barrel barrel, Ruby cylinder escapement, shock protection and temperature compensation on the coil spring . Breguet made about 1,500 Souscriptions.
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Forgeries of A. L. Breguet watches Breguet was the best and the most renowned watchmaker of his time. He was also a most sought-after victim of counterfeiting, which made him create a secret signature to distinguish his authentic works from the forgeries. A large number of counterfeit watches with Breguet’s forged signature were produced during his life time and even after his death. Most of these watches were of poor quality or not even of a type ever produced by Breguet. Fakes often appear to be of genuine Breguet origin; but to the eyes of a connoisseur, the quality and technical details make the forgery glaringly obvious. However, this is an exceptionally rare watch of very high quality even if it was not made by Breguet.