Important French 18K gold open faced chronometer Circa 1845

Gold chronometer by Breguet
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An important French 18 carat gold open faced chronometer, Simple Garde-Temps, circa 1845. Sold to Monsieur de Bignon on March 11, 1848, for 1,800 francs. Bridge movement, key winding, an early piston tooth lever escapement after Abraham-Louis Breguet, a brass escape wheel with pierced teeth for better oil retention and gold screw compensation balance wheel. White enamel dial with Roman hours, an outer minute track, sunk subsidiary seconds at 6 o’clock and moon hands. The engine turned case with an engraved coat of arms and crown of the Counts of Bignon on the back. Comes with the elaborate original three part mahogany box for gimbal suspension and an original ratchet wrench. Cuvette and movement signed and numbered, case numbered, movement and case with matching numbers.
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Diameter: 50 mm
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Weight: 97 g
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Signed: Breguet
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Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a Swiss watchmaker born to Huguenot parents in Neuchâtel. He studied watchmaking for ten years under Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine. The dowry that came with his marriage to the daughter of a prosperous French bourgeois provided the backing which allowed him to open his own workshop at 51 Quai de l’Horloge on the Île de la Cité in Paris.

Breguet’s connections made during his apprenticeship as a watchmaker and a mathematics student helped him establish his business. Following his introduction to the court, Queen Marie Antoinette grew fascinated by Breguet’s unique self winding watch. Louis XVI bought several of his watches. In 1783, the Swedish count Axel Von Fersen, the queen’s friend and reputed lover, commissioned a watch from Breguet that contained every watch complication known at that time as a gift to Marie Antoinette. The result was Breguet’s masterpiece, the Marie-Antoinette pocket watch (Breguet No. 160).

The business was a success and around 1807 Breguet took on his son Louis-Antoine as his partner, renaming the firm Breguet et Fils. Louis-Antoine took over the firm upon the death of his father in 1823. After Louis-Antoine retired in 1833 (he died in 1858) the business was passed to Abraham-Louis’ grandson Louis Clément François (1804-1883). Abraham-Louis’ great-grandson Louis Antoine (1851–1882) was the last of the Breguet family to run the business. Although he had two sons and a daughter, they did not enter the business, so the Breguet company hired noted English watchmaker Edward Brown of Clerkenwell to manage the Paris factory. Brown eventually became a partner and after Breguet’s grandson’s death, the owner and head of the company. When Brown died in 1895, his sons, Edward and Henry took over the firm. On Edward’s retirement in the early 1900’s, Henry Brown became the head of the firm. From 1870 to 1970, Breguet was owned by the English Brown family.

After the Brown family, the ownership changed hands several times during the quartz crisis in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1976, Breguet’s owner then, Chaumet, closed its French factory and moved production to the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland. In 1987, Breguet was acquired by Investcorp which, in 1991, created the Groupe Horloger Breguet (GHB). The Breguet Group consists of four subsidiaries: Montres Breguet SA, Breguet SA, Valdar SA and Nouvelle Lemania SA (which the Breguet Group acquired in 1992). As a result, Breguet brand watches are now made at the Nouvelle Lemania factory in Switzerland. In particular, Montres Breguet SA is the main company that sells timepieces under the brand name Breguet and Breguet SA is the name of the Breguet Group’s distribution company in France. In 1999, Groupe Horloger Breguet was acquired by the Swatch Group from Investcorp. Breguet is an active member of the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH.