Small and rare French gold convertible watch Circa 1818

Convertible lever with date and regulator dial by Breguet
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A small, fine and rare French gold convertible pocket watch with date and regulator to the dial, circa 1818. Sold on October 1818 to Duc de Berwick for 4800 Francs. Returned to Breguet 20 years later and immediately sold to Anthony de Rothschild. Gilt brass gards-temps straight-line lever escapement, very fine oil retention holes, three-arm cut bimetallic compensation balance, three gold mean screws, entire going train jewelled, escapement capped, parachute suspension on both pivots. Silver engine turned eccentric dial, Roman numerals, aperture for date above XII, applied gold arrow pointer and fan-form aperture for regulator. Two body case, inner with engine turned cover, aperture for winding, the band with three push pieces for adjusting the date and regulator, the outer case with spring loaded button release, engine turned cover, inscription to the interior. Case, dial and movement signed, case made by Tavernier.
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Diameter: 36 mm
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Signed: Breguet
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This watch was exhibited at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, Russia, 2004 and illustrated in the catalogue exhibition, Breguet in the Hermitage, Slavia, p. 50. This is an extremely rare example of such a small Breguet watch.
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Fitz-James, Duke of Berwick (1776-1838) was the great-grandson of the renowned Maréchal de Berwick, illegitimate son of King Jacques II. Born in Versailles in 1776, he was named premier aide de camp and gentilhomme de la chambre to the Count d’Artois, brother of Louis XVI. He followed him to Lyon in 1815, in an attempt to stop the victorious march of Napoleon after his escape from Elba Island. After the second Restoration of the monarchy, he was made ‘Pair de France’ by King Louis XVIII. The Duke of Berwick took an active part in the ‘Chambre des Pairs’, defending the monarchy, but also fighting for freedom of the press and the right to free speech.
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Anthony de Rothschild (1810-1876) was the second son of the famous banker Nathan Meyer de Rothschild. The Rothschild bank was active in supporting the Allies in their military campaign to defeat Napoleon.