In 1795, Breguet conceived the “Breget overcoil” spring, today still the reference in terms of balance springs. In 2006, Breguet introduced its first wristwatches with silicon balance spring and escapement. Today, the new Breguet silicon balance spring is featured in the Breguet Tradition 7047 model with tourbillon and fusee-and-chain transmission. Inspired by the design of the first tourbillon-equipped pocket watches devised by Breguet, a platinum version is now available fitted with a movement fashioned in an anthracite-toned metal alloy.

The fusee-and-chain transmission connected to the barrel ensures constant force for as long as the watch is running. A number of patents applications involve the large tourbillon resonator at one o’clock on the watch face, one for a titanium balance and three relating to Breguet silicon balance springs. A further patent was awarded for a power-reserve indicator positioned directly on the barrel.

Additional information appears below the image, which you may enlarge with a click.

BREGUET TRADITION : FUSEE TOURBILLON TIMEPIECE WITH BREGUET OVERCOIL IN SILICON

DESCRIPTION OF THE WATCH

REF. 7047PT/11/9ZU

Case: round in 950 Platinum with finely fluted caseband. Sapphire caseback. Diameter: 41 mm. Rounded horns welded to the case, with screw pins securing the strap. Water-resistant to 3 bar (30m). Dial in silvered 18K gold, hand-engraved on a rose engine off-centered at 7 o’clock. Individually numbered and signed Breguet. Chapter ring with Roman numerals. 60-second tourbillon positioned at 1 o’clock. Open-tipped Breguet hands in polished steel.

Movement: hand-wound mechanical movement clad in an anthracite gray alloy of platinum-group metals, with tourbillon regulator. Numbered and signed Breguet. Cal. 569. 16 lignes, 43 jewels, 2.5-Hz frequency. Power reserve of 50 hours with power reserve indication on the barrel drum. Torque regularity throughout the operation of the watch provided by fusee-and-chain transmission. Upper bridge of the tourbillon carriage in titanium. Breguet-shaped thin bar (barrette) in nonmagnetic stainless steel. Straight-line lever escapement. Breguet balance in titanium with four adjustment screws in gold. BREGUET balance spring in silicon. Adjusted in 6 positions.

Breguet No. 160 generated two of the greatest mysteries in watchmaking: who ordered it, and who stole it? Commissioned by an unknown admirer of Marie-Antoinette in 1783 as a gift for the queen, it was not completed until 1827, 34 years after her death. In 1983 it was stolen from a Jerusalem museum in a daring heist. In 2005, Nicolas G. Hayek, President and CEO of Montres Breguet, commissioned the manufacture to exactly recreate No. 160. The result was No. 1160 – a treasure in its own right, and it’s coming to the USA.

No. 1160 (pictured below) was created by the watchmakers and artisans of Montres Breguet using drawings and photographs of the original, and great pains were taken to make the recreation as authentic as possible, down to using tools and materials common in A. L. Breguet’s day. Breguet No. 1160 will be on display and available for public viewing on these dates at these locations:

The self-winding “perpétuel” movement of No. 1160 is comprised of 823 components. The baseplates and bridges, the smallest gear-wheels in the trains for the underdial work, the dates and the repeater are fashioned in pink gold polished with wood. The screws are in polished blued steel; the points of friction, holes and bearings, set with sapphires. The smallest details have been finished by hand. The movement is fitted with a particular type of natural-lift escapement, a helical balance-spring in gold and a bimetallic balance-wheel. The anti-shock device – a double pare chute – another Breguet invention – protects the balance staff and the shafts of the winding weights.

This master timepiece is presented in a lavish box made of more than 3,500 pieces sculpted from the wood of Marie-Antoinette’s favorite oak tree at the Versailles Estate. (The aged tree was slated for removal. Montres Breguet obtained pieces of the tree to create the presentation box.) The outer box encases a lavishly crafted inlay work of more than a thousand pieces of wood depicting the hand of Marie-Antoinette holding her rose – a detail inspired by the famous portrait of the queen (image below). The outside of the box faithfully reproduces the parquet flooring of the Petit Trianon, Marie-Antoinette’s retreat at Versailles.

You can read more about the Marie-Antoinette at the official Breguet web site.

You may click this link read about the recent exhibition “Breguet at the Louvre”.

490 internet bidders joined an SRO crowd in the auction room at Antiquorum’s New York sale on September 17, and in the end two Patek Philippe references took top honors, bringing world record prices. The sale of 414 rare and important timepieces generated $9,214,074, representing 85% sold by lot and 133% sold by value. Breguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Blancpain, Cartier, and Seiko also made strong showings.

Bidding for the Matsuda Collection of extraordinary Patek Philippe references was especially spirited. Lot 413, a Patek Ref. 5016 in platinum, brought the top price of the evening at $780,000 – a world record for that reference. Just behind it, Lot 414, a platinum Patek Ref. 3939, was hammered down at $684,000 – another world record. Lot 412, a platinum Patek Ref. 5013, achieved $564,000. The stunning Breguet Sympathique No. 2. astronomic clock and tourbillon watch set produced in 1996 also sold for $564,000. Other notable sales included a Patek Philippe Ref. 2499/100 in yellow gold at $396,000, a Blancpain 1735 Grande Complication No. 28/30 brought $324,000, and a Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon No. 1 achieved $312,000. Cartier’s Platinum Tortue XL Tourbillon Chronograph Monopoussoir Ref. 2759 achieved $186,000.

Leaving the stratosphere, an Omega steel chronograph produced in 1942, lot 281, sold for $36,000 while an Omega Speedmaster, lot 288, attained $ 45,600. Seiko made a strong showing with the sale with its GMT Spring Drive Spacewalk. This extraordinary watch was produced in a limited edition of 6 pieces especially for the 12 day ISS mission “Soyuz TMA-13.” This watch, worn by private space explorer Richard Garriott, sold for an impressive $45,600.

You can see complete results and view high resolution images at the official Antiquorum website.

This Patek Philippe Ref. 5016 brought a world record $780,000

This Breguet Sympathique set sold for $564,000

You’ve got about a month to get to that summer reading that you promised yourself you would do. If you are in the mood for a whale of a watch tale, here are five books guaranteed to please.

1. “Revolution in Time” by David S. Landes, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

For watch lovers, “Revolution in Time” is a must read. Landes, an acclaimed historian and professor of economics at Harvard University, is author of a number of important books on technology and industry. In “Revolution,” published in 1983, he examines what he calls a “seminal” event: “The invention of the mechanical clock in medieval Europe…was one of the great inventions in the history of mankind…. One can think of few objects that have played so critical a role in shaping the character of life and work as clocks and watches.”

“Revolution” is a tour de force, magnificent in its scope. Landes tells the story of clocks and watches from Su Sung’s astronomical clock made in China in 1086 to the quartz watch revolution of the 1970s. Along the way, he mixes cultural history, the history of science and technology, and social and economic history with good stories galore. The book is extremely well written. Landes has a reporter’s eye for detail and a writer’s story-telling skills. It is also prodigiously researched. Even Landes’s footnotes – all 76 pages of them – contain delicious tidbits.

Because of the book’s encyclopedic detail, I often return to it to check out one fact or another. Over the years I’ve come to a greater appreciation of the fact that the author is not only a brilliant scholar, but a watch lover. In the “Preface” Landes admits that in researching the book in the 1970s, he caught the watch bug.

“I was smitten – caught by the combination of mechanical ingenuity, craftsmanship, artistry and elegance….I could not get over the talent and time that must have gone into the making of these objects – the devotion that expressed itself in painstaking finish, even in normally invisible details.”

Mechanical watches are fascinating and beautiful, we know. Landes teaches us that they are also important. His book is as fascinating, beautiful and important as the watches he writes about.

2. “Breguet, Watchmakers Since 1775” by Emmanuel Breguet, Alain de Gourcuff Editeur

The extraordinary powers of Abraham-Louis Breguet is the theme of Emmanuel Breguet’s book, published in 1997 on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Breguet’s birth. Emmanuel is a direct descendant of Abraham-Louis. Though not a watchmaker, he has made a great contribution to watchmaking. He has given us the first detailed biography of the man considered by many the world’s greatest watchmaker. Anyone who thinks that watchmakers are dull sorts inclined to escape into their little micro-world will be astonished by the exploits of Monsieur Breguet. His genius as a watchmaker and watch designer is well known. That he was also an inventor, scientist, politician, political refugee, entrepreneur, and master watch marketer is less well known. He accomplished all this in one of history’s most turbulent times and places – late 18th / early 19th century Paris. Breguet’s story has all the elements of a Victor Hugo novel: personal tragedy (in the space of one year, Breguet’s 28-year-old wife and two children die; he never remarries), political upheaval (the French Revolution), daring escapes (he flees for his life to Switzerland), years in exile, and scandal (Breguet’s son falls in love and fathers a child by the wife of one of his best customers; the lady divorces her husband and becomes Breguet’s daughter-in-law). It’s all bolstered by a constant parade of historical figures (Russia’s Czar Alexander I, the Bonaparte family, Talleyrand, and the Duke of Wellington are among the scores of historical figures whom Breguet knew personally), and, of course, historic watches.

A historian by training, Emmanuel Breguet had access to Breguet company archives and private letters belonging to the Breguet family. He unearths much new material and does an excellent job of placing Abraham-Louis and his achievements in the context of his turbulent times. Breguet deserves to be better known. One example: The Larousse Biographical Dictionary lists 20,000 of the world’s most famous people. Many of them are obscure today. Breguet, despite his watch achievements, his membership in the French Academy, his role in French culture as evidenced by references to his watches in the works of Hugo, Balzac, Stendhal, Dumas, Mérimée, as well as foreigners like Pushkin and Tolstoy, does not make the Larousse list. Emmanuel Breguet’s ancestor finally gets the attention he deserves in this excellent book.

3. “The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches, an Unauthorized History,” by James M. Dowling and Jeffrey P. Hess, Schiffer Publishing

How Rolex became the world’s most famous luxury watch is the subject of this 1996 book, written by two watch aficionados, Briton James Dowling and American Jeffrey P. Hess. (These days Hess is the head of Ball Watch USA; he also has other watch businesses.) The is a a large format, 392-page book loaded with photos of Rolex watches and, more importantly, with impressive research on one of the world’s most important, interesting and secretive watch companies.

The authors call it an “unauthorized” history because, as they explain, they “received no help in any way from Rolex or any of its associated companies or any serving employee. Although many ex-employees have been of inestimable help.” The two worked on the book for more than three years.

Rolex was founded by Hans Wilsdorf in London’s Hatton Garden in 1905. In the course of 24 chapters, Dowling and Hess tell the firm’s story well. They keep the narrative moving with information about Rolex people, products, marketing, finances and lore, setting it all in a historical context. They display an impressive eye for detail, and provide a wealth of heretofore unavailable information.

The story’s protagonist and hero is Wilsdorf. He was, the authors point out, ever the outsider. He was born in 1881 to a Protestant family in Germany’s Catholic-dominated Bavaria. At 12, tragedy struck when both his parents died within months of each other. He was sent to a boarding school. As a teenager, he moved to Switzerland to work first for a Geneva pearl firm, then a watch company. At 22, he left Switzerland for London, taking a position with a watch firm. With a British friend, Alfred James Davis, he formed Wilsdorf & Davis in 1905. They registered the name Rolex three years later. It became the corporate name during World War I when anything German-sounding became taboo in Britain. The name of the royal family, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, became Windsor. German shepherd dogs became Alsatians. And Wilsdorf & Davis became Rolex.

Wilsdorf was a brilliant innovator and promoter. He was an early advocate of wristwatches and embraced all manner of new techniques for making and marketing them, including sports marketing. When a London secretary named Mercedes Gleitze swam across the English Channel in 1927, Wilsdorf made sure she had a Rolex Oyster on her wrist. He heavily promoted the achievement of Gleitze and the Oyster, which kept ticking throughout the swim.

Dowling and Hess chronicle the overall development of the firm and its individual watches. The Oyster, Prince, Datejust, Explorer, Submariner, Kew “A,” GMT Master and President are covered in individual chapters.

4. “Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time,” by Dava Sobel, Walker and Company

“Longitude,” published in 1995, heaped well-deserved fame on its author, a former New York Times science writer, and its subject, the 18th-century British watchmaker John Harrison. The germ of this enchanting little book (the text in the original small hardback edition runs for 175 pages) came when Sobel covered a symposium on longitude for Harvard’s alumni magazine. There she happened upon the amazing story of John Harrison and his H-4 watch, “often hailed,” Sobel writes, “as the most important timekeeper ever built.”

The “lone genius” of the book’s subtitle is Harrison. “The greatest scientific problem of his time” is the inability of scientists to measure longitude. Sobel’s superb story-telling skills tell the remarkable tale of how a lowly carpenter-turned-watchmaker solved the longitude problem and won the greatest scientific prize of all time, the 20,000 pounds the British Parliament offered whomever could solve the problem. That’s about $12 million in today’s money. The story has a grand cast of heroes and villains, lots of plot twists and turns, and cameo appearances by a bevy of famous British watch names (Mudge, Graham, Arnold, Earnshaw and more). It is hard to believe that the story of the development of the marine chronometer could be absolutely fascinating. In Dava Sobel’s hands, it is.

5. “Time For America, Hamilton Watch 1892-1992,” by Don Sauers, Sutter House

If you had to pick one brand whose story best tells the tale of American watchmaking, it would have to be Hamilton. (The other contender among brands still active in America would be Bulova, but, alas, there is no history of Bulova.) Don Sauers’s history of Hamilton, “Time For America” was published on the occasion of Hamilton’s centennial in 1992. Sauers does an excellent job of pointing out Hamilton’s importance in watch history and even American history.

Hamilton was founded in Lancaster, PA, by a small group of local businessmen. It first found fame as a maker of railroad watches. Sauers chronicles the firm’s quick rise to prominence. In World War I, General Pershing wore a Hamilton. After the war, Admiral Richard E. Byrd used Hamilton watches to navigate his historic flight over the South Pole. He also used them on later expeditions to the North Pole and Antarctica.

Sauers spends a fair amount of time describing how the company grew and how it operated. Hamilton is, he writes, “a story of the way American factory life used to be – in the days before robots and MBAs.” For a general reader, there may be too much detail about Hamilton’s production, marketing and distribution strategies over the decades. Others, though, will be fascinated by this window into how the watch business worked and how dramatically it changed after World War II.

On the product side, Hamilton was responsible for a number of famous watch firsts. “Hamilton was a pioneer in technical innovation as well as in the mass production of quality watches and clocks,” Sauers writes. “It may surprise some import-conscious Americans to learn that Hamilton, not the Swiss, created the first electric watch, and that Hamilton, not the Japanese, produced the first solid-state digital watch.” The watch was the famous Hamilton Pulsar of 1972.

Hamilton became a Swiss company in 1974 when it was acquired by what is today the Swatch Group. Here, too Hamilton reflected the changing times. Today, Hamilton watches are made in Switzerland. But the brand remains an American icon. “Time For America” explains why.

Apogee means culmination or high point. In astronomy, it refers to the point in a heavenly body’s orbit when it is furthest from earth, or, in other words, when it is most out of this world. All of these describe “Breguet at the Louvre,” a retrospective exhibition that runs through September 7.

More than 2 years in the making, this is the most important showing of A.L. Breguet timepieces and historical items ever mounted. It includes both exceptional loans and significant pieces never before displayed publicly. Loans have been extended by the Louvre, the British Royal Collections, the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris, the Kremlin Museum, Moscow, and the Swiss National Museum, Zurich. Items not previously shown publicly include Breguet’s original patent for the tourbillon and a magnificent Sympathique clock and watch set that are part of Queen Elizabeth’s personal effects.

You may click the images below to view larger versions.

This portrait of Abraham-Louis Breguet is displayed at the exhibition.

A Man of Many Talents

Abraham-Louis Breguet’s contributions to horology, and indeed to the watch industry as we know it today, can hardly be overstated. His aesthetic sense – the Breguet style – remains a moving force in watch design more than 200 years after its creation. His notable achievements include, among others, the first watch designed to be worn on the wrist (ordered by Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples in 1810), the self-winding movement, the tourbillon regulator, “pare-chute” shock-protection, a balance-spring-powered travel clock that could function during transportation, a constant-force escapement, striking mechanisms, spring gongs, and the first watch designed to be read by touch. He created (though he did not personally complete) what may be the most famous timepiece in history, the beautiful and complex “Marie-Antoinette.”

Below, Breguet No. 1160, a modern recreation of the original No. 160 “Marie-Antoinette.”

His achievements brought Breguet a client list that included the Who’s Who of his age, including royalty, statesmen, military leaders and intellectuals: Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, King George IV of England, Napoleon Bonaparte, Marie-Antoinette, Tsar Alexander I of Russia, the Prince of Wales, the Empress Josephine, and the Duke of Wellington, to name but a few.

Breguet was also an astute entrepreneur. He built a broad distribution network for his timepieces by actively cultivating foreign markets and producing watches designed for their tastes. He introduced the simple “souscription” watch and allowed customers to secure their position by depositing one-quarter of the purchase price upon placing their order. This approach assured a steady flow of capital and work.

Yet despite his mind for business, Breguet’s heart clearly followed the artist’s path. Rather than serially producing identical watches, Breguet devoted time to details, and to experimentation. The result is that no two Breguet watches are exactly alike. It is thought that approximately 5000 timekeepers of all types bearing his name were produced during his lifetime, and each is a unique piece of history. Interestingly, previously unknown Breguet timepieces continue to surface today. In recent years, a few have been discovered in the collections of Russian museums.

Breguet achieved all this while “living during interesting times,” to paraphrase an old saying. He launched his career as a Parisian watchmaker in 1775, and by 1780 he was accepting orders from the royal family. His service to the very highest echelons of society placed him at risk during the French Revolution, and in 1793, he obtained an official passport and traveled to Switzerland. Breguet managed his business affairs and continued his technical developments there until his return to Paris in 1795. Following the Revolution, Breguet rebuilt his business and achieved his greatest successes, counting many members of the Bonaparte family among his clients. This association meant that Breguet’s timepieces witnessed history. For example, in April, 1798, General Bonaparte purchased two complicated watches and Breguet’s new spring-driven travel clock to use during his Egyptian Campaign.

Breguet’s achievements brought him widespread renown and gold-medal awards at national exhibitions. He was named a member of the French Académie des Sciences and he was awarded the insignia of chevalier of the Legion of Honour. He was, simply, the leading watchmaker of his day, and today he is widely acknowledged as the greatest watchmaker of all time. Yet Breguet was more than a watchmaker; he was and inventor, engineer, artist, craftsman and entrepreneur. He was a singular personality whose multifaceted accomplishments transcend time.

The Exhibition

The musée du Louvre provides the perfect setting for this exhibition. It is not only the world’s most well-known and prestigious museum, but Breguet lived about 500 meters from the spot where his life’s work is now on display. As one of the world’s great cultural institutions, the Louvre has also benefited from the generosity of Montres Breguet President and CEO Nicolas G. Hayek. In addition to selecting the Louvre to host the exhibition, Mr. Hayek is funding restoration work on the museum’s Louis XIV Wing – namely the Council of State Rooms and Salon Beauvais. This gift is part of Mr. Hayek’s ongoing mission to restore and preserve Europe’s cultural heritage.

The Louvre provides an unsurpassed setting for the exhibition.

Once inside, the exhibition is beautifully presented. The low light creates a hushed, reverent atmosphere, while the illumination in the displays shows off the historical treasures within to great effect. The exhibition is arranged chronologically, with 146 exhibits in eight sections covering every phase of Breguet’s career. The show’s horological highlights include three of Breguet’s most complicated watches. No. 45 displays both the Gregorian and the Republican “decimal” calendars. Breguet made only 3 Republican calendar timepieces. No. 1160, the modern recreation of the famous No. 160 “Marie-Antoinette” is also displayed. Its polished rock-crystal dial allows visitors to appreciate its exquisite, complex movement. The exhibition includes many other examples of Breguet’s technical achievements such as his Perpétuelle self-winding watches and multiple original tourbillons. There is also an unusual large-scale demonstration tourbillon that was later purchased by King George IV of England. Visitors will also see examples of the “pare-chute” shock-protection system, constant force escapements, and more.

Breguet No. 45

The demonstration tourbillon purchased by King George IV of England

The beautiful No. 5 quarter-repeating, self-winding watch is on display. To many, this is the quintessential Breguet timepiece. It is complicated yet thin. It reflects the highest levels of craftsmanship, yet it is not ostentatious. The crystal-clear displays are arranged asymmetrically. The dial incorporates the trademark guilloché, with blued steel “Breguet” hands, and “Breguet” numerals.

Breguet No. 5

At the other end of the aesthetic spectrum, visitors can view Empress Josephine Bonaparte’s medallion tact watch, No. 611, with its deep blue enamel case with a diamond-inlaid gold arrow and large diamonds marking the hours around the outer edge of the case.

Several important clocks are displayed, including the Sympathique set with Nos. 666 and 721, loaned by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, a pair of clocks with constant force escapements, and No. 178, the travel clock purchased by General Bonaparte for use during his Egyptian campaign, loaned by the Swiss National Museum in Zurich. The exhibit also includes marine chronometers, including one purchased by Tsar Alexander I of Russia for use by the Russian Navy.

Clocks with constant force escapements

No. 666 and No. 721 Sympathique clock and watch

No. 3778, travel clock with day and date indications

No. 3196, a twin-barrel marine chronometer.

For many, the chance to view original historical documents will match the thrill of the mechanical masterpieces, for these provide a rarely-seen window into Breguet’s inner world. In addition to the original tourbillon patent, visitors can view ledgers from Breguet’s workshop, including a page identifying the watchmakers who worked on No. 160 and the particular work each performed. As an aside, the numbers used to identify Breguet’s watches, such as No. 5 or No. 160, are based on numbers assigned to the timepieces in his ledgers. The exhibition also includes a workshop notebook with drawings and text in Breguet’s own hand.

The original tourbillon patent, issued in 1801.

A workshop notebook in the hand of Abraham-Louis Breguet.

The exhibition is curated by Marc Bascou, curator in the Department of Decorative Arts at the musée du Louvre, and by Emmanuel Breguet, a seventh-generation descendent of A.L. Breguet and a historian specializing in the works of Breguet at Montres Breguet S.A. It runs through September 7. Considering the more than 2 years of planning, the number of important loans and the never-before-seen pieces, the exhibition represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the most significant works by the greatest watchmaker of all time in the grandest of settings. If you appreciate fine watches, a singular experience awaits.

All images taken by the author, except: No. 3196 marine chronometer, No. 3778 travel clock, No. 666 and 721 Sympathique set, and the workshop notebook. Provided images used with permission.

Breguet built the first modern travel clock in 1796. He equipped it with a balance spring, successfully replacing the pendulum balance that was unfit for travel. Glass-covered on four sides and small in size, this clock bore the number 178. In April 1798, General Bonaparte purchased it to take with him on his Egyptian campaign.

Today, the Breguet collection still includes a travel clock fitted with both a hand-wound mechanical movement and thermometer, and it is on this clock that Breguet has based a limited series of seven travel clocks, the first of which, number one of seven, they have donated to Only Watch.

The clock is in the Art Deco style with columns and traditionally hand-guilloché dial. Breguet craftsmen still use guillochage lathes designed and built over a century ago. Once the dial plate has been hand-guillochaged, it is silver coated using techniques developed over two centuries ago. The well-finished, manual-winding movement in this clock is entirely made in Breguet’s Valley de Joux manufactory. The clock’s reverse contains a sapphire crystal through which you can view and appreciate the movement.

This unique timepiece will be offered on September 24 at the Only Watch auction conducted by Patrizzi & Co. during the Monaco Yacht Show. The auction enjoys the high patronage of HSH Prince Albert II, and all proceeds of the sale go to support research into Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.

Technical specifications
Breguet Travel Clock N°1/7
Only Watch 2009

Ref.: 6243AG/12/CR

Case: Silver 950.
- Face and back with guilloched gild plates
- Sides and top in rock crystal fitted on a silver plate

Movement: Hand-wound chronograph movement, numbered and signed “Breguet”
- Thermometer calibrated in both Celsius and Fahrenheit
- 8-day power reserve
- Cal. 564/1.
- 19 lines
- 7 jewels
- Lever escapement
- Monometallic balance-wheel, adjusted in 5 positions

Dial: Silver 925, hand guilloched, signed “Breguet”
- Chapter ring with Roman numerals
- Center seconds and minute totalizer
- Open-tipped blued steel Breguet hands

Temperature display: Thermometer calibrated in both Celsius and Fahrenheit
- Serpentine hand indicating the temperature

In 2004 Breguet launched a new interpretation of the Marine line, and for 2009 they introduce the Marine Royal Ref. 5847 with 300 meter water resistance and an alarm designed to operate under water. The case is an imposing 45mm and is available in 18k pink or white gold. Twin barrels provide the power – one for timekeeping and one for the alarm. Both barrels are wound by a single crown.

The Marine Royal naturally possesses the usual diver’s-watch features, including a unidirectional bezel inscribed with a graduated 20-minute sector. The bezel’s rotation is secured by a blocking pawl, visible and located between the two winding crowns on the case flank. The crowns screw down, and the alarm setting crown and on-off pushpiece, in gold, are sheathed in rubber for easier handling. To improve legibility, the minute markers and minute hand along with the hour hand are coated with white luminous superluminova, while the hour and alarm markers glow blue. Represented by a blue triangular pointer at 10 o’clock, the power-reserve indicator is also luminous.

The white gold Ref. 5847 comes with an 18k dial with black rhodium finish, while the pink gold version features an 18 kt pink gold dial. Both are manually engine-turned with the collection’s dedicated wave pattern. The white gold model is priced at $42,900 and the pink gold at $42,000.

Technical Specifications

Case: round, in 18K rose gold with finely fluted caseband. Sapphire-crystal glass with magnifying lens over the date at 6 o’clock. Manually engine-turned caseback fitted with a sapphire crystal. Diameter: 45 mm. Rounded horns welded to the case, screw pins securing the strap. Wave-shaped ratchet at 3 o’clock serving to ensure the bezel’s one-way rotation. Rubber-covered alarm on/off pushpiece at 8 o’clock. Alarm setting pushpiece at 4 o’clock sheathed in black rubber. Screw-locked crowns. Water-resistant to 300m.

Dial: 18K pink gold, displaying a wave pattern manually engraved on a rose engine. Individually numbered and signed BREGUET. Chapter ring with applied blued Roman numerals and luminous dots. Triangular hand at the center for setting the alarm time. Alarm power-reserve indication in an aperture between 9 and 11 o’clock. Alarm on/off indicator in a round aperture at 12 o’clock. Date at 6 o’clock. Facetted, open-tipped BREGUET hands in 18-carat blued gold, coated with a luminous compound.

Movement: self-winding mechanical, with alarm mechanism, numbered and signed BREGUET. Cal. 519R. 12 lines, 36 jewels. 45-hour power-reserve. Engine-turned 18K rose gold rotor. Frequency 4 Hz. Straight-line lever escapement. Balance-wheel with regulating screws. Adjusted in 5 positions.

Though it did not appear in Breguet’s press materials, the Classique 5967 was shown as a new model for 2009, and based on my conversations in Basel, this watch was very well received. During our meeting with Breguet, we learned that their in-house guilloché shop has been expanded, and this watch wears the first pattern developed in-house. Called Art Deco Damier, the name refers to a chess board, and it creates a rich, three-dimensional feel.

This thin watch measures 41mm in diameter – a nice size for a simple dress watch. Look through the display back and you will see a lovely, case-filling Frédéric Piguet cal. 506.2 pocket watch movement. The Classique 5967 is available in yellow gold priced at $16,400, and in white gold priced at $17,300. Look for the 5967 at retailers this fall.

An exhibition of Breguet timepieces will be held at the Louvre Museum from June 25 – September 7, 2009. The exhibition will be located in the Sully Wing, salle de la Chapelle. This event provides an exceptional opportunity to view an extraordinary variety of watches by Breguet, including items from the Louvre’s own collection and from the Breguet Museum. The exhibition will also display a number of remarkable items on loan from private collections and prestigious institutions such as the British Royal Collections, the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris, the Kremlin Museum and the Swiss National Museum. No. 1160, the modern Marie-Antoinette, is included in the exhibit.

Exhibition curators

Marc Bascou, curator, Department of Decorative Arts, at the musée du Louvre and Emmanuel Breguet, historian, specializing in the works of Breguet, at Montres Breguet S.A.

Visitor information:

Opening times: daily except Tuesdays, 9am-6pm. Late-night opening until 10 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Admission: access to the exhibition is included in the admission to the permanent collections of the museum: €9; €6 after 6pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. Free admission for under-26s from the European Union, under-18s, the unemployed, card-holders (Louvre jeunes, Louvre professionnels, Louvre enseignants and Louvre étudiants partenaires) and Friends of the Louvre. Free admission for everybody on the first
Sunday of the month.

Further information: +01 40 20 53 17 or visit www.louvre.fr

Below, Breguet No. 5, a quarter-repeating, self-winding watch. 1789-94. Sold to Count Journiac Saint-Méard in March 1794. Collection Montres Breguet S.A.

In 2008, Breguet introduced a new way of designing minute repeaters, fitting them with re-engineered movements incorporating new materials and featuring innovative positions for the gongs, gong rests and hammers. This patented technique is now available in Breguet minute repeater ref. 7639. The 44.5 mm case houses a minute repeater movement, but some might say the real treasure is on the outside. The 18K white gold case is set with 178 baguette-cut diamonds totaling 11.81 carats. The 18K gold dial is set with 392 princess-cut diamonds that are mounted upside down. The crown is set with one diamond weighing .46 carats. Even the folding buckle is set with 42 diamonds. If you’re keeping score, ref. 7639 carries diamonds totaling about 18 carats. The hand-wound movement, visible through the clear sapphire case back, is engraved by hand with a unique musical decoration. Priced at SFr. 1 million.

SPECIFICATIONS

Ref. 7639BB/6D/9XV DD0D

Case: round in 18K white gold fully set with baguette-cut diamonds. Rounded horns welded to the case, screw pins securing the strap. Setting: bezel, lugs, caseband, repeating-slide and crown set with 178 baguette-cut diamonds totalizing approx. 11.18 carats. Crown also set with one diamond (approx. 0.46 cts). Diameter 44.5 mm. Sapphire-crystal caseback.

Dial: in 18K gold, entirely paved with 392 princess-cut diamonds set in an invisible way with up side down gemstones. Individually numbered and signed BREGUET. Open-tipped BREGUET hands in blued steel.

Movement: hand-wound, with minute repeater, entirely engraved by hand with musical decoration. Numbered and signed BREGUET. 12 ½ lines. 31 jewels. Cal. 567/2. 40-hour power-reserve. Straight-line lever escapement. 2.5Hz balance-wheel with load screws. BREGUET overcoil. Adjusted in 5 positions.

Folding clasp in white gold set with 42 baguette-cut diamonds (approx. 0.89 cts).