Breguet (watch)
Encyclopedia
Watch
A watch is a small timepiece, typically worn either on the wrist or attached on a chain and carried in a pocket, with wristwatches being the most common type of watch used today. They evolved in the 17th century from spring powered clocks, which appeared in the 15th century. The first watches were...
es, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now (since 1976) produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. Breguet is one of the oldest surviving watch-making establishments and is the pioneer of numerous watch-making technologies, the most notable being the tourbillon
Tourbillon
In horology, a tourbillon is an addition to the mechanics of a watch escapement. Developed around 1795 by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet from an earlier idea by the English chronometer maker John Arnold a tourbillon aims to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the...
, invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet. Breguet has recently introduced a line of writing instruments as a tribute to writers who mention or feature Breguet watches in their works. Breguet watches are often easily recognized for their coin-edge cases, guilloché
Guilloché
Guilloché is a decorative engraving technique in which a very precise intricate repetitive pattern or design is mechanically engraved into an underlying material with fine detail...
dials and blue pomme hands (often now referred to as 'Breguet hands').
History
Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet. His first known address was at 51 Quai de l'Horloge on the Île de la CitéÎle de la Cité
The Île de la Cité is one of two remaining natural islands in the Seine within the city of Paris . It is the centre of Paris and the location where the medieval city was refounded....
in Paris. Thanks to his marriage to the daughter of a prosperous French bourgeois, her dowry provided the backing which allowed him to open his own workshop. The connections Breguet had made with scholarly people during his apprenticeship as a watchmaker and as a student of mathematics soon paid off. Following his introduction to the court, Queen Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
grew fascinated by Breguet's unique self-winding watch; Louis XVI bought several of his watches and legend has it that Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette ; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was an Archduchess of Austria and the Queen of France and of Navarre. She was the fifteenth and penultimate child of Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa and Holy Roman Emperor Francis I....
commissioned the watch that was to contain every watch function known at that time - Breguet's masterpiece, the Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette (watch)
The Breguet No. 160 grand complication, more commonly known as the Marie-Antoinette or the Queen, is a case watch designed by Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. Work on the watch was begun in 1782 and completed in 1827, four years after Breguet's death.The watch was commisioned in 1783 by an...
(No. 160).
The business grew from strength to strength, and around 1807 he took on his son Louis Antoine as his partner, and the firm then became known as Breguet et Fils. After Abraham-Louis Breguet died in 1823 the firm carried on under his son Louis-Antoine. After Louis-Antoine retired in 1833 (he died in 1858) the business continued under Abraham-Louis' grandson Louis Clément Francois (1984-1883). 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 Breguet took on noted English watchmaker Edward Brown of Clerkenwell to look after the Paris factory. Brown eventually became a partner and, after Breguet's death, the owner and head of the company. When Brown died in 1895 the firm was taken over by his sons Edward and Henry. On Edward's retirement in the early 1900s, Henry Brown became the head of the firm.
Contemporary production
Gentlemen's:- Classique: Simple, Grandes Complications - popular round pieces, usually with reeded bezels and soldered lugs
- Marine - water-resistant, distinguished by the presence of crown guards.
- Heritage - tonneau-shaped cases
- Type XX,XXI - sturdy chronographs, based on World War II-era pilots' watches.
- La Tradition - similar to the long gone Souscription by Breguet, open-faced watches with the movement on the front, along with a small face
Women's: (mainly distinguished by diamonds)
- Classique
- Marine
- Heritage
- Type XX
- Reine de Naples - oval bezels
Breguet's distinguished patrons:
- Louis Philippe I, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe I, Duke of OrléansLouis Philippe d'Orléans known as le Gros , was a French nobleman, a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the dynasty then ruling France. The First Prince of the Blood after 1752, he was the most senior male at the French court after the immediate royal family. He was the father of...
(1780) - Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France (1782)
- Louis XVI, King of France (1783)
- Charles de Choiseul-PraslinCharles de Choiseul-PraslinCharles Laure Hugues Théobald, duc de Choiseul-Praslin was a French nobleman and politician, who served as a member of the Chamber of Deputies in 1838–1842...
, Duc de Choiseul-Praslin - Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, 1st Sovereign Prince of BeneventumBeneventoBenevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
(1787) - Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, Marquis de CondorcetMarquis de CondorcetMarie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet , known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist whose Condorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election...
(1792) - Joséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de BeauharnaisJoséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte, and thus the first Empress of the French. Her first husband Alexandre de Beauharnais had been guillotined during the Reign of Terror, and she had been imprisoned in the Carmes prison until her release five days after Alexandre's...
, French Empress (1798) - Napoleon Bonaparte, French Emperor (1798)
- General Charles Victor Emmanuel Leclerc, (1801)
- George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales, later George IVGeorge IV of the United KingdomGeorge IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
(1803) - Giovanni PaisielloGiovanni PaisielloGiovanni Paisiello was an Italian composer of the Classical era.-Life:Paisiello was born at Taranto and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and...
, Italian composer (1804) - William, Prince of Wurttemberg, later William I of WürttembergWilliam I of WürttembergWilliam I was the second King of Württemberg from October 30, 1816 until his death.He was born in Lüben, the son of King Frederick I of Württemberg and his wife Duchess Augusta of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel .-First marriage:...
(1805) - Louis Antoine de BougainvilleLouis Antoine de BougainvilleLouis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of James Cook, he took part in the French and Indian War and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain...
, French explorer - Selim IIISelim IIISelim III was the reform-minded Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1789 to 1807. The Janissaries eventually deposed and imprisoned him, and placed his cousin Mustafa on the throne as Mustafa IV...
, Sultan of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman EmpireThe Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
(1806) - Caroline Murate, Queen of NaplesKingdom of NaplesThe Kingdom of Naples, comprising the southern part of the Italian peninsula, was the remainder of the old Kingdom of Sicily after secession of the island of Sicily as a result of the Sicilian Vespers rebellion of 1282. Known to contemporaries as the Kingdom of Sicily, it is dubbed Kingdom of...
(1807) - Tsar Alexander I of RussiaAlexander I of RussiaAlexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....
(1809) - George III, King of England (1810)
- Duke of Infantado, General and main Spanish opponent of Napoleon Bonaparte.
- Prince Alexey Fyodorovich OrlovOrlovOrlov is the name of a Russian noble family which produced several distinguished statesmen, diplomatists and soldiers. The family first gained distinction in the person of four Orlov brothers, of whom the senior was Catherine the Great's paramour, and the two junior were notable military...
(1810) - Prince Stanisław Poniatowski (1754–1833), Polish Prince (1811)
- Prince Ferdinand of Spain, later Ferdinand VII of Spain (1812)
- Infante Carlos, Count of MolinaInfante Carlos, Count of MolinaThe Infante Carlos of Spain was the second surviving son of King Charles IV of Spain and of his wife, Maria Luisa of Parma. As Carlos V he was the first of the Carlist claimants to the throne of Spain...
, Prince of Spain (1812) - Baron Jean-Conrad HottinguerBaron Jean-Conrad HottinguerBaron Jean-Conrad Hottinguer was a Swiss-born banker who later became a Baron of the French empire.-Early life:...
, swiss banker (1812) - Michel NeyMichel NeyMichel Ney , 1st Duc d'Elchingen, 1st Prince de la Moskowa was a French soldier and military commander during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one of the original 18 Marshals of France created by Napoleon I...
, Marshal of FranceMarshal of FranceThe Marshal of France is a military distinction in contemporary France, not a military rank. It is granted to generals for exceptional achievements...
(1813) - Archduchess Maria Luisa of Austria, Empress of France (1813)
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(1814) - George Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of MarlboroughGeorge Spencer-Churchill, 6th Duke of Marlborough DCL , styled Earl of Sunderland until 1817 and Marquess of Blandford between 1817 and 1840, was a British peer...
(1818) - Henry Howard, 13th Duke of NorfolkHenry Howard, 13th Duke of NorfolkHenry Charles Howard, 13th Duke of Norfolk, KG, PC , styled Earl of Surrey between 1815 and 1842, was a British Whig politician.-Background:...
(1821) - Louis XVIII, King of France (1821)
- Count Axel von Fersen, Swedish diplomat (1835)
- Queen Victoria of the United KingdomVictoria of the United KingdomVictoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
(1838) - George WashingtonGeorge WashingtonGeorge Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, 1st American PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.... - Charles Auguste Louis Joseph, Duc de MornyCharles Auguste Louis Joseph, duc de MornyCharles Auguste Louis Joseph Demorny/de Morny, 1st Duc de Morny was a French statesman...
(1841) - Gioachino Rossini, italian composer (1843)
- Horace VernetHorace VernetÉmile Jean-Horace Vernet was a French painter of battles, portraits, and Orientalist Arab subjects.Vernet was born to Carle Vernet, another famous painter, who was himself a son of Claude Joseph Vernet. He was born in the Paris Louvre, while his parents were staying there during the French...
, french painter (1855) - Philippe, Comte de ParisPhilippe, Comte de ParisPhilippe d'Orléans, Count of Paris was the grandson of Louis Philippe I, King of the French. He was a claimant to the French throne from 1848 until his death.-Early life:...
(1863) - Sir Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
, British Prime MinisterPrime Minister of the United KingdomThe Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
(1901) - Fuad I, was the SultanSultan of EgyptSultan of Egypt was the status held by the rulers of Egypt after the establishment of the Ayyubid Dynasty of Saladin in 1174 until the Ottoman conquest of Egypt in 1517. Though the extent of the Egyptian Sultanate ebbed and flowed, it generally included Sham and Hejaz, with the consequence that the...
and later KingKing of EgyptKing of Egypt was the title used by the ruler of Egypt between 1922 and 1951. When the United Kingdom ended its protectorate over Egypt on 28 February 1922, Egypt's Sultan Fouad I issued a decree on 15 March 1922 whereby he adopted the title of King of Egypt...
of EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and SudanSudanSudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
, Sovereign of NubiaNubiaNubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
, Kordofan, and DarfurDarfurDarfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
. (1924) - Arthur RubinsteinArthur RubinsteinArthur Rubinstein KBE was a Polish-American pianist. He received international acclaim for his performances of the music of a variety of composers...
, Master pianist (1930) - Sergei RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
, Composer (1931) - Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti, founder of the automobile company (1932)
- Prince George of Greece and DenmarkPrince George of Greece and Denmarkalign=right| Prince George of Greece and Denmark was the second son of King George I of the Hellenes and Grand Duchess Olga, and is remembered chiefly for having saved the life of a future Emperor of Russia, Nicholas II...
(1934) - Edward VIII, later The Duke of WindsorDuke of WindsorThe title Duke of Windsor was created in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1937 for Prince Edward, the former King Edward VIII, following his abdication in December 1936. The dukedom takes its name from the town where Windsor Castle, a residence of English monarchs since the Norman Conquest, is...
(1950) - Mohammed Salih Hagos, Eritrean Ambassador to Switzerland (1953)
- Lola AstanovaLola AstanovaLola Astanova is a Soviet-born pianist, noted for her interpretations of compositions by Chopin, Liszt and Rachmaninoff.-Life:At the age of six Lola entered the elite V...
, Virtuoso pianist - Nicolas SarkozyNicolas SarkozyNicolas Sarkozy is the 23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. He assumed the office on 16 May 2007 after defeating the Socialist Party candidate Ségolène Royal 10 days earlier....
, French president - Dmitry MedvedevDmitry MedvedevDmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev is the third President of the Russian Federation.Born to a family of academics, Medvedev graduated from the Law Department of Leningrad State University in 1987. He defended his dissertation in 1990 and worked as a docent at his alma mater, now renamed to Saint...
, Russian president - Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
, Russian author - Aristotle OnassisAristotle OnassisAristotle Sokratis Onassis , commonly called Ari or Aristo Onassis, was a prominent Greek shipping magnate.- Early life :Onassis was born in Karatass, a suburb of Smyrna to Socrates and Penelope Onassis...
, Greek shipping magnate - Victor HugoVictor HugoVictor-Marie Hugo was a Frenchpoet, playwright, novelist, essayist, visual artist, statesman, human rights activist and exponent of the Romantic movement in France....
, writerWriterA writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images.... - Charles, Prince of WalesCharles, Prince of WalesPrince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
, English heir to the throne - Maestro Valery GergievValery GergievValery Abisalovich Gergiev is a Russian conductor and opera company director. He is general director and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, and artistic director of the White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg.- Early life :Gergiev,...
, Russia - Kirill I of Moscow, Russian Orthodox bishop who has been Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus.
- Olek Boyko, investor, Kiev
- Ainārs ŠlesersAinārs ŠlesersAinārs Šlesers is a Latvian politician. He is a member of the LPP/LC and a deputy of the 9th Saeima .-External links:*...
, Vice-Mayor of Riga, Latvia
Fictional owners:
- Dr. Lorrain, famous Petersburg doctor, in Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's War and PeaceWar and PeaceWar and Peace is a novel by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy, first published in 1869. The work is epic in scale and is regarded as one of the most important works of world literature... - Hadji Murad, in Leo TolstoyLeo TolstoyLev Nikolayevich Tolstoy was a Russian writer who primarily wrote novels and short stories. Later in life, he also wrote plays and essays. His two most famous works, the novels War and Peace and Anna Karenina, are acknowledged as two of the greatest novels of all time and a pinnacle of realist...
's Hadji MuradHadji MuradHadji Murad was an important Avar leader during the resistance of the peoples of Dagestan and Chechnya in 1811-1864 against the incorporation of the region into Russian Empire.-Alliance with Russia:... - Dr. Stephen Maturin in Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian, CBE , born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centred on the friendship of English Naval Captain Jack Aubrey and the Irish–Catalan physician Stephen...
's Aubrey–Maturin series - Baron Danglars from DumasAlexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
' The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844... - Viscount Albert de Morcerf from DumasAlexandre Dumas, pèreAlexandre Dumas, , born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie was a French writer, best known for his historical novels of high adventure which have made him one of the most widely read French authors in the world...
' The Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte CristoThe Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844... - Eugene Onegin in Alexander Pushkin's Eugene OneginEugene OneginEugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
- Gerald Duncan in Jeffery Deaver's "The Cold Moon"
- Nicholas FandorinNicholas FandorinNicholas Fandorin is the protagonist of three novels by Boris Akunin, subtitled ' "adventures of the magister [viz., the MA]". The uniting concept of the series is that each novel combines two storylines, one set in present-day Russia , and a related one set in the Tsarist Russia .*2001: Altyn...
in Boris AkuninBoris AkuninBoris Akunin is the pen name of Grigory Shalvovich Chkhartishvili , a Russian writer. He is an essayist, literary translator and writer of detective fiction.-Life and career:...
's series of adventure novels. The watch was a gift from the Czar (King). - Eugène de RastignacEugène de RastignacEugène de Rastignac is a fictional character from La Comédie humaine series of novels by Honoré de Balzac. He appears as a main character in Le Père Goriot and his social advancement in the post-revolutionary French world depicted by Balzac can be followed through Rastignac's various appearances...
in Honoré de BalzacHonoré de BalzacHonoré de Balzac was a French novelist and playwright. His magnum opus was a sequence of short stories and novels collectively entitled La Comédie humaine, which presents a panorama of French life in the years after the 1815 fall of Napoleon....
's Le Père GoriotLe Père GoriotLe Père Goriot is an 1835 novel by French novelist and playwright Honoré de Balzac , included in the Scènes de la vie Parisienne section of his novel sequence La Comédie humaine...
. The watch was a gift from Goriot's daughter, Delphine. - Monique Lamont in the Win Garano series by Patricia CornwellPatricia CornwellPatricia Cornwell is a contemporary American crime writer. She is widely known for writing a popular series of novels featuring the heroine Dr. Kay Scarpetta, a medical examiner.-Early life:...
- Wealthy investor Carl Van Loon, portrayed by Robert De Niro, in the 2011 film, "LimitlessLimitlessLimitless is one of the world's largest private superyachts. She was built in 1997 by German shipmaker Lürssen, designed under the direction of Jon Bannenberg. The overall length is 96,25 m , the width 12,50 m...
"
Trivia
- Breguet offered a piece to navigator BougainvilleLouis Antoine de BougainvilleLouis-Antoine, Comte de Bougainville was a French admiral and explorer. A contemporary of James Cook, he took part in the French and Indian War and the unsuccessful French attempt to defend Canada from Britain...
as he was organizing his great expedition to the North Pole. - Member of the American Watch Guild
External links
- Official site
- Breguet 1747-1823 - online edition of the seminal 1921 biography by Sir David Salomons, hosted by Archive.org
- History and pictures of the brand
- Breguet watches in the Hermitage Museum