Marie Antoinette (watch)
Encyclopedia
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 admirer of the French 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....

. The watch was to contain every watch function known at that time, including the following:
  • Clock
    Clock
    A clock is an instrument used to indicate, keep, and co-ordinate time. The word clock is derived ultimately from the Celtic words clagan and clocca meaning "bell". A silent instrument missing such a mechanism has traditionally been known as a timepiece...

  • Perpetual calendar
    Perpetual calendar
    A perpetual calendar is a calendar which is good for a span of many years, such as the Runic calendar.- General information :...

  • Minute repeater
    Minute repeater
    A repeater is a complication in a mechanical watch or clock that audibly chimes the hours and often minutes at the press of a button. There are many types of repeater, from the simple repeater which merely strikes the number of hours, to the minute repeater which chimes the time down to the...

  • Thermometer
    Thermometer
    Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer is a device that measures temperature or temperature gradient using a variety of different principles. A thermometer has two important elements: the temperature sensor Developed during the 16th and 17th centuries, a thermometer (from the...

  • Chronograph
    Chronograph
    A chronograph is a timepiece or watch with both timekeeping and stopwatch functions as well as other functions. Pocket watch chronographs were produced as early as the 18th century but did not become popular until the 1820s...

  • Power reserve
    Power reserve
    Power Reserve Indicator is a complication of the watch, which is designed to show the amount of remaining stored energy. The power reserve indicator indicates the tension on the mainspring at any particular moment.-Overview:...

  • Pare-Chute


Marie Antoinette never lived to see the watch, as it was completed 34 years after she had been executed. This watch was part of the watch collection at the L.A. Mayer Institute for Islamic Art in Jerusalem, having been donated as part of the David Lionel Salomons collection. It was stolen by renowned master-thief Na'aman Diller with many other watches in 1983 - although it has been recovered in 2007.

Watchmakers from Breguet
Breguet (watch)
Breguet is a manufacturer of luxury watches, founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Currently part of The Swatch Group, its timepieces are now produced in the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland...

, supported by Swatch chairman Nicolas Hayek
Nicolas Hayek
Nicolas George Hayek , was a Swiss-Lebanese entrepreneur, co-founder, CEO and Chairman of the Board of the Swatch Group, with principal headquarters in Biel/Bienne.-Life and background:...

, tried to make a copy of the watch in 2005. The watch was finished after three years and presented to the public in a wooden case made out of the favorite tree of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
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