106th Auction

2022/5/21

Lot 436

Abraham Louis Breguet

An important quarter repeating "à toc" pocket watch with lever escapement according to Robert Robin, sold to Monsieur Fabre Loncle on June 28, 1793 for 1680 Francs - with Breguet extract from the archives no. 4710

Sold

estimated
20.00030.000 €
Price realized
25.000 €
specific features
Case
18 K rose gold, case maker Guillaume Mermillod, punch mark "B82".
Dial
Enamel.
Movement
Full plate movement, keywind, 2 hammers, temperature compensated balance spring, chain/fusee, three-arm steel ring balance.
Case no.B82
Diam.50 mm
Circa1792
Ctry.France
Wt.91 g


Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), universally recognized as the most eminent watchmaker of the 18th century Breguet started his company in 1775 in Paris and put all his energy into the improvement of watch movements. He detached himself from the trends of his time and developed his own timeless style where form followed function. Breguet's unmistakable trademarks were his perfectly engine-turned dials and cases; the turning devices were the most complex and precise machines constructed in the 17th and 18th century. Breguet, however, found fame with his ingenious Inventions such as the shock protection, the temperature compensation, the ruby cylinder, the constant force escapement, and finally his masterpiece the tourbillon. Breguet's developments are still used in today's mechanical watches; some of them have been enhanced since his time but some still have their original form.