92nd Auction
2015/11/14
Lot 45
Breguet et fils, Paris, 640 mm, circa 1830
An important classicistic mantel clock with half hour/hour self strike, month and date indication and central seconds
Case: rosewood, brass inlays, four square columns, glazed on all sides, rising hood. Dial: silvered, radial Roman hours, centre seconds, signed, additional eccentric dial with enamel chapter ring for month and date indicator, blued Breguet hands. Movm.: square brass full plate movement, polished, signed, moulded movement pillars, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 large barrels, precision pin wheel escapement, compensation grid-iron pendulum with spring suspension, heavy brass pendulum bob.
Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a Swiss watchmaker born to Hugenot parents in Neuchâtel. He studied watchmaking for 10 years under Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine before setting up his own watchmaking business in Paris at 51 Quai de l'Horloge on the Île de la Cité in Paris. The dowry that came with his marriage to the daughter of a prosperous French bourgeois provided the backing which allowed him to open his own workshop. Breguet's connections made during his apprenticeship as a watchmaker and as a student of mathematics helped him to establish his business. Following his introduction to the court, Queen Marie Antoinette grew fascinated by Breguet's unique self-winding watch; Louis XVI bought several of his watches. In 1783 the Swedish count, Axel Von Fersen, who was the queen's friend and reputed lover commissioned a watch from Breguet that was to contain every watch complication known at that time as a gift to Marie Antoinette, – Breguet's masterpiece, the Marie Antoinette (No. 160).
The business was a success, and around 1807 he took on his son Louis-Antoine as his partner, renaming the firm "Breguet et Fils" (Breguet and Sons). Louis-Antoine took over the firm upon the death of his father in 1823. After Louis-Antoine retired in 1833 (he died in 1858) the business was passed to Abraham-Louis' grandson Louis Clément Francois (1804–1883). Abraham-Louis' great-grandson Louis Antoine (1851–1882) was the last of the Breguet family to run the business.
An important classicistic mantel clock with half hour/hour self strike, month and date indication and central seconds
Case: rosewood, brass inlays, four square columns, glazed on all sides, rising hood. Dial: silvered, radial Roman hours, centre seconds, signed, additional eccentric dial with enamel chapter ring for month and date indicator, blued Breguet hands. Movm.: square brass full plate movement, polished, signed, moulded movement pillars, 1 hammer / 1 bell, 2 large barrels, precision pin wheel escapement, compensation grid-iron pendulum with spring suspension, heavy brass pendulum bob.
Breguet was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet, a Swiss watchmaker born to Hugenot parents in Neuchâtel. He studied watchmaking for 10 years under Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine before setting up his own watchmaking business in Paris at 51 Quai de l'Horloge on the Île de la Cité in Paris. The dowry that came with his marriage to the daughter of a prosperous French bourgeois provided the backing which allowed him to open his own workshop. Breguet's connections made during his apprenticeship as a watchmaker and as a student of mathematics helped him to establish his business. Following his introduction to the court, Queen Marie Antoinette grew fascinated by Breguet's unique self-winding watch; Louis XVI bought several of his watches. In 1783 the Swedish count, Axel Von Fersen, who was the queen's friend and reputed lover commissioned a watch from Breguet that was to contain every watch complication known at that time as a gift to Marie Antoinette, – Breguet's masterpiece, the Marie Antoinette (No. 160).
The business was a success, and around 1807 he took on his son Louis-Antoine as his partner, renaming the firm "Breguet et Fils" (Breguet and Sons). Louis-Antoine took over the firm upon the death of his father in 1823. After Louis-Antoine retired in 1833 (he died in 1858) the business was passed to Abraham-Louis' grandson Louis Clément Francois (1804–1883). Abraham-Louis' great-grandson Louis Antoine (1851–1882) was the last of the Breguet family to run the business.
Sold
estimated
20.000—30.000 €
Price realized
27.300 €