NEWS
BREGUET ACQUIRES
REMARKABLE PIECES AND
HISTORIC DOCUMENTS FOR
ITS MUSEUM
The Breguet Museum and its President and CEO, Marc A. Hayek, acquired
two exceptional antique watches and letters of great historical value at
three auctions held in November and December in Geneva and Paris. One
of these objects, the recently discovered Breguet N°3104, is testament to
the genius of A.-L. Breguet, to whom we owe the invention of the gongspring for repeater watches in 1783.
The Breguet N°3104 pocket watch, bought from Antiquorum in November, recently resurfaced after over 140 years in the possession of an illustrious European family. Initially sold in 1818 to His Royal Highness the Infante
Francisco de Paula of Spain, Count of Moratalla, this piece is one of the rare
and highly prestigious minute repeaters made by A.-L. Breguet. This 62.5
mm wide pocket watch in 18-carat gold features a jumping hours hand and
a case & dial adorned in guilloche’ by Pierre-Benjamin Tavernier. Adorned
with the Breguet secret signature on both sides of the number 12, the dial
is enhanced by ‘open-tipped’ hands in blued steel, commonly known as
Breguet hands, invented by the watchmaker in the same year that he introduced the gong-spring. This exceptional piece houses a 22’’ calibre with
visible inverted cylinder escapement. The repeater spring operates on two
gongs struck by two hammers activated by a piston situated in the pendant
of the watch.
The second piece (not pictured here) acquired by Breguet is the N°4720.
It is a very fine tact watch with a regulating dial, sold to Casimir Périer in
1841. This timepiece is adorned with a yellow gold, hand-guilloché hunter
case, along with a double chain and key. Its satin-brushed silver dial features two counters – for the hours and 30 seconds – as well as a central
minute hand. The watch is adjusted around the edge of the 30-second
counter. The external hand, characteristic of tact watches, here takes on a
serpentine form.
The third Breguet acquisition is a collection of ten historic letters
regarding the House’s business in Russia from 1808 to 1810. The letters
now enhancing the collection in the Breguet Museum, bought on 2nd
December at the auctioneers Aguttes, were sent to Moreau by Breguet
senior and junior. Brought to auction by Moreau’s descendants, they provide fascinating insights into the business activities of Breguet during its
founder’s lifetime.
The House is delighted to include these new objects in its large collection of antique watches and manuscripts. It invites all enthusiasts of history,
culture and prestige watchmaking to discover its fabulous heritage, now on
display at its museums in Paris, Zurich and Shanghai.
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WRISTWATCH | 2016
CORUM IS PROUD TO
WELCOME A NEW TIMEPIECE
IN ITS MUSEUM COLLECTION
After being worn by 6 consecutive US Presidents such as President Bush,
Ronald Reagan, Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton, one of our heritage Coin watch was discovered and regained. This particular timepiece belonged to the Warhol collection until the early 90’s after
which it was acquired by a US private collector. The historical heritage of
this piece is now perpetuated by its integration into the Corum Museum.