Breguet is a Swiss-French manufacturer of luxury watches, jewellery, and clock. The brand was founded in Paris by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1775. It is now owned by the Swatch Group, which acquired it in 1999. The company's timepieces are among the most expensive in the world due to their craftsmanship, complexity and high-quality materials used. Among its most well-known inventions are the tourbillon (invented in 1801), which helps reduce the effects of gravity on the accuracy, and the self-winding mechanism (the Perpétuelle), invented in 1780. Another one of his creations was the world's first wristwatch (the No.2639 for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples).
Portrait of Caroline Bonaparte, queen of Naples and of the Two Sicilies, by François Gérard (1810 and 1812)
The name Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) stands out in the history of watchmaking. According to Gene Stone and Stephen Pulvirent in their book, The Watch, the Swiss-born Frenchman moved to Paris at age 15 and did most of his work there, although he did return to his native country during the turbulent French Revolution.
Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823)
Breguet made many contributions to the field of watchmaking, including inventing the automatic watch, creating the gong spring for minute repeaters (which rang bells), developing the tourbillon and overcoil hairspring. The inventor also helped create the keyless watch. At the time, all watches were winded and adjusted with external locks.
Breguet watches are still among the most sought-after today. Even though many watch mechanisms and design features carry the Breguet name, it is very difficult to separate true invention from inventive claims. In addition to being an inventor, Breguet was the world's first celebrity watchmaker.
In his novel The Count of Monte Cristo, Alexandre Dumas mentions Breguet.
“Mattre Pastrini drew from his fob a magnificent Breguet watch, bearing the name of its maker, the Paris stamp and a count's coronet. "There," he said. "Dear me," said Albert, "I congratulate you upon it; I have one almost the same." He took his watch out of his waistcoat, "And it cost me three thousand francs.” -The Count of Monte Cristo, 1845
In Lettre d'Espagne, French dramatist Prosper Mérimée also references Breguet.
“The traveler regrets taking so much money with him. He looks at his Breguet watch – perhaps it's for the last time. He would have been happier if it were hanging safely from his mantelpiece in Paris.” -Lettre d'Espagne,1830
Breguet launched his company in 1775 when his marriage to a wealthy woman provided him with the means to open his workshop. The company was very successful under Abraham-Louis's leadership, who passed it on to his son Antoine-Louis upon his death. Instead of running the firm, Antoine's son Louis-Clement sold it to Edward Brown, a Breguet repair shop manager.
In 1970, Breguet was purchased by Parisian jewellers Jacques and Pierre Chaumet; the company was subsequently bought and sold several times in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1999, it was acquired by the Swatch Group.
Swatch Group Companies:
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Louis-Clement Breguet's descendants later undertook pioneering work in the aeronautical industry. Today, Emmanuel Breguet, a 7th-generation Abraham-Louis descendant, has returned to the brand in Paris to compile archives.
While Breguet is best known for its dress watches, such as those in its Tradition and Classique collections featuring calendar displays and tourbillons, the brand has also produced several chronographs. Breguet watches have become known for their decorated hand-engraved silver dials on gold cases, with riveting and reed edges. This is an inspiration to the brand's original pocket watch design.
Breguet Type XX
The Type XX aeronautical chronograph, designed in the early 19th century, was adopted by the French Air Force in the 1950s. It is still one of Breguet's best-selling watches today. These classic watches are still popular with collectors and aviation enthusiasts.
Breguet Type XXI 3817 (image source)
Breguet continues to invest in the development of its own movements, especially complex ones. The company acquired Lemania in the early 1990s and incorporated it into Breguet as part of the Swatch Group.
Breguet Lemania 5247BR
Although Abraham-Louis Breguet is widely known as the greatest watchmaker ever, his company has had good and bad times. Breguet has created large tourbillons, fusing and chain mechanisms, high-frequency escapes, astronomical complications, and musical chiming watches.
Abraham-Louis Breguet created several watches with off-centre dials, and modern companies have also done so, especially for complications. Likewise, Breguet made various kinds of tourbillons--inventing the device in 1801 to counteract the effects of gravity on the escapement.
Breguet: Daniel Roth
In the 1970s and 1980s, Daniel Roth helped re-establish its reputation with new designs that were inspired by Breguet's early 19th-century pocket watch; these included a coin-edge case, distinctive hands, solid gold guilloche dial and a series of classic complications associated with its founder.
In 2023-2024, Louis Vuitton will assume control of Daniel Roth, a watchmaker whose name was once synonymous with precision. The new Daniel Roth will be run under the supervision of Michel Navas and Enrico Barbasini, both pioneering craftsmen behind Louis Vuitton's La Fabrique du Temps watchmaking atelier. Details are scarce as to what the new Daniel Roth collection will look like, but Louis Vuitton has teased a return to form: Only a few hundred pieces per year will be produced.
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