Breguet

When talking about Breguet watches, not only are they recorded in watch history, but they are also recorded in world history. On 16 October 1793, several months after her husband King Louis XVI being executed, French Queen Marie-Antoinette could not escape being sent to guillotine to be beheaded.

When Queen Marie-Antoinette was alive, she was infatuated with the watches made by A.-L. Breguet so much that she was one of the most loyal fans. Before the execution, Queen Marie-Antoinette went to Quai de l’Horloge, located in central Paris, very often and bought watches manufactured by the Breguet workshop. Even when she was imprisoned in Temple prison, Queen Marie-Antoinette still ordered products from Breguet. She received a simple and plain Breguet pocket watch in September 1792 and this pocket watch has been a precious relic since then.

In April 1798, a month before conquering Egypt, Napoleon Bonaparte bought three extra representative Breguet pieces: a No. 38 insulating escapement travelling calendar and repeating clock, a No. 178 perpétuelle repeating watch and a No. 216 perpetuelle automatically winding repeating watch. These three watches fulfilled Napoleon’s two purposes. First, as a rapidly-rising talent in politics, Napoleon had long been searching for an exquisite piece to represent his power and social status. In a practical sense, Napoleon needed a portable and highly reliable watch for his long-distanced conquers. In the war in Egypt, Breguet timers had greatly helped him get various remarkable victories. But it was said that the No. 216 perpétuelle automatically winding repeating watch was returned in 1801 due to its low resistance to sand in Egypt.

The watch-making standards set by the creator A.-L. Breguet (1747-1823) had been the golden rules highly respected in the watch-making industry and this contributed to the unparalleled position of Breguet watches in history. A.-L. Breguet was born in Neuchâtel in Switzerland. He spent most of his life manufacturing watches in Paris since 15. Breguet delved into watch-making techniques and the numerous inventions done by him marked significant influences on the watches industry. Now, each wrist watch manufactured by the descendents of Breguet’s is still the premium masterpiece of watches.

In 2009, a notable watches display show was held in Louvre Museum in France. People could not only further understand the watch-making techniques of Breguet watches, they could also take a look at the techniques which were highly desired by Napoleon. Such a display show was the retrospection of the founder Breguet’s masterpieces. Only paying the rent is not enough for showcasing the arts pieces at Louvre Museum. Each display item must have an important historical value and a far-reaching significance to the development of arts. All these have made the item an arts masterpiece and be eligible for the display. All the exhibits at this display show were borrowed for display in the name of national museum. So, Queen Elizabeth and Kremlin in Moscow agreed to lend the most important and precious collections. Also, many precious exhibits were borrowed from the museums in Paris and Switzerland for display. Last but not least, at the auction held in Geneva in 2010, the 354-page manuscript written by A.-L. Breguet during 1818 – 1823 was sold at 2,300,000 Swiss Francs.

**no guarantee about story is completely accurate and existed difference**