Breguet History and Chronographs

The History of Breguet, Part 1

Breguet in his younger years

That same year, he married Cécile Marie-Louise Lhuillier, the daughter of a founding Parisian bourgeois family, and part of her dowry probably went towards making watches.

With Ave Mari's guidance, Breguet soon received its first orders from members of the upper classes, including automatic watches such as the "Duc d'Orléans" in 1780 and the "Marie Antoinette" in 1782.

His self-winding or "perpetual" watches created a great deal of excitement at Versailles and throughout Europe. Although Breguet was not the first to make a self-winding watch, most experts agree that he was the first truly reliable and effective watch.


The clocks above and below are examples of Breguet's "perpetual" clocks, which are driven by the weight of a pendulum, a spring, which returns after each movement, pushing up two barrels and stopping when the springs are pushed up sufficiently.







Breguet watches achieved rapid success not only for the quality of their internal mechanisms but also for their design. Consider just the hands of the watches he designed in 1783. Made of gold or blued steel, they are decorated with unusual circular patterns with holes, which add an attractive elegance to the watch. The success of Breguet's hands is instantaneous, as evidenced by the fact that the term "Breguet hands" was soon included in the watchmaking vocabulary.



He used a white enamel plate for the dial, with typical Arabic numerals slightly tilted to the right, or a guilloche pattern, i.e. a reception pattern engraved on the dial using a manual turning. This guilloche pattern was not only decorative, but also served to reduce the glare of the metal dial.

In 1783, Breguet received a commission from one of Marie Antoinette's guards to make a watch as a gift for Queen Marie Antoinette, one of his watch's most ardent fans. The watch for the queen had to have all the functions known at the time. The commission had no delivery deadline or cost limit. The watch was completed in 1827, 44 years after the order was received and 34 years after Marie Antoinette's death. However, the result is considered by many watch experts to be the most important watch ever made for technical, aesthetic and historical reasons. Read more about the special watch, Breguet No. 160 "Marie Antoinette" here.

Other notable inventions of later years were the "Gonspring" (1783), a clock that struck a bell instead of a bell, followed by the "Parachute" (1790), or "elastic suspension" clock (as Breguet sometimes called it), a clock with a shock-resistant construction that made the clock more durable and resistant to shocks.



On the right is the minute repeater watch "Gonspring " and on the right is the "Parachute" which incorporates a structure to protect against shocks.


Breguet worked alone until 1787, when he made a partnership with Xavier Guidot, a dealer in clocks and watches, with whom Breguet gained further access to trade.

Although unsuccessful in 1791, this partnership was very important in the history of Breguet, as it provided the company with archival records of sales and factory costs, providing invaluable information.



As an example, for automatic watches, records show that Breguet sold 60 "Parachutes" between 1787 and 1823, and since there are no records for the years between 1780 and 1787, we can assume that between 20 and 30 watches were produced during that period.

However, this was a very dangerous time, as the storm of the French Revolution was rapidly approaching, especially for those close to the nobility and royal family.

By good fortune, Breguet became close friends with a revolutionary leader named Jean-Paul Marats, whose sister, Albertine, made watch hands for the watchmaker, and legend has it that Breguet rescued Marats from an angry mob that had gathered outside the home of a mutual acquaintance.

When Marat learned that Breguet was facing execution by guillotine, he arranged for Breguet to leave Paris and travel safely to Geneva, and then he moved to a place called Le Locle, where he set up a small workshop employing a small number of men.

In 1795, with the political situation in France now stable, Breguet returned to Paris, only to find his workshop destroyed. His friends, especially the Choisrouprasand family, helped him to re-establish his company on the Quai de l'Horloge.

The army and navy were in dire need of reliable watches, so Breguet's return was welcomed: the company was compensated for time lost during the terror and exempted from military service to hasten the rebuilding of its factories.

Although Breguet's years in exile were a serious blow to his work, he nevertheless used his time to develop a number of exceptional ideas and inventions which were soon recorded to have great success in the following years.

His technical and stylistic talents were not the only ones he excelled at; he was also a good businessman. As an example, in 1797, Breguet created one of the most famous pocket watches, the "Sousscription". Introduced in 1797, this watch had a large central barrel with a very simple custom movement and was sold on an advance basis of a quarter of the watch's price (hence the name "Sousscription"). The "Sousscription" was a great success, and many different models were made with different dials and gold and silver cases.


Breguet watch with subscription No. 542, diameter 62 mm, silver case, gold fillets and enamel dial

Breguet watch with subscription No.1391, diameter 57 mm, gold case and gold engine-turned dial

In the late 1790s, Breguet invented the "Montre à Tact", or "Tactful watch" in English.

In addition to the traditional method of opening the watch case, looking at the face and telling the time, the wearer could now check the time in the dark by rotating his hand or an arrow on the outside of the case clockwise until he felt it stop. Thanks to the knobs used to mark the hours around the perimeter of the case, one could feel which way the arrow was pointing and thus get an approximation of the correct time.


Breguet No. 608, cylinder watch 'Medallion Montre à Tact', sold to Mr. Bastreche in 1800 for 3000 francs. Hunter case in pink gold, enamel and diamonds.

The "a tact" structure allowed upper class people to tell the time without taking a watch out of their pocket and without getting annoyed or irritated. And in fact, another meaning of the French word "tact" is "sensitive to other things" (hence the English words "tact" and "tactful").

On June 26, 1801, the President of France granted Breguet a ten-year patent for the invention of the regulator clock.



The letter that Breguet wrote to the President of France describing his invention is quite interesting.

Minister of Citizens

I have the honor of presenting to you detailed notes of a new invention, an instrument for measuring time which I have named Regulator à Tourbillon. I am requesting a ten year patent on the construction of these clocks.

I have accomplished this by an invention which removes the errors arising from the difference in position of the center of gravity, and by distributing the friction equally to all parts of the regulator pivot and the axis of the bore in which it rotates, in such a way that the smoothness of the contact points remains constant even in thick oil, and by eliminating many other errors which affect the accuracy of the movement, large or small, in a way which is far beyond the present knowledge of our art, even by infinite trial and error.

It is after carefully considering all the advantages, including the skill in perfecting the method of manufacture, and the considerable expenses incurred in achieving success, that I have decided to apply for a patent. In order to establish the time of my invention and to compensate myself for the expenses incurred, I have decided to seek a patent.

Sincerely,

Breguet

Thanks to his deep understanding of the laws of physics, Breguet noticed how the watch was affected by changes in its position; the changes were most noticeable when the watch was held in a vertical position, since pocket watches were almost always kept in a vest pocket. He realized that the main reason for this behavior was crucial. Gravity could not be eliminated, but he thought it could be compensated for by placing a regulating device (a spring balance) and an escapement in a mobile carriage that rotated completely around its own axis once per minute.



His invention not only improved the accuracy of the pocket chronometer, but also created one of Breguet's most prized and desirable watches. You can read more about the history of the Tourbillon here.

Breguet No. 2567 Tourbillon Pocket Watch with Breguet's signature engine-turned silver dial and Roman numerals in blued steel Breguet hands - 1812

In 1807, Breguet took on his son Anthony-Louis (born 1776) as a full partner, from that point on the firm became known as "Breguet & Fils". As for the commercial side of the business, following the death of his wife in 1780, his sister-in-law Suzanne Lillier took charge.


Immersed in watchmaking from his early childhood, Anthony Louis quickly acquired great skill: he was trained in Paris by his father, and in London by the great English chronometer maker and friend John Arnold.


In the last few years, Breguet experienced rapid growth abroad, especially in Russia, where he opened a branch in St. Petersburg in 1808. Unfortunately, he was forced to close the shop three years after it opened, when Tsar Alexander I banned French goods from entering Russia as a response to Napoleon's policies.


A letter from Breguet to Lazare Moreau, who was in charge of the St. Petersburg branch.


Napoleon himself was a good patron of Breguet and purchased many of Breguet's clocks, including the "Pandure Sympathique" among others. Napoleon would sometimes visit the Breguet workshops incognito.


Caroline Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon and wife of Joachim Murat, King of Naples, was one of Breguet's most important clients, purchasing 34 clocks and watches from 1808 to 1814.


Carolyn Murat Queen of Naples

In 1810, at the request of the Queen of Naples, Breguet conceived and created the first known wristwatch: No. 2639, a very thin, oval-shaped, complex repeater watch attached to a hair band or golden thread.

No sketch of its appearance remains in the archives, but fortunately it was left in the repair register of the after-sales service. On 8 March 1849, No. 2639 was sent for repair at the request of Countess Rasponi, who lived at 63, rue d'Anjou. The Countess was none other than Louise Murat, the fourth and last child of Joachim and Caroline. She had married Count Gyullio Rasponi in 1825.

The History of Breguet, Part 2

After the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1823, his only son, Antoine-Louis Breguet (1776-1858) - himself a highly talented watchmaker - continued to grow and expand the company.

The Breguet brand continued to maintain top quality and innovation: among the inventions of this period we can mention the first keyless winding watch, the Sympathique watch.

The clock No. 4952 was made for Count Charles de Lespin in 1830. It had a button with a serrated edge that served two purposes: to keep the hands still and to wind the clock. It gave birth to the modern wind-up clock.

However, Antoine-Louis failed to patent the mechanism, and ten years later a well-known Genevan watch company successfully patented a similar invention.


Breguet No. 4288, Half-quarter Repeating Watch with Winding, 1830

In 1834 the "Sympathique" clock was created. It was based on a principle developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1793. Its ingenious patented mechanism allowed a pocket watch to be set automatically when placed in the recess at the top of the table clock.



Breguet's "Sympatique" watch, with a gold-plated frame housing a precision escapement, displayed the date, month, day of the week, moon phase, time difference, and Celsius thermometer.

Owning a Breguet watch signified wealth and success. A recognized status symbol, the Breguet name has appeared many times in world literature with several watches. Below are just a few examples.

"Breguet produces watches that will not break even after 20 years, while on the other hand there are poor machines that break down at least once a week." 1817 Stendahl (1783-1842) "Rome, Naples, and Florence"

“A dandy in the boulevard (…) strolling in his leisure time to his Breguet hour, vigilant , recalls him, it was midday. ”
Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) 1825-1833 , Eugene Oegin

" He drew the most deliciously thin watch Breguet had ever made. A whimsical and free-spirited fantasy: eleven o'clock, I was a count. "
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) 1833 "Eugénie Grandet"

" A fine gold chain hung from the pocket of his vest, revealing only a flat watch. He was playing with the "latchet" watch that Breguet had just invented . "
Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) 1842 La Lobuilleuse

" Danglars' watch, made by Breguet, had been carefully wound the previous day and struck the sound of half past five in the morning.
Alexandre Dumas (1802-1870) 1844 "The Count of Monte Cristo"

" Sometimes the heart plays tricks on us and disappoints us. It is right to be vigilant. God (the great Breguet) gave us faith and, because it was good, he improved it with a watchful eye."
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) 1865 "Song of the Town and the Forest"

Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland, purchased a Breguet watch in July 1838, the year after she ascended to the throne. The watch was registered No. 5102 as "a very small and simple watch, without any repeater for striking, very thin."

The famous Italian composer Gioachino Rossini - one of the most famous people of his time - owned Breguet watch No. 4604. The watch was simple, modest in size and design, with a date display. It featured an engine-turned gold case, an off-center silver dial and an escapement lever. After his death, in 1868, his widow kept the watch. There are no photographs of these watches, but fortunately we can learn more about them from the Breguet archives.



Breguet No. 4961: An exceptionally flat half-quarter repeater pocket watch. With perpetual calendar, moon phase, time difference and power indicators. Sold to Lord Henry Seymour Conway in 1831. One of the most complicated watches Breguet ever made. Housed in a very slim case (only 7.7 mm thick). This historic watch was purchased at auction in 2013 for 1 million Swiss francs .

In 1833, when he was 57 years old, Antoine-Louis decided to retire from his workshop in Le Buisson near Paris, handing over the business to his son Louis-Clément, who distinguished himself in scientific studies.

Louis-Clément François Breguet (1804-1883) was 19 years old when his famous grandfather, Abraham-Louis, died. After apprenticing to the watchmaking skills of Perrelet in Versailles, he went to Switzerland to work as a watchmaker and gain experience in the Swiss method. With him, Breguet started the parallel production of standardized and individualized products.

Louis Clément formed a partnership with one of his relatives and renamed the company "Breguet, Neuve et Cie."



A complex quarter repeating watch without a cover, with a moon phase inscribed "Breguet Neuveaux et Cie" . Slightly larger than a euro coin, this 37mm watch was sold to the Russian Princess Katherine Bageration in 1829. It was rumoured to be a gift for her husband, Colonel Cadlac. Her marriage soon ended and the watch was returned to Breguet in 1830. In 1835 , it was resold to Nathaniel de Rothschild, a well-known businessman, banker and owner of the winemaking company founded by Château Mouton Rothschild.

Louis Clement optimized the manufacturing processes – at this time they were producing around 350 clocks a year – but diversified into scientific, electrical and telegraph instruments.

In particular, in 1842 he developed the electric stylus to replace the optical telegraph system then in use. In recognition of his work in the development of the electric stylus, Louis-Clément Breguet was awarded the Hall of Fame in 1845. He won the highest awards at all exhibitions in the world, was appointed a member of the Bureau des Longitudes (1852), and was elected to the Academie des Sciences in 1874.



Louis Clement Francois Breguet


He is one of 72 French scientists, engineers and mathematicians whose names are inscribed on the base of the Eiffel Tower.

A great passion for physics, and the shared interests of his son Antoine (1851-1882), led Louis-Clément to enter the business of making electrical devices for telegraphy, railway signalling and physiology, which led to him achieving outstanding success in the field of electronics.

As a result, on 8 May 1870, the watch division was sold to an English factory manager called Edward Brown, who in the meantime became a partner in the company.

Antoine, the great-grandson of the great Abraham-Louis, was the last Breguet family member to be involved in the business. In fact, he had two sons and a daughter who were not involved in the business. He died at the age of 31.

Since the electrical equipment business used the name "Breguet F.T.", meaning "Breguet Fabricon", the watch business simply became "Breguet".

By 1881, the watch business was restructured under the name Maison Breguet, with Edward taking the lead in ensuring high quality and targeting an international elite.

Edward Brown died in 1895 at the age of 66, so the company was passed on to his sons Edward and Henry, with Henry becoming president in the early 1900s upon Edward's retirement.


During this period, David Lionel Goldsmid Stern Salomon (1851-1925) – a versatile scientist, lawyer, English baron and nephew of London's first Jewish pastor – identified himself as a Breguet watch collector.

His book "Breguet (1747-1823)" remains today one of the most highly regarded books on the work of Breguet and his many timepieces.



Upon his death in 1925, Salomon left 57 Breguet watches to his daughter, Vera Brisse (1888-1969), including the famous No. 160 "Marie Antoinette". The others were passed on to his wife.





Breguet No. 160 “Marie Antoinette”


After World War I, Vera moved to Jerusalem and became a philanthropist: after the death of her mentor, Leo A. Meyer, president of the University of Jerusalem, she created the L.A. Meyer Institute for Islamic Art and donated her prized clock to the museum for exhibition in its gallery.

Over 106 precious watches, including the “Marie Antoinette,” were stolen in 1983 and donated again more than 20 years later. This fascinating story is detailed in the following article:

In 1927, Henry's son, George Brown, took over the business, applying the skills he had inherited from his father.

He expanded the range of watches he produced to include aviation watches, such as the legendary "Type 20" (or "Type XX") wristwatch chronograph, developed to meet technical specifications: a pilot's watch issued by the French Ministry of War in 1950 that later became part of the standard equipment of the Air Force and the Naval Aviation.

Along with accuracy (+/- 8 seconds per day) and reliability, the Type 20 featured a black dial, a flyback chronograph function, and a power reserve of at least 35 hours.

However, Breguet was not only a purveyor of these, but was also a leader in this style of watch.

For more on the interesting history of the Type 20, see this article.




Breguet Type 20 for the French Ministry of War
It has a rotating bezel with only two registers and a small arrow. Circa 1955 .


And it can certainly be said that Breguet's connection with the global aviation industry was a special one. In fact, Louis-Charles Breguet (1880-1955), grandson of the great and legendary Abraham-Louis, was one of the early pioneers of aviation, founding the Compagnie des Messages Aériennes in 1919, associated with Air France.

A few decades later, in 1970, George Brown sold it to Chaumet, a Parisian jewelry house founded in 1780 on Place Vendôme, which continued until the time of Jacques and Pierre Chaumet.

The Brown family ran Breguet for 100 years (1870-1970), longer than the Breguet family (1775-1870).

In 1975, British watchmaker George Daniel published "The Art of Breguet", the definitive history of the father of modern horology and his work. In the 1960s, before creating his own brand, Daniel was considered a renowned Breguet expert. His friend George Brown bestowed upon him the name "The House of Breguet of Paris".




Back to the brand, in 1976, under Chaumet, Breguet moved its workshop to the Vallée de Joux in Switzerland, where Swiss watchmaking was born and where it was much easier to recruit skilled watchmakers than in Paris. The technical department hired Daniel Roth, a well-known watch enthusiast, as the master watchmaker.

This was a difficult period for mechanical watch producers, as they faced the so-called quartz crisis and Chaumet suffered heavy losses in its diamond prospecting and resale business after a global price drop. As a result, in 1987, Chaumet was acquired by Investcorp.LA, a Bahrain-based investment bank.

Some famous watches were born during these years, including the Tourbillon watch in 1988 and the Perpetual Calendar Equation of Time in 1991.




Perpetual Calendar and Equation of Time 1991


Investcorp continued to restructure the company and in 1991, it acquired Valder SA, a Swiss company involved in the production and supply of micro-mechanical components for the watch industry, and incorporated it into the newly created Groupe Horloger Breguet (GHB).

In 1992, they also acquired movement manufacturer Nouvelle Lemania S.A., known for making superb chronograph movements for many brands, including the Omega Speedmaster, and they made Breguet watches in the same way that Nouvelle Lemania made the highest specification watches for other top watch brands.




The Nouvelle Romania factory in Lorient, in the Jouvre Valley.
Today, it is Breguet's main factory (see photo at the bottom of the article).

In 1998, Groupe Horloger Breguet (GHB) was profitable again with revenues of 280 million Swiss francs and an expansion into the Southeast Asian market. During Investcorp's ownership, sales increased tenfold.

On September 14, 1999, the Swatch Group announced that it would acquire Loup Horloger Breguet from Investcorp SA, adding Breguet to its 15 brands - just as it had done with Blancpain, Omega and Longines.

Swatch's industrial and commercial strength gave it all the material and technical resources it needed to develop exceptional models to meet the expectations of its fans and the most demanding connoisseurs. The brand had its production facilities right from the start, and it focused on hiring top watchmakers who had trained in art and craft to a rare new generation. Nicolas G. Hajek, president of the Swatch Group, considered his brand the jewel of kings. He agreed with what David Lionel Salomon expressed in 1921: "For those who understand the mechanism, a Breguet watch is a painting." It was only natural to create the Breguet Museum. It was inaugurated on September 13, 2000, and displays precious documents and items related to the history of the Maison. The museum is currently located on the first floor of the Breguet boutique on Place Vendôme in Paris, and is headed by Emmanuel Breguet, a direct descendant of the seventh generation of Abraham-Louis.






The Breguet archives cover two centuries and include production registers, repair books, certificates of authenticity, customer letters, technical notes written by Abraham-Louis Breguet, and of course the rare watches that the company continues to produce every year.

A brilliant marketer, Hayek arranged a special celebration to mark 200 years since the tourbillon's patent date, a grand party held in Versailles in 2001. As a result of Breguet's intense marketing efforts, sales of Breguet tourbillons increased from 150 in 1999 to over 1,000 in just five years.



Grande Complication Tourbillon 1801-2001, issued in 2001 to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the tourbillon patent

Taking notice of this new trend in the watch market, other luxury watch manufacturers followed Breguet's path by adding tourbillon watches to their collections, bringing clear benefits to the entire watch industry.



Nicolas Hayek proudly displays his Breguet No. 160 , a replica of the 2008 "Marie Antoinette," and No. 1160. He also wears two Breguet watches and one Omega watch on his wrist.

The brand was finally in an ideal situation to perpetuate the innovative dynamism of its founder Abraham-Louis. This is evidenced by the exceptional number of patents registered - 120 since 2002! - under the leadership of Nicolas G. Hajek and later his grandson Marc. In 2006, Breguet achieved a major leap in watchmaking technology by introducing various important mechanical parts to silicon. Silicon has magnetic attraction and impact, as well as being corrosion and wear-resistant. It is lighter and harder than steel, reduces inertia, does not require lubrication, and best of all, it offers geometric freedom, i.e. new and complex shapes can be created. The use of silicon for the escape wheel and lever, and in some cases the balance spring, made it possible to increase the frequency of the oscillator. In some watches it reached 72,000 vibrations per hour. This allowed the watches to keep even more precise time.



Silicone lever, escape wheel, balance spring

The introduction of anti-magnetic components opened up a world of new possibilities. In fact, in 2010, Breguet applied for a patent for a magnetic pivot, breaking a horological taboo on magnetism.



Combining two counter pivots incorporating particularly powerful micro-magnets at either end of the balance bar, this technical innovation allows a dynamic stabiliser to keep the balance bar centred and self-adjusting. In 2012, Breguet gave a first showcase of this remarkable invention with the launch of the Classe Hertz Chronométrie, a watch that delivers exceptional rate results thanks to its balance frequency of 10 Hz.

Breguet Classique Chronométrie, winner of the Finest Timepiece of the Year award at the Grand Prix de Genève in 2014 , “Aiguille d’ Or ” ,

A year later, Breguet again demonstrated their inventive skills with another world first in watchmaking: the invention of the magnetic governor for transmission wheels.




Innovative strike governor. Equipped with magnets and working on the principle of eddy currents (Foucault currents) going beyond the classical friction-based strike governor. The interaction between the silver disc and the magnet creates a constant rotation. By avoiding contact between the rotating components and the inner walls, Breguet has managed to eliminate noise and wear.


The "Classique La Musicale" watch was equipped with a highly sophisticated mechanism that ensured greater precision while solving the typical problems of watches: wear, noise and the need for a lot of energy.



The white gold “Classic La Musicale” chimed in with Rossini’s “The Thieving Magpie T” or Bach’s “La Badinary.”

In 2015, with the Tradition Chronograph Independant 7077, Breguet introduced a smart and innovative technology: two independent manual winding systems, one for the hours and minutes and one for the chronograph.

One advantage of having two entirely separate hand-winding systems was that the movement was completely unaffected when the stopwatch function was started.

This watch also pioneered a new way of supplying energy to the chronograph gear system: in fact, Breguet patented a system that stores the energy needed to run the chronograph when the watch's wearer resets it to zero by pressing the left pusher.



Tradition Chronograph Independent 7077


More than two centuries of invention and technological advancements have culminated in Breguet's history in a constant pursuit of continuous improvement in horological performance, precision, functionality and design – an attitude that does great tribute to founder Abraham-Louis.





Both pictures, above and below, show the Breguet factory in Lorion.

The Beginnings of Breguet

Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1747.

He lost his father when he was 11 years old.

In his early teens, he worked for a watchmaker, and in 1762 he moved to Paris and became an apprentice at a watchmaking workshop near the Palace of Versailles.

Close to the heart of French politics, Breguet received mentorship from key figures and developed a deep knowledge of science and watchmaking.

Among them were Ferdinand Bellwood, a watchmaker famous for his precision timepieces and marine instruments, and the pioneer of the slim watch that fits perfectly in a men's pocket.

There was Jean-Antoine Lepine.

In 1775, Breguet established his own watchmaking workshop in Port de l'Horloge, on the Seine River in Paris, near Notre Dame Cathedral.

Along with technical advances, we also aimed for aesthetic excellence in our watches.

Thanks to Lepine, Breguet watches were, in Balzac's words, "beautifully thin."

Breguet's innovation began with a watch called "Eternity."

This was the world's first accurate self-winding watch.

"Eternity" was completed in 1780.

Among the buyers was Marie Antoinette, who would later become a Breguet client.

Breguet inventions

Breguet is famous for inventing the beautiful tourbillon, which operates regardless of gravity, in 1801, but he also invented the shock protection mechanism called the parachute.

This protects mechanical watches from damage if dropped, and is the basis for modern shock absorption systems.

Lesser known is the invention of the flat hammer and circular gong that are used in almost all minute repeaters.

This makes the sound of the second hand less noticeable.

Breguet abandoned the gaudy decoration that was common at the time, instead creating cases and dials with elegant, refined designs.

The typography on the dial uses thin, elegant Arabic characters.

These are called Breguet numerals.

In 1783, a thin, pointed needle with an apple-shaped hole at the tip was introduced.

These are now commonly known as Breguet hands.

His designs are timeless and are still widely used today.

This technique is not only used by Breguet today, but also by brands such as Patek Philippe and Cartier.

"This is a historic milestone in the development of Breguet watches," said Breguet collector Glenn Brier, co-founder and president of Medidata Solutions, a life sciences software company.

"Are there any hands more beautiful than those of a Breguet?

Is there a dial more beautiful than Breguet numerals?"

Breguet's Afterlife and the Chronograph

After Breguet's death, his accomplished descendants took over the company.

His grandson and great-grandson helped develop early telegraphs and telephones, spreading them throughout Europe.

He gradually gained success in the electronics field and in 1870 the watch company was sold to Edward Brown.

Around the same time, another descendant founded Breguet Aviation, the company that would later become Dassault Aviation.

The Brown family has led Breguet for over 100 years, producing the highest quality Swiss luxury watches.

The company also supplied aircraft to Breguet Aviation, and supplied the French Air Force with the Type XX chronograph, a highly collectible military wristwatch.

Let's fast forward to the present day.

The jeweller Chaumet bought Breguet in 1970, hoping to weather the revolution in cheap quartz watches.

Chaumette increased production but gradually ran out of funds and filed for bankruptcy in 1987.

It was acquired by Bahrain-based private equity pioneer Investcorp.

In 1992, Investcorp acquired the movement manufacturer Nouvelle Lemania.

Nouvelle Lemania was renowned for its exceptional chronographs.

Their products are used by many brands, including Omega's legendary Speedmaster watch.

However, under Chaumet and Investcorp, the necessary investments were not made, and Breguet continued to fall behind its rivals in both sales and brand power.

Competitors such as Patek Philippe and A. Lange & Söhne created entirely new in-house movements with cutting-edge features and sold them at prices cheaper than Breguet's watches.

At that time, Nicolas Hayek, president of the Swatch Group, a rapidly growing watch company, noticed Breguet.

Acquisition by Swatch

Swatch rehabilitated Omega (see Penta, "A New Beginning for Omega," November 29, 2014), and the Speedmaster saw rapid sales growth in the late 1990s.

Hayek wanted to buy Nouvelle Lemania, the manufacturer of the watch's movements.

Previously, Nouvelle Lemania and Breguet were combined by Investcorp under the name "Breguet Watch Group".

Therefore, Hayek also ended up acquiring a watch brand at the same time.

Hayek acquired the Breguet watch group in September 1999.

He soon discovered that Breguet was the most exclusive watch brand in the industry.

He immediately invested 15 million Swiss francs ($15.5 million) to overhaul Nouvelle Lemania and merged it with Breguet.

The company changed its name to Breguet Manufacture Lemania and began to produce all Breguet watches, not just movements.

The all-new in-house manufactured movement utilizes Breguet's famous invention, the tourbillon.

Hayek, a master of promotion, celebrated the 200th anniversary of the tourbillon's patent with great pomp in Versailles.

Sales of gravity-defying tourbillon watches have grown from 150 units in 1999 to 1,000 in five years.

Other brands took notice, and Breguet's strong marketing strategy led to a surge in tourbillon production throughout the mechanical watch industry.

Breguet's most famous tourbillon today is La Tradition Tourbillon, released in 2013.

While based on the 1801 original, it incorporates modern materials throughout the movement and components.

Most of the Tradition components are aesthetically based, harking back to the 18th and 19th century designs that are the origins of the Breguet brand.

For example, it features a titanium tourbillon cage.

Thanks to the constant force device, the time will not become inaccurate even if the power source for the watch (the mainspring) rewinds and loses power.

It also affects the appearance of the watch.

At 5 o'clock you can see a conical gear, and at 9 o'clock you can see the 155-section steel chain that connects to the mainspring.

It's available in rose gold, yellow gold and platinum, with prices ranging from $174,800 to $189,700.

The Evolution of Breguet

But La Tradition's innovations go even further.

In contrast to its predecessor, the 2014 Classic Chronométrie 7727 is equipped with a magnet-based escapement.

It was a revolutionary move that dramatically improved timekeeping accuracy.

I also believe that it represents the best use of Abraham-Louis Breguet's technical ingenuity.

Marc Hayek, current CEO of Breguet and other brands and grandson of Nicolas Hayek, nods.

He said of Abraham-Louis Breguet, "The pursuit of precision was very important to him."

In the face of unexpected difficulties, Breguet took advantage of the drawback of mechanical watches - magnetism - and redesigned the escapement, which is the most important element for accurate timekeeping.

Typically, the escapement's balance spring and coiled hairspring oscillate back and forth to control the unwinding of the mainspring.

The top frame itself is mounted on a shaft with a pivot at each end.

Pivots have been inserted into jewels for hundreds of years.

However, because the pivot and jewel are in constant contact, gravity changes the amount of friction on the shaft, reducing the accuracy of the timekeeping.

"Breguet has been liberated from the taboo of time."

Hayek argues.

Breguet used magnetism to correct friction errors in the pivots.

Instead of a swiveling jewel, it uses two powerful jewel-covered micro magnets.

One magnet is stronger than the other, effectively suspending the balance and keeping it centered so that the pivot point is just barely touching the magnet's jewel cap.

Because magnetic forces far exceed gravity, frictional position errors do not occur and overall friction is greatly reduced.

The result is excellent precision.

Average performance of -1 to +3 seconds per day easily exceeds the industry standard of -4 to +6 seconds.

Available in both rose and white gold, the watch retails for around $40,000 and is highly coveted by collectors.

Engineer Debriet, who keeps a close eye on Breguet's latest technological advances, purchased the Classique Chronométrie as soon as it was released.

The Rebirth of Breguet

"When my grandfather acquired Breguet in 1999, he had the vision of restoring it to greatness by reviving the culture and emotion of the original Breguet."

“I was a teenager,” says Hayek, 44.

Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Marc is busy collecting original Breguet watches.

The house in Paris where Breguet was born has been converted into a boutique and a museum displaying around 80 historical pieces.

The museum opened in 2000 and is run by Emmanuel Breguet, a seventh generation descendant of Abraham-Louis.

"Smart Move"

Hayek effectively bought Breguet's "outstanding shares."

This further boosts collectors' stock values.

For example, a pocket watch sold in 1824

In 2012, it sold for a record $4.25 million.

Today, Breguet offers five collections: the Ladies', Classic Dress and Type XX Sports watch lines.

Prices range from $17,800 to $734,000.

Analysts at Vontobel Bank expect sales to have risen from 4,000 units in 1999 to 35,000 today, generating sales of 720 million Swiss francs.

The new line of aviation watches uses more cutting-edge materials, drawing on Breguet's experience in aviation.

Hayek says the company's biggest challenge is increasing production to meet the ever-growing expectations of the Breguet brand.

This is proof that the Swatch Group was able to oil and wind the mainspring and bring Breguet back to life.