Breguet. A fine and rare 18K gold openface quarter repeating cylinder watch

SIGNED BREGUET, NO. 2632, CASE NOS. 2632 AND 1983, SOLD TO MRS NICOLSON ON 17 FEBRUARY 1815

Details

Breguet. A fine and rare 18K gold openface quarter repeating cylinder watch
Signed Breguet, No. 2632, case nos. 2632 and 1983, sold to Mrs Nicolson on 17 February 1815
With gilt-finished cylinder movement, plain three arm brass balance with parachute on the top pivot, blued steel flat balance spring with bimetallic compensation curb on the regulator, quarter repeating on two polished steel hammers onto a gong, gold cuvette, the silver engine-turned dial with Breguet numerals on blank chapter ring, blued steel Breguet hands, in circular engine-turned case, quarter repeating mechanism activated by the pull-twist push-piece in the pendant, together with a short length of gold chain and gold ratchet key, case numbered 2632 B and 1983 and stamped with casemaker's initials JLJ for Jean-Louis Joly, cuvette signed and numbered, dial signed Breguet et Fils
56 mm. diam.

Lot Essay

According to the archives of Montres Breguet, the present watch was sold to Mademoiselle Nicolson on 17 February 1815.

Abraham Louis Breguet is widely recognized as the inventor of the ressort-timbre or wire gong for repeating watches. This technique, developed around 1783 and using a wire gong instead of a bell, improved not only the quality of the sound but especially helped to reduce the thickness of a watch considerably.

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