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

SIGNED BREGUET, HORLOGER DE LA MARINE ROYALE, NO. 3516, CASE NOS. B3516 AND T3740, SOLD TO THE PRINCE LVOFF ON 18 JANUARY 1821

Details

Breguet. A fine and rare 18K gold openface quarter repeating cylinder watch
Signed Breguet, Horloger de la Marine Royale, No. 3516, case nos. B3516 and T3740, sold to the Prince Lvoff on 18 January 1821
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, silver engine-turned dial, Breguet numerals on blank chapter ring, blued steel Breguet hands, circular engine-turned case, quarter repeating pull-twist push-piece in the pendant, case numbered B3516 and T3740, stamped with casemaker's initials MAB, cuvette signed and numbered, dial signed Breguet et Fils
52 mm. diam.

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Lot Essay

According to the Archives of Montres Breguet, the present watch was sold on 18 January 1821 to the Prince Lvoff for the amount of Francs 1,800.

Although few information is available about Prince Lvoff, he was amongst Breguet's faithful post-Napoleonic era Russian clients; his name is mentioned in Emmanuel Breguet's Breguet - Watchmakers since 1775, p. 219.

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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