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Lot Essay
Made in 2004 after three years of research and development, this extraordinary and meticulously constructed replica of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s original self-winding ‘Perpetuelle’ watch No. 5 of 1794, was produced as a unique piece cased in platinum. Five further Breguet No. 5 replicas were made, all cased in yellow gold which have since become famous as the most expensive series-produced pocket watches ever sold. The present awe-inspiring platinum cased example is engraved ‘N. G. Hayek’ with the date 2004 on the movement ring.
The late Nicolas George Hayek was the formidable former chairman of the Swatch Group and once the most powerful man in the watch industry. Mr Hayek was completely fascinated and absorbed by the work of the genius watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. As a brilliant businessman himself, he could identify with Breguet’s own commercial success in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was immensely proud to be associated with the man who invented so many of watchmaking’s most important mechanisms, not least the tourbillon. From the moment he took the helm of the Breguet company in 1999, Mr Hayek became an avid collector of the rarest original timepieces by the master and developed a true passion for the subject. By greatly adding to and enhancing the Breguet Museum’s collections he at the same time strengthened the contemporary Breguet brand by reinforcing its links to the company’s illustrious founder.
Interestingly, the impetus for the creation of the replica Breguet No. 5 Perpétuelles came in fact from an outside source. At the time of the watches’ completion, Nicolas Hayek recalled ‘A very wealthy client, whom I dare not name, was admiring Breguet’s No. 5 watch in our collection and asked to buy it.’ Mr. Hayek refused to sell the original but offered to re-create the timepiece - a quarter-repeating pocket watch with Breguet’s Perpétuelle self-winding system and his pare-chute shock-protection system.
It is horology’s great good fortune and to its lasting benefit that Nicolas Hayek had the means, determination and the watchmaking skills at his disposal to accurately reproduce one of Breguet’s original masterpieces. The expertise involved in the creation of the 2004 Breguet No. 5 series watches cannot be underestimated, they represent a major achievement that is unlikely to be eclipsed in the foreseeable future.
In order to build the replica watches, a great deal of time and study took place, including the complete dismantling of Breguet’s original no. 5 watch so that in effect, the new watches were reverse engineered using the original watch as a template. Modern watchmaking technology and techniques were fully employed in their manufacture and indeed, the metals used are all modern alloys. In addition, the construction of some of the components takes full advantage of the most advanced watchmaking techniques, including the escapement and shock-protection system.
Breguet’s original ‘Perpétuelle’ self-winding watches were one of the wonders of the age and were the watches that cemented his reputation as the greatest of watchmakers. The replica ‘Perpétuelle’ watch movements including the present watch required no less skill for the watchmaker to produce, these movements represent a formidable accomplishment even in the 21st century. The self-winding is effected by a heavy shield-shaped platinum oscillating weight that reacts to the slightest movement by the wearer thus winding the watch by winding two spring barrels simultaneously. The quarter repeating system is called repeating ‘à toc’ or ‘dumb’ quarter repeating, the term given to a repeating watch without gongs or bells whereby the hammers strike small metal blocks inside the band of the case during repeating. In Breguet’s day, this system was probably used for reasons of discretion for the wearer. The ravishingly beautiful solid gold hand-guilloché silvered dial is breathtaking in its finish and detail, the layout is of course classic Breguet, with a power reserve sector calibrated to 60 hours, large seconds and a moon phase aperture with the moon’s age on the border. The equally stunning hand-guilloché case is of absolutely traditional Breguet style and incorporates the master’s pull-and-twist system for the repeating button in the pendant.
These magnificent reproductions of the 18th-century No. 5 pocket watch were the historic influence behind the production of the ‘La Tradition’ wristwatch. Moreover, the great success in the making of the replica Breguet no.5 watches undoubtedly gave Nicolas Hayek the confidence to commission the ‘Marie-Antoinette’ replica - a copy of one of the most famous and fabled watches in the world, an astonishing achievement that was unveiled in 2008.
The late Nicolas George Hayek was the formidable former chairman of the Swatch Group and once the most powerful man in the watch industry. Mr Hayek was completely fascinated and absorbed by the work of the genius watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. As a brilliant businessman himself, he could identify with Breguet’s own commercial success in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He was immensely proud to be associated with the man who invented so many of watchmaking’s most important mechanisms, not least the tourbillon. From the moment he took the helm of the Breguet company in 1999, Mr Hayek became an avid collector of the rarest original timepieces by the master and developed a true passion for the subject. By greatly adding to and enhancing the Breguet Museum’s collections he at the same time strengthened the contemporary Breguet brand by reinforcing its links to the company’s illustrious founder.
Interestingly, the impetus for the creation of the replica Breguet No. 5 Perpétuelles came in fact from an outside source. At the time of the watches’ completion, Nicolas Hayek recalled ‘A very wealthy client, whom I dare not name, was admiring Breguet’s No. 5 watch in our collection and asked to buy it.’ Mr. Hayek refused to sell the original but offered to re-create the timepiece - a quarter-repeating pocket watch with Breguet’s Perpétuelle self-winding system and his pare-chute shock-protection system.
It is horology’s great good fortune and to its lasting benefit that Nicolas Hayek had the means, determination and the watchmaking skills at his disposal to accurately reproduce one of Breguet’s original masterpieces. The expertise involved in the creation of the 2004 Breguet No. 5 series watches cannot be underestimated, they represent a major achievement that is unlikely to be eclipsed in the foreseeable future.
In order to build the replica watches, a great deal of time and study took place, including the complete dismantling of Breguet’s original no. 5 watch so that in effect, the new watches were reverse engineered using the original watch as a template. Modern watchmaking technology and techniques were fully employed in their manufacture and indeed, the metals used are all modern alloys. In addition, the construction of some of the components takes full advantage of the most advanced watchmaking techniques, including the escapement and shock-protection system.
Breguet’s original ‘Perpétuelle’ self-winding watches were one of the wonders of the age and were the watches that cemented his reputation as the greatest of watchmakers. The replica ‘Perpétuelle’ watch movements including the present watch required no less skill for the watchmaker to produce, these movements represent a formidable accomplishment even in the 21st century. The self-winding is effected by a heavy shield-shaped platinum oscillating weight that reacts to the slightest movement by the wearer thus winding the watch by winding two spring barrels simultaneously. The quarter repeating system is called repeating ‘à toc’ or ‘dumb’ quarter repeating, the term given to a repeating watch without gongs or bells whereby the hammers strike small metal blocks inside the band of the case during repeating. In Breguet’s day, this system was probably used for reasons of discretion for the wearer. The ravishingly beautiful solid gold hand-guilloché silvered dial is breathtaking in its finish and detail, the layout is of course classic Breguet, with a power reserve sector calibrated to 60 hours, large seconds and a moon phase aperture with the moon’s age on the border. The equally stunning hand-guilloché case is of absolutely traditional Breguet style and incorporates the master’s pull-and-twist system for the repeating button in the pendant.
These magnificent reproductions of the 18th-century No. 5 pocket watch were the historic influence behind the production of the ‘La Tradition’ wristwatch. Moreover, the great success in the making of the replica Breguet no.5 watches undoubtedly gave Nicolas Hayek the confidence to commission the ‘Marie-Antoinette’ replica - a copy of one of the most famous and fabled watches in the world, an astonishing achievement that was unveiled in 2008.