A master showman as well as a technical and design genius, Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) first demonstrated his parachute invention by throwing his watch to the ground before an astonished gathering at the estate of Monsieur de Tellyrand. Although his parachute is now a standard shock-prevention feature in wristwatch technology, it was considered a brilliant achievement on that day that M. Breguet's watch, retrieved from the parquet, seemed unharmed, and, in the awed words of one of those present at the spectacle, "going as well as ever."