Charles Dower
Head of sale, Knightsbridge
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Lot 44
Breguet et Fils. A very fine and rare silver and gold open face key wind 'Souscription' pocket watch Sold 1st June 1803 to Monsieur Valego for 600 Francs
19 February 2019, 13:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £25,000 inc. premium
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Breguet et Fils. A very fine and rare silver and gold open face key wind 'Souscription' pocket watch
Date: Sold 1st June 1803 to Monsieur Valego for 600 Francs
Movement: Fire gilt plates, typical symmetrical placement of wheels, large central barrel, plain 3-arm balance, fine parachute protection for balance pivots, bi-metallic compensation curb, under slung ruby cylinder, No.866
Dial: White enamel, black Arabic numerals, secret signature below, black outer 1/2 minute divisions, typical Souscription blued steel single hand
Case: Polished round silver, gold rims and bow, crisp Breguet numbers, stamps for Joly and French hallmarks on inside, No.866 B
Signed: Dial & movement
Size: 62mm
Accompaniments: Breguet Certificate
Movement: Fire gilt plates, typical symmetrical placement of wheels, large central barrel, plain 3-arm balance, fine parachute protection for balance pivots, bi-metallic compensation curb, under slung ruby cylinder, No.866
Dial: White enamel, black Arabic numerals, secret signature below, black outer 1/2 minute divisions, typical Souscription blued steel single hand
Case: Polished round silver, gold rims and bow, crisp Breguet numbers, stamps for Joly and French hallmarks on inside, No.866 B
Signed: Dial & movement
Size: 62mm
Accompaniments: Breguet Certificate
Footnotes
After Abraham Louis Breguet returned from exile back to Paris in the 1790's his business was virtually destroyed. He came up with a plan whereby his clients could order a watch paying a down payment and then the balance when the watch was delivered. This founded the business and allowed him to rebuild. These watches were known as 'Souscription' watches and indeed the dial of this watch is unusually scratch signed with the word Souscription as well as the more traditional 'Breguet' and number. This represents the final development of the Souscription giving it a greater elegance and finesse than some of the earlier pieces. Each of these watches is in some way unique as each was finished by hand with a certain amount of freedom given to the watchmaker.
This is a beautifully made watch of relatively large diameter (61mm), with a single hand and enamel dial, the movement is of great simplicity based around a large central barrel and symmetrical layout to the wheels. To this design Breguet added his special features like the parachute shock resist system and the underslung ruby cylinder which were all his own advances in horology.
