James Stratton
Director
Property of a Gentleman
Lot 54
A fine and rare 18ct gold Souscription pocket watch with ruby cylinder escapement, with a Breguet certificate and numbered fitted Breguet red morocco box Abraham-Louis Breguet, Paris No 1309 Sold to Jacques-Rose Récamier for 798 Francs on 12th of February 1804
2 December 2025, 14:00 GMT
London, New Bond Street£20,000 - £30,000
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Lewis Walduck
Cataloguer
A fine and rare 18ct gold Souscription pocket watch with ruby cylinder escapement, with a Breguet certificate and numbered fitted Breguet red morocco box
Abraham-Louis Breguet, Paris No 1309 Sold to Jacques-Rose Récamier for 798 Francs on 12th of February 1804
The 18ct gold case with polished back and sides numbered on the inside lid 1309 and 855, with maker's mark for Joly, fitted with a loose ring pendant. The 60mm white enamel dial by Borel with Arabic Breguet numerals, outer divisions for five-minute, quarter, and half-hour intervals, with secret signature below XII, and blued steel Souscription-type hand. The finely made gilt brass Souscription calibre movement with central barrel wound from either the front or back, fitted with an overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm gold balance with parachute protection to the top pivot, flat balance spring, and bimetallic temperature-compensating curb on the index regulator signed on the plates Breguet No 1309 Sold together with a gold winding key, the Breguet certificate and numbered fitted red Morocco presentation box, currently ticking 60mm dial from bow to base 80mm high.
The 18ct gold case with polished back and sides numbered on the inside lid 1309 and 855, with maker's mark for Joly, fitted with a loose ring pendant. The 60mm white enamel dial by Borel with Arabic Breguet numerals, outer divisions for five-minute, quarter, and half-hour intervals, with secret signature below XII, and blued steel Souscription-type hand. The finely made gilt brass Souscription calibre movement with central barrel wound from either the front or back, fitted with an overhanging ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm gold balance with parachute protection to the top pivot, flat balance spring, and bimetallic temperature-compensating curb on the index regulator signed on the plates Breguet No 1309 Sold together with a gold winding key, the Breguet certificate and numbered fitted red Morocco presentation box, currently ticking 60mm dial from bow to base 80mm high.
Footnotes
The "Souscription" watch was introduced by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1797 as a simplified yet exceptionally reliable pocket watch, conceived to make his precision timepieces accessible to a wider audience. Sold under an innovative subscription system, clients paid one quarter of the price in advance — the "souscription" — enabling Breguet to finance production and expand his operations. This early business model effectively marked one of the first examples of modern horological marketing.
Produced in both gold and silver cases, over 700 examples were manufactured between 1798 and 1805, with a few later variants continuing for several decades. The "Souscription" watch not only broadened Breguet's clientele — including officers, travellers, and professionals — but also established a template for practical luxury that remains a key part of the modern watch industry today.
Provenance:
Bought by the French banker Jacques-Rose Récamier for 798 Francs on 12th February 1804. Recamier helped finance Napoleon, and was married to socialite and Salon leader Juliette Recamier, best known by the portrait painted by Jacques-Louis David in 1800, just four years before this watch was made.
Private family collection 2009.
Property of a Gentleman, 2009-2025