454,500 CHF
The Empress Marie Louise Breguet, No. 2784, "Médaillon d’or", sold to Empress Marie-Louise on 27 September, 1813 for 2,000 francs. An exceptional, small 20K gold slim astronomical watch with phases of the moon, its age and regulator on the dial, built along the principles of the "Garde Temps". Accompanied by the original morocco leather fitted box, original ratchet key on short gold chain, and Breguet certificate No. 2616, dated 1922. Three-body, "forme quatre baguettes", by master casemaker Tavernier, No. 3282, engine-turned, back cover with bayonet fixing, shuttered winding aperture. Silver, engine-turned by Tavernier, eccentric champlevé radial Roman hour chapter, outer minute dot divisions on polished ring, engine-turned and matte center, phases of the moon aperture at 12 o’clock with age scale on the edge, regulating sector set at 2 o’clock. Gold Breguet hands with minute hand equipped with steel setting tail having a square opening for setting key. Notes Property of a European Gentleman Provenance: Empress Marie Louise Count Louis de Crenneville Breguet, Paris Sir David Salomons This watch is exceptional both from the esthetic and technical points of view. The dial design is immortal in its elegance – 180 years later the same design is still in use for wristwatches, for example, the ever-popular reference 3330. It is a forerunner of slim watches, a trend that became popular twenty years later. It is easy to imagine former clients of Breguet, who appreciated
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2004-04-24
