Breguet, the neoclassical modernization (1): Breguet and the Big Shots

Breguet No Responses »
Nov 082009

Breguet was born in Switzerland in 1747, while he spent most of his life in Paris. He created countless great inventions and was active in every aspect of watch-making industry. His neo-classical simplicity of the design surprised the world permanently. And his descendants used their own masterpieces showed their gifts and achievements in watch-making, just as their forefather.In the history of Breguet, it was always closely connected with Big Shots during different periods, and this could somewhat show the strength of Breguet in watch-making.

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Breguet is always the love of the Royal nobilities. King Louis XVI, the French Queen Marie, Anthony Tsar Alexander I, the British Queen Victoria, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, and even the Prussia William I, they were from different times, different countries, different cultures, and even different religions, but they shared the same preference–Breguet. What`s more, elites of different areas also adore Breguet a lot!

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Genius Albert Einstein was Breguet`s loyal customer. World famous musician Tchaikovsky was also Breguet`s loyal user. And even nowadays, the U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles always let Breguet tell him time. And now, many call Breguet the “king of watch”, and regard Breguet as the “father of modern watch-making”, it is really an appropriate measure.

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Posted by Ameen at 6:48 pm Tagged with: , ,

So complex: pocket-watch N°1160 reproduced

Miscellaneous No Responses »
Sep 292009

Nearly 200 years ago, Marie Antoinette, the queen of French, had a truly passionate desire for Breguet watches. In 1783, one of her admirers intended to designed a special watch as a gift to the queen. To be attractive for us now, the desingner wanted to use gold to replace metals as possible.

Though this special gift is so precious, even a rarity, the queen never had the opportunity to see the timepiece. It was fininshed at 1827 while the queen had been dead for 34 years. The whole time of the watch’s making is more than 44 years. This also made a legend for everyone to talk in the history of the watch. The same reason, this special watch became many watch’s collectors’ dream to be the owner for more than 200 years. But it was stolen from a Jerusalem museum and lost for several years.

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In order to memorize the whole story and to show respect for the queen, the president and CEO of Montres Breguet, Nicolas G. Hayek decided to give himself a big chanllenge to reproduce the Marie Antoinette pocket watch identically in 2005. Reproducing and designing such a large number of complications on the sole basis of documents is against the odds and reveals the talent of the watchmakers at Montres Breguet.

For example, in the coachwork of the watch, the yellow gold of the 63mm-diameter case was cast in a special, more coppery alloy in order to match the period hue. The glasses for the dial and the case, made of rock crystal, allow the movement to display its finery and the marvels of its finish. After used nearly 823 outstandingly components, the reproduced pocke watch came to us, and its smallest detail demonstrate perfect execution and have been finished by hand. From the picture below, I’m sure most people will be amazed by its complexity. Even the box of the watch was made of more than 3,500 pieces sculpted from the wood of the royal oak tree from the Versailles Estate.

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The most incredible coincidence I’ve ever heard of is the orginal pocket watch appeared recently with the reproduced watch announced.

Posted by Jopin at 6:31 pm Tagged with: , ,