• Diameter:
  2 1/2 Inches
• Stone:
  Other

This exceptional early 19th-century souscription pocket watch was crafted by Abraham-Louis Breguet et Fils, and is one of the most important pocket watches M.S. Rau has had the honor to offer. Housed in an 18K gold open face case, the large key-wound movement features a single hand telling the hour on a white enamel dial marked with Arabic numerals. Not only are key wound watches becoming more and more scarce, but those bearing single-hand movement are among the rarest and most coveted on the market. Among the most technically revolutionary in the world, Breguet watches are true horological treasures. Features the original key.

Signed "Breguet et Fils" on the dial, signed "Breguet" on the movement; gold hallmarks on the interior case

Circa 1800

2 1/2" diameter

Known as a "Souscription" watch, this timepiece is equipped with a special movement of great simplicity based on a large central barrel. It was first launched through a publicity brochure in 1797 and sold on a subscription basis, with a down payment of a quarter of the price when the order was placed. These watches were designed with a minimum number of parts to make them affordable but still of high quality and capable of accurate timekeeping. They proved to be a great success, attracting a large new clientele. Only around 700 were made, with a choice of either a gold or a silver case. Some were fitted in silver and gold case but very few had cases of gold.

Swiss-born Abraham-Louis Breguet was almost certainly the most famous and important watchmaker in the world. He invented many different escapement methods that, to this day, are in use in watches, including the tourbillon or a parachute escapement, perpetual calendar, re-winding mechanisms, and the overcoil. Breguet's watches and clocks are widely regarded as some of the most beautiful and technically accomplished ever made. Among the earliest enthusiasts of Breguet's watchmaking were Louis XVI and his Queen, Marie-Antoinette. One of the pocket watches he produced for the Queen, called The watch of Marie-Antoinette, had the most mechanical complexities at that period. It was finished four years after Breguet's death. Breguet also anticipated the wristwatch by two centuries in his most remarkable design, created in 1810 for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples.