Breguet

Preface: I would be wildly remiss if I did not acknowledge the kind assistance of Andrew Crisford who has patiently answered a variety of my Breguet questions and in the case of Breguet clock No. 46 directing me to the Norbert Tieger book "Grandi Orologi: Dal Rinascimeto alla Art-Deco".

Caveat: I am not a Breguet historian and certainly not a Breguet expert so please take everything I say with a grain of salt...trust but verify.

Of the two Brequet Sympathique (Spanish clocks) that present a mystery (at least to me), namely Nos. 46 and 247 it seems one mystery may be solved (at least in my mind). Breguet Sympathique No. 46 has in sundry Breguet literature been noted as having been sold to the Spanish Royal Court; according to Amelia Aranda Huete (Curator of clocks, Patrimonio Nacional) a Breguet Sympathique clock was commissioned by the Queen of Spain circa middle-late 1790s.

The measure of time: Kings’ clocks in the eighteenth-century Spanish court (Amelia Aranda Huete, Curator of clocks, Patrimonio Nacional):

On 19 June 1799 Mariano Luis de Urquijo, the officer in charge of the queen’s treasury, comments to the secretary of the inland revenue office that the wife of Agustín de Betancourt was bringing from Bayonne a crate marked no. 35 containing objects for the queen which had been given to her by the king’s consul José de Lugo. In addition to this crate the lady brought a smaller crate containing “the pendulum clock that sets the time of the watch” (la péndola que pone el Relox a la hora) which the queen had commissioned from the master clock and watchmaker Breguet. So began the commercial dealings with Abraham-Louis Breguet, who enriched the royal collection with several timepieces, especially pocket watches. Breguet was notable for the technical perfection of his movements. One of his technical breakthroughs was the creation of sympathetic clocks like this one, which the Spanish queen must have commissioned from him. These clocks were used to wind and set the time of pocket watches. From this moment on until 1807 the Spanish court became one of his main clients. It was Agustín de Betancourt who put him in contact with the monarchs.

If the clock was in fact delivered to the Queen of Spain in 1799 then the work on the clock must have commenced c. 1795 and thus the clock must be one of the first of its kind and most likely belongs to a small group of Sympathique clocks with constant force escapement which includes clock nos. 421, 666 and 423.

The medallions of clocks read: 421 (30'0 Echappement Libre à Force Constante par Breguet), 666 (Echapement Libre à force Constante Par Breguet) and 423 (Echappement libre à force constante par Breguet).

Norbert Tieger's book "Grandi Orologi: Dal Rinascimeto alla Art-Deco" features a Breguet Sympathique clock with a medallion reading: "Premier Modele d l'Echappement a force constante par Breguet". Note: blessed by serendipity I was able to locate a deluxe version of Tieger's book ripe for the taking. From the book the original Italian description of the clock and a crude translation into English.

Questa orologio e una delle opere piu celebri di Abraham-Louis Breguet. Nel medaglione dorato alla base e riportata la seguente dicitura Primo modello di scappamento a forza costante di Breguet. E noto che il grande orologiaio parigino richiese al Ministero degli Interni di Francia un brevetto per l'invenzione di uno scappamento a forza costante, che ottenne nel 1798. Si puo quindi supporre che questo orologio fosse l'esemplare sottoposto al Ministero o quanta meno la prima realizzazione successiva alla concessione del brevetto. Sulla base di questo orologio Breguet realizzo successivamente le sue famose pendules simpatiques che consentivano di regolare gli orologi da tasca, collegandoli con appositi dispositivi a questo tipo di strumento, considerato il non plus ultra dell'orologeria. La cassa e in un bel mogano rosso bruno, con quattro piedini in bronzo dorato e una maniglia per il trasporto. La base contiene la f orza mo trice, costituita da due molle che si caricano mediante una leva estraibile dal fondo della cassa. Il livello delta loro carica e mostrato dai due indici sulle semis/ere che poggiano sulla base. I quattro lati, come pure il piano superiore, sono a vista, per consentire l' osservazione dello straordinario cu ore di questa macchina. Il bilanciere a due carpi, con viti di regolazione, e alloggiato sotto il complesso dello scappamento, tra due vistose molle a spirale realizzate in oro.  Lo scappamento presenta un gioco di blocchi e di svincoli affascinante, ma troppo complesso per essere illustrato in questa sede. In cima alla colonnina che supporta lo scappamento, Breguet ha incluso un termometro graduato per il controllo delta temperatura di cui - data il suo influsso sulla dilatazione dei materiali e dunque sulla marcia stessa dell'orologio - si doveva tener canto come variabile per apportare quelle minime correzioni che potevano assicurare la massima precisione. L 'ora e i minuti sono segnati su un quadrante in argento sul quale, in corrispondenza del 6, si trova un quadrante sussidiario per i secondi. Una pendule simpatique molto simile a questa per struttura, linea e dimensioni, e anch'essa incorporante lo scappamento a forza costante, figura fra i piu preziosi pezzi d'orologeria della corona d'Inghilterra.

This watch is one of Abraham-Louis Breguet's most famous works. The following words are written in the golden medallion at the base: First model of constant force escapement by Breguet. It is known that the great Parisian watchmaker requested a patent from the French Ministry of the Interior for the invention of a constant force escapement, which he achieved in 1798. It can therefore be assumed that this watch was the example subjected to the Ministry or at least the first realization following the granting of the patent. Breguet subsequently created his famous pendules based on this watch simpatiques that allowed pocket watches to be adjusted, connecting them with special devices to this type of instrument, considered the ne plus ultra of watchmaking. The case is in a beautiful red-brown mahogany, with four bronze feet gold plated and a carrying handle. The base contains the driving force, made up of two springs that are loaded using a lever that can be removed from the bottom of the cash register. The level of their charge is shown by the two indexes on the halves that rest on the base. The four sides, as well as the upper floor, are exposed, to allow the observation of the extraordinary heart of this machine. The double balance, with adjustment screws, is housed under the escapement assembly, between two eye-catching gold spiral springs. The escapement presents a fascinating game of blocks and releases, but too complex to be illustrated here. At the top of the column which supports the escapement, Breguet has included a graduated thermometer for checking the temperature of which - given its influence on the expansion of the materials and therefore on the running of the clock itself - it had to be kept as a variable to make those minimal corrections that could ensure maximum precision. The hours and minutes are marked on a silver dial on which, at the 6, there is a subsidiary dial for the seconds. A pendule sympathique very similar to this one in structure, line and dimensions, and also incorporating the constant force escapement, one of the most precious pieces of watchmaking from the crown of England.

Based on a patchwork of guesswork the clock featured in Tieger's book must be Breguet Sympathique No. 46 commissioned by the Queen of Spain and delivered to the Queen in 1799. As always opinions from Breguet experts are welcome to provide facts instead my fantasy.

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