Father of Watchmaking: Abraham-Louis Breguet

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How the new “Bugatti Tourbillon” has a connection to the legendary watchmaker

The man, the myth, the legend. The contribution of Breguet in the timekeeping universe is truly timeless, an enigma. Whose mysterious twists and turns in life make you wonder if we hold our destiny or are already in its chokehold the second we step foot on this nefarious, beautiful world? Abraham-Louis Breguet is considered the father of modern watchmaking for the tide of pure ingenuity he has graced this world. It’s utterly difficult not to talk about him when you talk about the ‘art of time’.

Mysterious life, handcrafted destiny.

one of the greatest watchmakers of our time Abraham-Louis Breguet, was born on 10th January 1747, in Neuchatel, which was not a part of Switzerland as it is now, we’ll uncover the reason why most of Breguets history is linked with France.

Breguet had a rough start to life compared to the normal course, his father Jonas-Louis Breguet passed away soon after when Breguet was 10 years old, and his formal education came to a halt at around 12. Around this time he had no influence of timekeeping in his life, and one wonders if it would have even been the same if the did not unfold as they did soon after.

Suzanne Bolle, Breguet’s mother soon after her husband’s death, tied the knot with Joseph Tattet, who came from a family of watchmakers and had a showroom in Prais. Breguet was then, for the first time introduced to the world of horology and watchmaking.

But to our surprise, Abraham was not much interested in it, though he eventually got involved in the industry in 1762, at the age of 15 Breguet was on a path that would redefine the way we appreciate the fine craftsmanship of watchmaking. Breguet was sent to Versailles, which was a hub where great watchmakers were made! Lost in pages of history, Breguet’s master name is still unknown, but what is known is his eye-to-spot brilliance.

Under his teaching, he soon realized the sheer talent and intelligence of young Breguet and encouraged him to take mathematics classes at College des Quatre-Nations, under Abbe Marie. By the day learning horology, and by night solving Mathematics, Breguet took the wheels of destiny in his hand. Soon the educational relationship between Breguet and Abbe Marie turned into a friendship. Abbe Marie was a well-known figure and helped introduce Breguet to King Louis XVI of France, influenced by mechanics who commissioned Breguet to make many timepieces.

Life is unpredictable and fragile. Things took a tragic turn for Breguet with his dear friend Abbe Maire’s death (cause unknown), soon followed by news of the death of his stepfather and mother. This blue period of his life is a grey period in the history books because it’s unknown what happened during this time. until…

Rebirth; From Inventions to Escaping Death

1775 the year when Breguet set up his own company in Paris, after finishing his apprenticeship. From here begins a new era of his life full of inventions and fame.

The Perpetuelle, 1780

Breguet’s first breakthrough was the perfection of “self-winding watches”, the only type of watch at around that time were pocket watches, the Perpetuelle was a watch that would wind itself, and how would it do that?

Taking little to no credit for the mechanics, Breguets made the self-winding mechanics more reliable and effective, inventing a system with an oscillating weight at the back that would return to its original position, the oscillating weight would respond to the wearer’s walking movement.

With his oscillating weight made of platinum, Breguet was the first to make the system reliable and present convincing results. This was a major success and the first Perpetuelle was sold to Duck of Orleans.

Gong-spring for repeater watches, 1783

A repeater watch is a complication that lets the wearer know the time. There are different types of repeater watches, but the most famous and complicated of them is the minute repeater complication. This mechanism chimes the hours, quarters, and minutes on demand by activating a push or a slide-piece.

A.L Breguet created the first gong-spring repeating watch instead of the bell metal making the complication more reliable. Initially, the bell metal was fixed on the back of a repeating watch with 2 hammers around which would strike, but in the earlier versions of a repeater, the watch would chime only half of the sequence.

So to tackle this problem, a gong thin flat steel cable was coiled inside the watch case, reducing the thickness of the watch and, at the same time making the chiming tone more discrete

Breguet became a Master Clockmaker by 1784, and gradually climbed the stairs of success, with success comes connection, and Breguet was commissioned by Dukes, Kings, and Queens fame surrounded him, and he met Jean-Paul Marat, a French political theorist, and physician who at that time was a revolutionary leader.

Well, the thing is the boiling lava of the French Revolution was stirring up, and the growing friendship between Breguet and Marat, became a cause of concern. When the French Revolution was at its height, Marat discovered that Breguest was marked for the guillotine, probably because of his relations with the Royal court.

Wasting no time, Marat plotted a safe exit for Breguet to Switzerland from where he traveled to England. Breguet lived in England, working for King George III, and returned back to France once things stabilized in 1795.

During his time in England, Breguet was exposed to different methods and techniques, and upon his return back to Paris, he wasted no time setting up his business and starting to commence his magic. Full of ideas and innovations he set out to hire the best watchmakers and craftsmen in Paris.

In 1798, Breguet was given the highest award at the Exposition des Produits de L’industrie Francaise for his discovery of perfecting the escapement with constant force, which was crucial for both astronomical and longitude clocks.

The Tourbillon, 1801

Following the success, Breguets greatest known invention, which stirs up emotion and is found in the best of the best watches in the world showcasing their technical ability and intricate craftmanship, is the tourbillon.

A tourbillon is an addition to the escapement mechanics, that defies gravity altogether—invented by legendary watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet. In a tourbillon, the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating wheel and it continuously rotates the balance wheel and escapement at a slow defined rate to minimize positional errors and increase the accuracy of watches.

This very mechanism inspires the latest Buggati Tourbillon. We have covered more about this gravity-defying complication in our previous posts.

Marie Antoinette, 1827

Marie Antoinette is no ordinary name, it is a story, a story of desire without boundaries. Marie Antoinette was the last queen consort of France before the French Revolution, being the queen, she had a lot of admirers, and one such admirer upon knowing that the queen had a fascination with Breguet’s watches, commissioned Breguet to create a one-of-a-kind timepiece.

The masterpiece “Marie Antoinette” (No. 160), also known as The Queen was “The Grand Complication” studded with precious metals and stones, and when it came down to the price, well what price? there was no budget or time, the admirer wanted it to be perfect, the admirer wanted it to be “a poem in clockwork”

The commission, unfortunately, had to go through a time of life, and then it took nineteen years before it was complete, during those forty-four years, there was no progress for almost seven as it was a time of bloodshed and Breguet was in exile. It was finally finished in 1827, thirty-four years after the queen was executed, and four years after the death of Breguet himself. Completed by Breguet’s son, It remains one of the most important pieces of time.

The first Wristwatch, or NOT?

“History is conflicting, and fact-checkers are dead”, now it leaves us with records, and records speak that in 1810, Breguet’s most innovative invention was brought to life, and his brilliance on paper.

The Queen of Naples, Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's younger sister and an admirer of art, commissioned Breguet to make the first registered wristwatch.

The Queen of Naples placed two orders as documented in Breguet’s notebook, one of a grand complication carriage watch and the other a repeater watch for a bracelet.

The result, watch number 2639 was made, to be never found. The watch itself remains lost in time, but what remains is noteworthy. Breguet’s archive consisted of notes about how the watch would look and be made, Breguet, the brand launched Reine de Naples, a collection inspired by the description of the watch recorded back in 1810.

The business grew and so did the value and the name attached to it. Breguet, known for his kindness and humor became a member of the Bureau des Longitudes in 1814 and was appointed as the official chronograph-maker to the French Army, he received the highest French order of merit, for both civil and military, the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour in 1819.

Breguet passed away in 1823, with his name being one of the 72 names inscribed on the Eiffel Tower.