Breguet

A fine, sophisticated and very rare yellow gold tourbillon skeletonized wristwatch of the famous Swiss watch brand Breguet, founded in 1775. Estimated production period: 1998–2000, sold in 2006. Case made of 18k yellow gold, diameter 35mm, thickness 9mm, signed crown, sapphire caseback. 18k gold silver-plated open-worked dial with hand-made ‘filet sauté’ guilloché decoration. Caliber 558 SQ1, hand-wound, skeletonized and hand-engraved, Breguet hairspring, power reserve up to 50 hours. Functions – hours, minutes, tourbillon, three-pointed small seconds hand on tourbillon shaft. Brown leather strap with Breguet 18k yellow gold double folding clasp. 

Abraham-Louis Breguet, founder of the brand, is one of the most prolific watch designers and inventors in watchmaking history. In particular, he has the honour of having invented the tourbillon, a complication mechanism with balance, hairspring and escapement parts installed in a rotating carriage. The tourbillon was invented in 1795, and a French patent was granted to Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801. The aim of this invention was to improve the accuracy of the pocket watch by averaging the positional error via the rotation of the tourbillon. In the modern era, the tourbillon has acquired legendary status in high watchmaking and is one of the most beautiful mechanical complications. 

The Breguet brand was one of the first to undertake the development of serial production wristwatches with a tourbillon; this work was started by the watchmaker Daniel Roth, who worked for the brand in the 1970s and 1980s and under whose leadership the design of the caliber 558 (Nouvelle Lémania 397) was carried out at the Nouvelle Lémania manufacturer of watch movements. The manual-wound caliber has a one-minute tourbillon and characteristic design with upward-shifted hour and minute hands. Another of Daniel Roth’s design features that survives in Breguet tourbillon watches up to the current collection is the three-pointed small seconds hand, mounted on the tourbillon shaft to indicate the seconds on the sector scale.