An extremely rare and early gilt-brass and octagonal mahogany boxed marine chronometer with twin barrels, the first recorded Breguet marine chronometer sold

Sotheby’s New York, 24 May 2018, lot 133.

George Daniels, The Art of Breguet, 1974, pp.84 and 157, figs. a-b.

Accompanied by Breguet Certificate no. 4511 dated 24 April 2018, recording the sale of no. 106, a Montre Marine in an octagonal case, to Monsieur Ducom (Breguet’s Bordeaux agent) on 11 January 1816, for the price of 2,000 francs. The certificate further records that the ébauche was made by Samuel Roy before 1800. It was returned twice for the service, in 1828 and 1847, both times by Monsieur Ducom.

Since this chronometer’s previous sale at Sotheby’s in 2018, it has undergone an extensive and highly skilled programme of conservation and restoration by the independent clockmaker and specialist conservator David Walter.

During Breguet’s time in exile in Switzerland during the Reign of Terror, he commissioned some work from the Swiss clockmaker Samuel Roy (1746-1822). Roy is believed to have constructed or finished at least two of the famous three-wheel clocks for Breguet in accordance with the latter’s instructions¹ (for a replica by George Daniels see lot 59). During the first half of the 1790s, Roy also supplied some ébauches for marine chronometers, again made to Breguet’s designs.

Breguet’s earliest known marine chronometers are numbered 104, 105, and 106. The present lot (no. 106) has the distinction of being the maker’s earliest known recorded sale of a marine chronometer, in 1816. Its sale predates those of nos. 104 and 105, which occurred in 1818 and 1817 respectively, each selling for 2,000 francs. Of the three, nos. 104 (see lot 29) and 106 are thought to be the only known survivors. Work on these chronometers is believed to have begun prior to or around the time of Breguet’s exile to Switzerland in 1793.

In common with no. 104, the present piece (no. 106) shows the influence of the English watch and chronometer maker John Arnold. As the first of Breguet’s recorded marine chronometers to have been sold, its external styling is distinct from that of no. 104. Its octagonal wooden case and clear Roman numeral dial is typical of the styling of Arnold’s boxed marine chronometers of the 1780s and 90s (for examples see: Staeger, H, 100 Years of Precision Timekeepers, 1997, pp. 297-304 and Sotheby’s London, The George Daniels Horological Collection, 6 November 2012, lot 101).

Arnold and Breguet became aware of each other’s work when they met during Breguet’s first visit to London in 1789. Indeed, the similarities between the present chronometer and Arnold’s work is remarked on by George Daniels in The Art of Breguet, where the author notes that this marine chronometer is illustrative of “the ties which existed between the two men.”² Their friendship and mutual admiration led to the apprenticeship exchange of their sons: Breguet’s son, Antoine-Louis Breguet, was sent to London to work with Arnold, while John Roger Arnold, in turn, was apprenticed to Breguet in Paris. Unfortunately, both apprenticeships were interrupted when Breguet was forced to flee France in 1793 during the Reign of Terror.

Of further interest, the certificate also notes the sale of the chronometer to Ducom in Bordeaux. Ducom represented Breguet in the port city as his agent for the sale of marine chronometers. For another Breguet Marine Chronometer also sold to Ducom de Bordeaux, see Sotheby’s Geneva, 12 November 2013, lot 328.

¹ Breguet, Emmanuel, Breguet Watchmakers since 1775, Revised and Expanded Edition, Swan Éditeur, 2016, p. 401.

² Daniels, George, The Art of Breguet, London: Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1975, p. 84.