Breguet

• cal. 556 QPRT manual winding nickel lever movement, 29 jewels, mono-metallic compensation balance within a one-minute tourbillon carriage, minute repeating on two gongs • 18k gold silvered guilloché dial, eccentric dials with matte chapter rings, the main dial with minutes chapter ring and aperture for jumping hours, partially bordered by a sector aperture with wandering retrograde hand indicating date, subsidiary dials for day and month, aperture within month dial for leap-year indication, constant seconds hand mounted above aperture revealing the one-minute tourbillon carriage, the dial further signed 1747-1947 • heavy case, chamfered bezel, minute-repeating slide to the coin-edge band, screw-set straight lugs, sapphire crystal display back • case, dial and movement signed • with a platinum Breguet buckle

Accompanied by a Breguet Certificate of Origin and Guarantee dated March 8th, 2000 as well as a fitted wooden presentation box and outer packaging.

The present example is one of three pieces produced in 1997 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Abraham-Louis Breguet. It has never been offered at auction before.

Exceptionally complicated and featuring a daring take on Breguet's classic aesthetic, it can easily be seen as the firm's most important modern wristwatch creation.

Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) became the watchmaker of distinction for diplomatic, military and financial elites and his personal contacts with foreign sovereigns helped foster his international reputation. He crafted specially commissioned models for eminent figures such as the Tsar of Russia, the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, the Prince-Regent of England and the Queen of Naples, to mention only a few. His developments, including the overcoil hairspring and tourbillon have become industry standards. Today, Breguet is known as one of the most ingenius and important watch makers in history.