Attributed to Breguet

A miniature gold open-faced keyless winding montre à tact watch Circa 1834

No reserve

No Reserves

Lot Closed

September 16, 03:40 PM GMT

Estimate

3,000 - 5,000 GBP

Lot Details

Description

Property from the Masterworks of Time Collection

Attributed to Breguet

A miniature gold open-faced keyless winding montre à tact watch

Circa 1834

• Movement: frosted gilded, lever escapement, large bi-metallic compensation balance

• Dial: silver, eccentric time dial with Roman numerals, outer minute ring, the surround decoratively engraved with scrolling foliage and centred with banner signed Breguet

• Case: gold, engine-turned back mounted with à tact hand, touch pins to the band, regulation index between 3 and 4 o'clock, keyless winding and hand-setting, casestamped B and 116 S, case maker's mark LS for Leopold Secheret

diameter 30mm

The montre à tact watch was invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet and produced between 1800 and 1834. It is said that they were worn by fashionable young men who wished to know the time without the embarrassment of their host knowing their anxiety, as one could tell the time without taking the watch out of a pocket. The tact hand to the front of the case is turned until it stops, a small protection feature prevents it from rotating further and leaves the tact hand at the correct time, the position of the hand is then determined by the raised touch pieces which are set at the edge of the case at hourly intervals.