Minute repeating clockwatches with Grande and Petite sonnerie striking are an exceptional rarity even among Breguet’s most complicated watches. Seen as wondrous creations at the time, they were amongst the most expensive of Breguet’s timepieces, usually selling between 3,000 and 4,000 Francs, on a parallel with a perpétuelle and more even expensive than a tourbillon watch. The high price reflected the sheer difficulty and complexity of their manufacture and consequently only a tiny number were ever made.
As far as can be ascertained, no two examples of Breguet’s minute repeating clockwatches are exactly alike, and therefore each can be considered unique in construction. A separate mainspring to be wound each day drives the striking train in the same manner as a striking clock. The going of the watch releases the striking at each quarter hour and may be Grande Sonnerie – striking the hours and quarters at each quarter, or Petite Sonnerie – striking only quarters or hours at the appropriate time. Either system can be chosen by moving a lever at the edge of the movement.
The present watch combines a number of unusual features, among them the use of a lateral lever escapement. Breguet’s clockwatches were not made in small batches unlike his other watches. Therefore the types of escapement used do not fall into any particular pattern although they do reflect the escapements being used generally by him at various stages in his career. The improvements made to the lever escapement by Breguet spanned a period of 26 years from 1786 to 1812. All could perform to within 15 seconds a day for many years without attention. Although running with a high rate of accuracy, particularly when fitted to tourbillon watches, Breguet’s lever escapements were not primarily intended to be precision escapements. They were developed for the purpose of enabling Breguet to produce a reliable watch with a close rate for everyday wear.
The workmanship throughout the present watch is exceptional, not only the highly finished striking mechanism, but also the minute repeating work under the dial. The independent striking train is set on the back plate, allowing the owner to observe the striking mechanism in action.
The repeating mechanism employed is among Abraham-Louis' numerous inventions and marked a turning point in the history of watchmaking. Introduced in 1783, Breguet's "ressort-timbre", a wire gong surrounding the movement which replaced the hitherto used bell, improved not only the quality of the sound but especially helped to reduce the thickness of a watch considerably. The repeating push-piece concealed in the pendant is another of the master's invention. Generally used after 1800, the system is both elegant and reliable.
The movement is fitted with a "suspension élastique", Breguet's ingenious elastic balance suspension also known as pare-chute, the ancestor of the shock-protection devices conceived to protect the pivots from blows.
The finely engine-turned case of large size was made in the workshops of the celebrated Jean-Louis Joly, featuring a slim bezel, another of Breguet's signature features, allowing the entire dial to be seen. Of outstandingly high quality, the case allows the hinged cover of the secret compartment to fit so well inbetween the outer cover and the cuvette that it remains perfectly invisible to the untrained eye. The secret portrait compartment was one of the master's few concessions to the caprices of his clientele; he however designed it in a manner as to maintain the overall purity of the watch's design.
Made by Borel, the white enamel dial features Breguet's etched secret signature "No. 2166 Breguet" below 12 o'clock. In 1795, to prevent his watches from being counterfeit, he came up with this ingenious measure, visible when the dial is examined under oblique light.
Of superb quality, rarity and noble provenance, the present watch is an epitome of Breguet's exceptional work and a highlight for the enthusiast of outstanding timepieces.
Count Yuri Alexandrovitch Golovkin (1762-1846)
Statesman and scientist he was the great-grandson of Peter the Great’s chancellor, Gavriil Golovkin. In 1805 he led a mission to China, partly in response to the growing Napoleonic hold over Europe, which left Russia with few possibilities for expansion. The resulting embassy was in some respects Russia’s answer to the embassy sent by Britain in 1793 under Earl McCartney, for the economic importance of Russian trade with China through the Russian-American Company was very significant. Golovkin was made honorary member of the Académie des Sciences in 1834.
A faithful client of Breguet, he owned at least ten of his timepieces (see Breguet - un apogée de l'horlogerie éeuropéene, Musée du Louvre Editions, p. 106).
Lazare Moreau
Nicknamed "Zarenne", Moreau was in charge of Breguet's branch in Russia which he called "Maison de Russie". He mainly supplied "perpétuelle" or self-winding, "souscription", repeating and à tact watches as well as various carriage clocks to the flourishing Russian market.