7/1/2023 0 Comments Horology apprenticeship![]() Indeed, the current Reine de Naples collection is inspired by the piece that Caroline herself ordered from Breguet.Īway from pocket and wrist watches, Breguet harboured ambitions within other horological pursuits. From Switzerland he travelled to England and spent two years working directly for King George III before returning to France in 1795 once political tensions had eased.Īmongst Breguet’s other notable clients were Napoleon Bonaparte, and in 1810 Bonaparte’s sister Caroline, Queen of Naples ordered the world’s first wristwatch. ![]() Shortly after King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette were executed in the French Revolution in 1793, Marat found out the Breguet too had been marked for execution, and so, assisted by his friend Marat, Breguet fled France in exile and travelled home to Switzerland. In addition to royalty, Breguet counted leading revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat, also from Neuchâtel, amongst his friends. Queen Marie-Antoinette never got to see the finished piece, having been executed in the French Revolution, and the piece was ultimately completed by Breguet’s son in 1827 after taking 44 years to create. John Arnold is a watchmaker who today is held in similar regard to Breguet, which makes what happened next all the more remarkable – Arnold immediately visited Paris to meet Breguet and requested for his own son to serve an apprenticeship under him.Ībraham-Louis Breguet and John Arnold became good friends over the years that followed, sharing a great mutual respect for one another – Breguet even sent his own son to England to serve his own apprenticeship under Arnold.īreguet’s rise to fame coincided with the French Revolution, and whilst he counted the King and Queen amongst his clients – he was in fact commissioned in 1783 by Queen Marie-Antoinette to create a pocket watch with every known complication at the time. Years after having purchased the first Perpétuelle timepiece, in 1792 the Duke of Orléans travelled to England where he visited John Arnold and showed him a timepiece that he had purchased from Breguet. The esteem with which Breguet was held amongst the watchmaking community was equally impressive. This and other inventions earned Abraham-Louis Breguet fame and recognition, and his clients graced the elite and even Royalty, including King Louis XVI and Queen Marie-Antoinette. It did not take long for Breguet to establish himself as one of the finest watchmakers of his time, as in 1780 he created his “ Perpétuelle”, the world’s first self-winding timepiece the first of these was sold to the Duke of Orléans. It was from here that Breguet set to work, driven by his passion for innovation (more on his specific inventions later). Having completed his apprenticeship, Abraham-Louis Breguet founded his own business in 1775 in Paris on Quai de l’Horloge, Ile de la Cité – interestingly, the name Quai de l’Horloge adorns the official corporate magazine of the Breguet brand today. It wasn’t until he was 15 when he became interested in horology his stepfather was a watchmaker and had a showroom in Paris, and before long, the teenage Abraham-Louis Breguet made his way to Versailles and Paris for a watchmaking apprenticeship, during which he is said to have excelled. ![]() He was born on the 10 th January, 1747, in the Swiss town of Neuchâtel which was then a part of Prussia. Many of his innovations are still in use today, and when you factor in that Breguet lived in the 18 th and early 19 th Century, it serves to stand his achievements in even greater stead. Widely considered as one of the greatest watchmakers of all time, the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet has survived almost 200 years since he passed in 1823, and doubtless will continue long into the future. In this article, I take a look at the life of this great watchmaker and some of his incredible achievements. He is of course the namesake founder of the Breguet brand, and many of his innovations and creations are still used in watchmaking today. Few watchmakers have left their mark on the world of horology like the great Abraham-Louis Breguet.
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