L E Q U a I D E L 'H O R L O G E N 2 B R E Gu

LE QUAI DE L’HORLOGE NO 2 BREGUET 3 Dear Friends of Breguet

Refl ect for a moment on what it really means to invent or proach to establishing new benchmarks for mechanical to innovate. The words roll off the tongue so easily. But time keeping precision. what do they really mean? For us at Breguet true invention There is more to our timepieces than the technical innova- and innovation means fi nding solutions which others have tions found in the movements; artistry plays a large role never tried before. Remember much of what we see in the at Breguet. Our article on the Héritage collection gives a world of watches refl ects inventions made 200 years ago— glimpse of the enormous talent of our in-house guil- the time when our founder Abraham-Louis Breguet was locheurs whose hand craft is shown in each one of our alive and practicing his craft. But is it really inventive or guilloche dials. innovative to take something designed in the past, perhaps One of Breguet’s most devoted and faithful clients and a with a tweak or a twist, and incorporate it in a modern towering fi gure of French history was Charles-Maurice de watch? Our standards are much higher. I urge you to Talleyrand. Professor Marie-Hélène Huet and our histori- plunge into the article on our new Classique Chronométrie an, Emmanuel Breguet, collaborate to bring us intriguing and see what we mean by invention and innovation. Our glimpses of his life. patented design breaks entirely new ground in its ap- This and much more in Issue No. 3.

Yours sincerely,

Marc A. Hayek, President and CEO Montres Breguet SA

2 3 CONTENT

Content

1. Classique Chronométrie: High Precision 6

2. Atelier des Grandes Complications 22

3. Breguet’s Archives 40

4. L’Héritage Collection 54

5. The Relationships Between Breguet and Talleyrand 72

6. The Sound of Time 90

7. Breguet and the Concours de Genève 110

4 5 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

Classique Chronométrie HIGH PRECISION By Jeffrey S. Kingston

6 7 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

hen scanning the horizon for watchmaking innovations, even for the most savvy of con- Wnoisseurs, it is easy to squeeze down the fi eld of view to focus upon the domain of complications. New complications, traditional complications done in new ways, and, let’s not forget, combina- tions of complications.

◆ ◆ ◆

However enchanting and exhilarating may be the Sturm watch which might intrude upon or defl ect attention from und Drang of new complication announcements, the lesson the primary objective of changing the rules for timekeeping of watchmaking history points in a different direction. Seen performance. And as a testament to its ground breaking through the prism of time, the ranks of the most celebrated, chronometry, each watch will be accompanied by a certifi - enduring, and, at the end of the day, important, watch- cate certifying its precision. making innovations have been less in the area of complications but, rather, instead, have been dominated by those The development path for the Classique Chronométrie which have advanced the art of timekeeping precision. To took Breguet’s movement designers to unexpected places. If cite but a few examples, look no further than the contribu- this were to be a timepiece that would raise the precision tions to watchmaking accuracy from Abraham-Louis bar, its construction could not consist of mere tweaks and Breguet, the founder of Breguet, with his creation of the twists on standard solutions. Rather than focus on existing tourbillon, the Breguet overcoil, and the constant force es- designs, the project team began by identifying known ob- capement. Does anyone remember who developed the fi rst stacles to precision and searching for new ways to overcome perpetual calendar? them. It was this wide-open approach that freed the development from convention and sent it down the path of free The Classique Chronométrie has been conceived with spun innovation. Result: no less than four patents are em- this perspective of watchmaking history; with it Breguet bodied in the 7400 movement that powers the Classique has brought a singular focus to revolutionize watch con- Chronométrie. struction and set new standards for mechanical watch precision. Every element of the Classique Chronométrie is One of the fi rst barriers to accuracy that the designers devoted to this goal and Breguet has pushed aside the attacked was the suspension of the balance staff. The cen- temptations to add other elements or complications to the terpiece for a watch’s timekeeping is the balance wheel and ◆ The balance wheel with its two silicium spirals.

8 9 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

THE CHRONOMÉTRIE DIAL. There is a hint of the magnetic suspension as the dial reveals the top bridge for the balance wheel.

its spiral spring. Its back and forth rotations (generally spo- ken of as “swings” or “oscillations”) determine the rate of the watch. In many ways, these oscillations call to mind the swings of a pendulum used in most mechanical clocks. For centuries the standard form of construction of the balance wheel has it mounted on a shaft (termed “balance staff”), the end of which is termed a “pivot” which is in- serted into what are known as “pivot jewels”, rubies with a drilled-out hole. Generally there is a second jewel, known as a “cap jewel” that is placed against the tip of the pivot, on the outside top of the pivot jewels. The pivot jewels function as jeweled bearings. Although, a huge technical leap when invented in early 1700’s, an advance that made possible adding a minute hand to watches that before only offered a rather inaccurate hour indication, and simply accepted by watchmakers for more than three hundred years therefollowing, this jeweled bearing design carries with it problems which adversely impact a watch’s precision. Primary among them is the fact that the frictional characteristics of the pivot jewels are dependent upon position. When the watch is in a vertical position, the most important source of friction is the contact between the

10 11 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

A WATCHMAKING REVOLUTION. Breguet’s magnetic suspension opens a new frontier in chronometry.

sides of the pivot, pressed by gravity, against the side walls frictional differences as the position of the watch is changed. of the pivot jewels; in a horizontal position it is the force of It is remarkable to note that even as the watch is inverted gravity pressing the bottom tip against the cap jewel. From from one horizontal position to another, the balance staff this description alone it can be intuitively seen that the remains in contact with same endstone (the one positioned degree and effects of friction in vertical positions will dif- on the dial side of the movement). This is because the mag- fer from those in horizontal positions. netic fi eld created between the magnets is stronger than gravity. Said another way, the magnetic force felt by the staff Overcoming these positional friction disparities led is stronger than the gravitational weight of the whole bal- Breguet to a completely new and unanticipated method for ance. If you want to think of this as a highly localized “arti- mounting the balance staff: one employing magnetism. fi cial gravity” for the balance staff, go ahead. A second Instead of inserting each end of the balance staff into a major advantage is the overall reduction in friction; this is hollowed out pivot jewel, each tip merely touches an end- obvious as there is only minimum contact between the stone jewel formed with a shallow depression. Mounted pivot and the endstone. behind each endstone is a powerful micro magnet which, because it induces a magnetic fi eld in the staff itself, both To achieve these gains in positional performance of the pulls the balance staff towards the jewel, and exerts recen- balance, Breguet’s movement designers confronted what tering forces on the staff should there be a slight displace- previously was a watchmaking taboo. Far from being a ment of position. What is created is an instantaneously prized component in movements, magnets anywhere near self-correcting system. the environment of a watch have heretofore been greeted by watchmakers with the same enthusiasm as the arrival of a ◆ The magnetic suspension system; the two magnets are placed The advantages of this revolutionary construction are hip hop band at a Benedictine abbey. This is because tradi- behind the jewels shown in red. manifold. First and foremost, is the effective elimination of tional materials used for the construction of the balance

12 13 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

AN INVENTION MEMORIALIZED. The movement is engraved with the date of the magnetic suspension patent.

wheel spiral are vulnerable to magnetization when exposed So, have Breguet’s movement designers been fool hardy to a suffi ciently strong magnetic fi eld. Residual magnetiza- in not only placing magnets within the watch case, but in tion manifests itself in the very fi ne coils that make up a the very zone of the movement that is ordinarily considered balance wheel’s spiral. In effect, the segments of the coil the most vulnerable to magnetization? Of course the answer become individual magnets which alternately attract and is no. For the balance spirals of the Classique Chronométrie repel each other. Result: the properties of the spiral are al- (and we shall see in a moment that the movement employs tered, which in turn, changes the rate of oscillation of the two spirals for the balance) have been fashioned in silicium balance wheel and, thus, the timekeeping of the watch. For which is a-magnetic. Thus, these spirals are essentially im- this reason many timepieces which may be used in strong mune to the magnetization risks that otherwise imperil tra- magnetic environments, such as military and diving watch- ditional spirals. es, have historically been fi tted with soft iron inner cases to shield the spiral from magnetic fi elds. Those soft iron cases To memorialize this revolutionary construction, the bring with them a multitude of disadvantages including in- date of the magnetic suspension patent is engraved onto the creased weight and thickness of the watch and the impossi- movement of the Classique Chronométrie. In this there is bility of offering a view of the movement through a clear symmetry with the past, as Breguet’s tourbillons are en- case back. Nonetheless, these drawbacks have been tolerat- graved with the date of that patent, “7 an Messidor 9” (the ed in the name of protecting these military and diving time- date expressed under the French revolutionary calendar pieces from magnetic fi elds. then in force).

14 15 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

PRECISION ENHANCED WITH HIGH FREQUENCY. Operating at a frequency of 10 Hz, the Classique Chronométrie is fitted with two silicium spirals and a silicium escape wheel.

There is a second major innovation which revolution- izes the timekeeping performance of the Classique Chro- nométrie, high frequency. Movement designers have long since identifi ed the key factors that determine the ability to regulate fi nely the running rate of a mechanical watch movement. These are the inertia of the balance, its ampli- tude (which is the number of degrees of its swings back and forth, also termed “oscillation”), and its frequency. Of these three, it is frequency that has the greatest effect, indeed far greater than the other two. Although there are mathemati- cal formulas that prove the point, the basic concept can boiled down to a rather simple analogy. If a watch is running at a high frequency, that is to say with each oscillation of the balance wheel occurring relatively quickly, any distur- bance to the back and forth swings of the balance wheel will diminish more rapidly than if the oscillations were taking place more slowly i.e. at a lower frequency. In short, pertur- bations dissipate more quickly, with less infl uence on the regulated rate.

16 17 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

Although the benefi ts of high frequency have been well understood, there have been substantial barriers to designing movements that can usefully run at these higher rates. These obstacles include diminishment of power reserve (imagine, each “tick” of the watch results in an unwinding of the barrel; the faster the rate of the “ticks” the faster the barrel is depleted), wear of components, and deterioration of lubrication. Unable to avoid these downsides to high frequency, the evolution of watch design has been stalled for decades, with essentially all movements operating at frequencies between 18,000 and 28,800 beats per hour, with only a very few limited exceptions running faster. Building ◆ The two silicium spirals feature an innovative design upon the technology that debuted with the Type XXII which includes rigid bridges to place ideally the flexible chronograph that achieved a quantum leap in frequency to elements of the spirals. 72,000 beats per hour, Breguet has matched that rate with the Classique Chronométrie. As with the Type XXII, the Chronométrie is equipped with escapement, anchor and spiral fashioned in silicium. This use of silicium for in the movement of the 7727 addresses and solves the wear issues that would have arisen with use of preexisting materials operating at high frequency.

The Chronométrie has taken a further leap ahead as the balance wheel is fi tted with not one, but two spirals wound in the same direction and mounted 180 degrees apart from each other. Again the purpose is timekeeping precision. With conventional watch designs, with a few exceptions, there is a single spiral which tightens and untightens as the balance wheel swings back and forth. However, no matter how carefully a conventional single spiral is formed, this winding and unwinding always occurs slightly asymmetri- cally, which in turn, applies a sideways force against the balance staff. And, you saw this coming, that adversely effects the timing precision of the watch. The two spirals of the Classique Chronométrie mowunted opposed to each other and expanding and contracting in unison, do so

18 19 CLASSIQUE CHRONOMÉTRIE

symmetrically, with the balance staff maintained in a cen- cally, is “classic” Breguet. Even though its interior houses ter position (of course in the magnetic fi eld). Essentially no the large amount of energy necessary both to run at a high CLASSICISM RESPECTED. net force is exerted on the staff leading to better timing frequency and achieve an extended power reserve, the For all of the innovation tucked performance. refi nement of Breguet design is maintained with an ele- gantly thin, moderate diameter case. The hand guilloche inside, the aesthetics of the There is one other completely new element found in dial borrows a visual style from many of Abraham-Louis Classique Chronométrie hold true the construction of the twin silicium spirals. The outer end Breguet’s pocket watches with the displacement of the to Breguet traditions. of each spiral debuts an entirely new design, which incorpo- chapter ring from the center of the watch. Three aspects of rates what in effect is a bridge which, in turn, is attached to the dial do embody features not heretofore found. First is a common mounting point. As the bridge is rigid and ter- the large seconds hand. As a result of the high frequency of minates at its far end with the attachment of the fl exible the Classique Chronométrie, instead of moving in small part of the spiral, the outer mounting point of the spiral little jumps, to the eye, it seemingly glides along its circu- becomes the end of the bridge. By cleverly shaping the lar path. Second, is the fi tting of a supplemental seconds bridge, Breguet’s movement designers were able to position hand. Crafted in silicium, this supplemental hand spins the outer end of the spiral in an ideal location, one which once every two seconds. Finally, the dial has been opened minimizes the deviation from a perfectly circular shape as up to allow a view of the upper bridge for the magnetic the spiral winds and unwinds. This Breguet patented bridge suspension system. design works to minimize this potential source of rate error. The Classique Chronométrie is offered in both rose gold In order to achieve a high power reserve of 60 hours, the and white gold, both versions in 41 mm cases. Classique Chronométrie employs two winding barrels, mounted on ball bearings and operating in series. Conve- niently, a power reserve indication is offered on the dial.

It is easy for one’s head to swim when traversing these game changing movement innovations. But one thing is easy to understand, the results. The Classique Chronométrie is regulated when fully wound to an extraordinarily precise average rate of -1/+3 seconds a day, and, as part of the fi nal control after assembly, each watch’s chronometry will be in- dividually tested with its performance recorded upon an Accuracy Certifi cate, in the form of a booklet, which will be packaged with the fi nished watch.

For all of innovation tucked inside its movement, the Classique Chronométrie, as the name suggests, aestheti-

20 21 ATELIER DES GRANDES COMPLICATIONS

Atelier des Grandes COMPLICATIONS By Jeffrey S. Kingston

22 23 ATELIER DES GRANDES COMPLICATIONS

here is a room at Br eguet that is a time machine. No. Not a time machine in the sense of Thours and minutes—in a way, every room at a watch manufacture is one of those—but in the mystical sense of time travel. For it is in this room, known as the grand complication workshop, the liar of a small nearly automatous and independent team of horlogers, that two and half centuries of watchmaking are bridged.

◆ ◆ ◆

At any given time arrayed on the workbenches that ums or private collectors, who may send in their vintage overlook the fields lying beneath the village of L’Orient in Breguet timepieces for restoration. This calling is breathtak- the Vallée de Joux, are projects that may range from the ingly demanding. Not only must this small group of watch- restoration of the oldest timepieces produced by Abraham- makers possess a deep knowledge of every one of today’s Louis Breguet in his original workshop on Paris’ Quai de complications and methods of construction, their craft re- l’Horloge to the development of the new ultra-complicated quires them to comprehend how watches functioned two Hommage Nicolas G. Hayek which was discreetly previewed hundred and fifty years ago. More than that, as there are no to select journalists at the 2011 Basel fair. And it is in this stocks of parts standing at the ready for a repair of an an- special grand complication workshop that Breguet recreat- cient timepiece, they must possess the skills to fashion parts ed the most complicated pocket watch of its time, No. 160, from scratch and by hand that both match functionality of the Marie-Antoinette. those originally built and duplicate from raw materials the historic look and allure of the vintage components. In short, When it comes to the rich legacy of historical Breguet their talent set must blend history, artistry and consummate timepieces, the promise of this workshop is unequivocal. technical skill. They will take charge of, repair and restore any vintage clock or watch which was produced by Breguet dating back The Chef d’Atelier of the grand complication work- to its founding in 1775. This is not merely in service to shop, upon arriving at Breguet several years ago, brought Breguet’s own museum and its rich collection of historic with him an unmatched pedigree in timepiece restoration timepieces, but is an offer which is open to anyone, muse having captained teams both in Fleurier and Geneva

24 25 ATELIER DES GRANDES COMPLICATIONS

practicing this specialty. What attracted him to Br eguet AN UNEQUIVOCAL PROMISE. was the promise that he would be given extraordinary free- The grand complication workshop dom both in timepiece restoration and in the project for will restore and repair any vintage the recreation of the Marie-Antoinette pocket watch, which had just begun. Initially it was the latter that monopolized clock or watch produced by Breguet his time. dating back to its founding.

The Marie-Antoinette project was like no other in modern watchmaking. The original watch, a construction that consumed 44 years from, 1783, the date when an admirer of the Queen placed the original order, to completion of the watch some four years after A.-L. Breguet’s death, was for its time and four decades thereafter no less than the most ambitious, complicated watch ever made. Shockingly, in 1983 the watch disappeared from its display in the Israeli Museum of Islamic Art. What was left was only a photograph, which, happily because the watch featured a rock crystal face opening onto the complex movement, revealed its components. With only that photo, Br eguet undertook to recreate faithfully the original timepiece. which are placed in holes and held in place by friction. For It is revealing of Br eguet’s philosophy of restoration that the Marie-Antoinette these mountings were screwed into the Marie-Antoinette watch, which although not technical- place. These are just two examples of Breguet’s respect for ly a restoration, had not only visually to mimic and dupli- traditional methods that defined the Marie-Antoinette as cate the functions of the original, it had to be crafted as the well as the other restoration activities in the grand compli- original, using the techniques and methods of the period. cation workshop. Case in point: today bridges of a watch are generally formed with integral mounting feet, often with locating pins, and Nearly infinite patience and attention to detail is are secured with screws directly to the base plate. The orig- brought to the projects within the grand complication ate- inal Marie-Antoinette watch, however, used a different lier. Devotees of Breguet, and for that matter many corners method. The bridges were held in place by pillars that were of the watch industry that have copied signature styles of screwed into the base plate. Although the Marie-Antoinette A.-L. Breguet, are familiar with the “pomme” hands, that recreation could have been built using today’s system, it are now universally known as “Br eguet hands”. Whether would not have accurately duplicated the original. Similar- presented with a vintage piece that requires a hand replace- ◆ Verification of the functioning of gears ly, contemporary practices for the mounting of levers and ment or the Marie-Antoinette, for which hands needed to using a compas aux engrenages. some wheels for a repeater have them placed upon axes be made, more is involved than merely producing hands in

26 27 ATELIER DES GRANDES COMPLICATIONS

this famous shape and blued-steel color. From the workshops on the Quai de l’Horloge two hundred years ago, the hands that were used were filed by hand. This method demanded hands that were thicker and sturdier than those fashioned with modern techniques. Moreover, the end product was slightly more rounded than those of today. So the practice in the workshop is to follow the historical methods. Each hand crafted in this way requires several days of painstaking hand filing to become a genuine duplicate of historical ones.

For much of the work on the Marie-Antoinette and on restored timepieces, unswerving adherence to tradition also calls for eschewing modern tools in favor of those of past epochs. The minute repeater of the Marie-Antoinette utilized a chain to wind the barrel that powers the hammers in the chiming mechanism. Today’s repeaters universally use a ratchet which is connected to the slide that commands and initiates the chiming. All of the components of this miniscule chain—the individual side links and the pins connecting them—were cut with a hand tool. One- by- one. Of course, therefollowing, each piece was hand filed and polished.

At times modern solutions simply do not exist so that construction demands extraordinary measures. It is little known that the Marie-Antoinette was an automatic winding pocket watch, wound by a heavy weight that would oscillate back and forth on its attached arm. As it was

28 29 ATELIER DES GRANDES COMPLICATIONS

fashioned, round sapphires in the shape of balls protruded on each side of the heavy weight to guide it inside the back chamber of the watch. Sapphires in that form were not readily available for the reconstruction, so the watchmakers in the grand complication workshop made sapphire balls of the requisite size by hand filing (with diamond, of course, as it is harder than sapphire) small square blocks into the correct shape.

For the Marie-Antoinette and for restoration projects detailed research is the order of the day before a particular task is undertaken. During a recent visit, a sympathetic clock and watch, from the collection of the Paris Mobilier Nationale Francaise Museum were on the workbench. Sym- pathetic clocks with their associated watches (they were sold as a pair) were invented by Abraham-Louis Br eguet in 1795. Each sympathetic clock was fitted with receptacle into which the associated watch could be placed when not worn. Nestled into the socket, a small shaft from the clock would both wind the watch and set the time to match that of the clock. In correspondence with a friend in 1795, ◆ Wood polishing by hand. A.-L. Breguet enthused about his invention not only term- ing it “important” but one which would boost “our fame and our fortune”.

Four genres of sympathetic clocks and their paired watches were produced on the Quai de l’Horloge. Research conducted by the grand complication team on the Museum’s

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THE ART OF HAND FABRICATION. Restoration calls upon the watchmaker to reproduce by hand replacement components for historical timepieces.

◆ Stone hand polishing of chain links.

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example found it to be of the type patented in October 1833 by Breguet’s grandson, Louis-Clément. This version employed an entirely new construction which allowed less expensive standardized production in the old workshops. This research was invaluable in this case for the reason that one of the vital components, the connection between the clock and the watch, was missing. Armed with the patent document, the grand complication watchmakers had their guide for the restoration of both movements, that of the clock and the watch, and, of course, fabrication by hand for the missing component.

This connection between research and restoration is a common theme when talking to the watchmakers in the grand complication workshop. Another watch on one of the benches adjacent to the Museum’s sympathetic clock was a pocket watch produced in 1822 featuring a half- quarter hour repeater (half-quarter hour means that the watch would strike once between each quarter and twice for the full quarter) and Robin escapement. It is the challenge of dealing with unusual constructions such as this that is one of the unique rewards of working in the grand complication atelier. The watchmakers wax nearly poetic when talking of the many discoveries of forgotten inventions and clever solutions that are uncovered with the arrival of an historic timepiece. In some cases it might be the movement such as with the sympathetic clock or 1822 repeater, in ◆ The recreation of No. 160 the Marie-Antoinette. other cases it may even be the dial. An 1823 pocket watch

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RESTORATION DEMANDS movements are designed from scratch on advanced CAD/ DEVOTION TO VINTAGE TOOLS. CAM computers. It takes only a millisecond of observation in Breguet’s movement design department bristling with Breguet’s grand complication watchmakers large computer monitors and highly powered computers are scavengers of sorts as they avidly and servers to be satisfied that industry practice is followed seek out historical watchmaking tools. in the creation of new watches. But not every aspect of new- ly developed timepieces employs this prescription. One of the senior watchmakers (he prefers to call himself a micro mechanic) in the grand complication atelier, now in his 38th year at Br eguet, delights in conceiving new movements the old way…..tracing his ideas on paper. Eschewing computers altogether, he gave birth to the ideas that were transformed into the No. 5 pocket watch and Breguet’s Tourbillon Messidor, with its mysterious sapphire gear drive system. on yet another workbench was constructed in two parts, with a subdial scale held in place by miniscule screws (today This micromechanic’s devotion to the old ways also is two piece dials would be soldered or glued together). Far reflected in some of the machinery and tools he prefers. from being hidden, the tiny screws served as the indexes for During the 70’s, the nadir of the mechanical watch industry numerals “15” and “45”, with no hint that they were also punctuated by bankruptcies and business liquidations, he functioning to hold the two pieces together. became a scavenger of sorts, buying up machines and tools from failing enterprises and squirreling them away in his One lest not forget, however, that the grand complica- garage. Those machines today are used to fashion compo- tion workshop is a time machine and that its work is not nents for which modern machines are ill suited. Asked to confined to the past; the present day collection and forth- cite an example, with a winsome smile, he opened a cup- coming timepieces occupy a significant portion of the board fishing out a clever pocket watch winding key. No team’s efforts. But as these are far from ordinary watchmak- ordinary key, but one equipped with a clutch to protect ers, their methods at times break the molds. Today it is so against over winding and one fashioned entirely by hand common place as to be an industry standard that new using vintage tools.

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As for the future, the grand complication workshop has a vital role to play in the creation of the forthcoming Hom- mage Nicolas G. Hayek Grande Complication. Conceived to be one of the most complicated wristwatch ever made, the Hayek Grande Complication is comprised of a breath- takingly large number of components to implement such a rich range of functions that it requires a face on both sides of the watch to display them. Already Br eguet has amassed patent filings that together tower upon the designers’ desks. Unlike some other recent grand complications that have come on the scene and which adopted the expediency of assembly of separate plates and modules, the Hommage is constructed as a fully integrated movement with an exceed- ingly complex two sided single base plate. Of course at this level of complication, powerful computers from the design department have been central to the development. But so, too, have the talents of the watchmakers (and micro mechanic) from the grand complication atelier. It’s one thing for the quad cores and refined algorithms of the CAD/ CAM systems to say something will work and quite another for the watchmakers who hands will fashion the movement to endorse the solutions.

Can there be any other workshop in Switzerland that can lay equal claim to complication savoir faire? That can bring forward watchmakers and micro mechanics who at any given moment have the talent and expertise to absorb themselves in Breguet timepieces from the 18th century and in the next, in the most advanced wristwatch ◆ Under development the Hommage to Nicolas G. Hayek. ever produced?

38 39 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

BREGUET’S ARCHIVES, a description By Emmanuel Breguet

◆ Workshop booklet in the hand of Abraham-Louis Breguet, Paris, circa 1820. Montres Breguet SA collection.

40 41 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

ow can one write history without a document? What would an historian do without the Hsources that are his key priority and very reason for being? Be it about a character, a place, an invention, a civilization or a company, what could one write without sources? ◆ ◆ ◆

In the case of Breguet, which has manufactured time- operations prior to delivery to the client. Everything is pieces without the slightest interruption since the last numbered, from the ébauche to the presentation box and quarter of the 18th century, an invaluable archive has sur- including the gear trains, the dial, the hands, the case as vived right up to the present, carefully preserved and well as the various adjustment operations. Certain elements maintained in Paris, today at the fl agship boutique on the are very expensive, such as the cases that frequently repre- the Place Vendôme1. sent up to a third of the retail price of the fi nished watch and more than double the price of the ébauche. The pro- This document collection, which is probably a model in duction time naturally depends on the degree of complexity ◆ First-class Breguet n°3066 half-quarter its own right, can be classifi ed into several distinct families. of a given model, but overall one observes a steady decrease repeater watch with moon phases. Guilloché gold case, guilloché silver dial. over the decades. Whereas at the beginning of the Empire it Dispatched on June 18th 1818 to the Duke The production registers chart the details of the con- took around two years to create a classical piece, be it simple of Frias for the sum of 2,700 francs. Montres Breguet SA collection. struction of each watch with the date and the cost of each or a repeater, by 1820, one could make the same piece with operation as well as the names of all those involved. These a lead time of between 12 and 15 months. We are aware registers cover a period from 1787 to the mid-19th century. that Breguet has always invested a great deal in organizing ◆ Sketch depicting the installation of a They make it possible to trace the time taken to produce a and rationalizing its work. The time it takes to manufacture marine chronometer aboard a ship. Workshop booklet written in the hand of watch from the moment the movement ébauche or “blank” each watch is, therefore, known. As an example, the attrac- Abraham-Louis Breguet, Paris, circa 1820. receives the individual number that will become in some tive Duc de Frias moonphase watch, the Breguet n° 3066, Montres Breguet SA collection. way its “identity card” right the way through to the fi nal which was featured in 2009 on a poster at the entrance to

42 43 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

the Louvre Museum exhibition, was begun on January 15th 1817 and fi nished on December 16th 18182 .

The mention of those involved in producing the watch provides an opportunity to learn the name of Breguet’s employees as well as its suppliers. We thereby know the identity of its ébauche and gear train suppliers (Decombaz, Sandoz, Benoit, Petremand, Laloë, Vuitel and certain PRODUCTION REGISTERS. others), but also that of the case manufacturers (the famous The production registers chart the details quartet consisting of Gros, Mermillod, Joly and Tavernier), of the constructionof each watch with the as well as the hand-makers (mostly Thévenon but also sometimes Albertine Marat, the sister of the famous revolu- date and the cost of each operation as well tionary), etc. Through these annotations one can track how as the names of all those involved. many years one or another watchmaker worked with the company. All the watchmakers who worked for the company, whether at the Quai de l’Horloge or from home, were paid ‘per piece” and did not receive a regular salary. Their pay refl ects the exact amount of work they performed, as recorded in these vital company registers. A.-L.Breguet had high expectations of its employees but was ready to reward them for exceptional work. In these cases, a family tradition has it that the founder used his fountain pen to add a little tail to the last zero and thus make it a nine. In the same way, 100 could be turned into 1093! “subscription” watch4 carried a cost price of 450 francs and a retail price tag of 600 francs (cost +33.5%), while a In addition, information supplied in the records makes classic repeater watch5 involved a cost price of 1310 francs it possible to know both the exact cost price of the watch and sold for 1800 francs (cost +37%). For certain pieces and its retail price to the client. In this way one can however, that were both luxurious and unequalled by calculate the profi t margin that Breguet wished to make. competitors, such as the perpétuelles watches6, Tourbillon It is based on this margin, and this alone, that Breguet watches, tact watches7 decorated with diamonds or kept his company going, paid its administrative and oper- sympathique clocks8, Breguet carved out far higher mar- ational costs, funded projects and earned a living for himself gins ranging from 65 to 135%. ◆ Pages listing the stages involved in and his family. One can see that the margin varies depend- the production of the famous N°160 “Marie-Antoinette” watch. ing on the complexity of the models. As an example, a silver These registers are clearly a true mine of information …

44 45 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

SALES REGISTERS. Sales registers make it possible to track the sales of all Breguet watches through their individual number. Sales registers make it possible to track the sales of all Breguet watches through their individual number. These registers, sadly lacking from 1787 to 17909, are complete from 1791 to the present day and constitute an invaluable asset. Each annotation includes the individual number of the watch, a short description of the piece, the date of the sale, name of the purchaser and the price. Where relevant, the annotation is completed with repair numbers that refer to repair registers10. Thus, through the successive repairs mentioned, one can retrace a watch’s journey and its different owners through several generations. From around 1845, the coexistence of the manufacturing registers and the sales registers, which are a simplifi ed version thereof, were to dis- appear, making space for a single type of register – namely sales. It is this type of register that still exists today. In fact, in the digital era with its ever more swiftly evolving media options – none of which may still be readable in 50, 100 or 150 years – Breguet has decided to print the contemporary production on paper and with good quality ink. In this way, the same level of information as was available in the past will enable people in the future to follow the life of the Breguet company in the late 20th century and early 21st century. The contrary would have been unthinkable!

46 47 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

Repair registers contain precious information. Breguet has always recommended and still recommends that its clients have their watches repaired or serviced by Breguet. Right from the start, the workshop earned such a great reputation that it repaired watches from all brands and all countries. The oldest repair register preserved starts on December 5th 1791, and the time-consuming tradition of noting each repair in a book lasted until the beginning of the 1970s. The oldest registers cover a period right in the middle of the French Revolution. They are scattered with names such as Marie-Antoinette for her n° 46 perpetual, REPAIR REGISTERS. Axel de Fersen for his Swedish-made military watch, Repair registers contain precious Madame the King’s sister-in-law (the Countess of Provence, information. Breguet has always wife of the future Louis XVIII) for her N°27 perpétuelle watch. The greatest names in France rub shoulders here. recommended and still recommends However, the pace of events accelerated and the way clients’ that its clients have their watches names were mentioned also evolved rapidly! The Princess of repaired or serviced by Breguet. Monaco becomes “Madame Monaco” and the Duke of Praslin becomes “citizen Praslin”.

A few years later, old titles were to reappear along with completely new ones under Napoleon’s rule. The Breguet archives were a directory of a perpetually renewed high society. On the sociological front, they thus also provide a wealth of information…

These three types of registers make the Breguet archives unique in terms of their coherence and of the exceptionally long period that they cover with no missing years. Sadly, the destruction and pillaging of the workshops that took place in 1794 during the Revolutionary Terror has deprived us of part of the registers between 1787 and 1790 (sales could be reconstituted from 1791) and virtually all the documents regarding the company’s early days from 1775 to 1787.

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A fourth category of registers completes the archives: CERTIFICATES OF AUTHENTICITY. namely the certifi cates of authenticity of which the fi rst A fourth category of registers completes the still known dates from 1808. In this year, certain purchas- archives, namely the certificates of ers of watches and clocks were given a document termed an “invoice” bearing the name of the purchaser, the date of the authenticity of which the first still known sale, the description of the piece and all its details (dia- dates from 1808. meter, thickness, type of dial, case number, type of escapement, total weight, etc.)11. In the case of complicated or unusual pieces, this “card” was accompanied by technical explanations and operating instructions for the different functions. In fact, it was not so much about guaranteeing the origin of the piece as about describing it in great detail and explaining how it worked. This aspect brings to mind the following anecdote: it was upon reading these certifi - in the event of an accident occurring involving my watches, cates that yours truly rediscovered an invention by Breguet please consult: that had fallen into oblivion – namely “keyless winding”, or - in London, Mr. Fatton, New Bond Street 92 in other words, the modern winding mechanism. The fol- - in Madrid, Mr. Charost lowing sentence, appearing in n° 1290 technical explana- - in Moscow, Mr. Ferrier tions describing Breguet’s n° 4952 watch sold to Count - in Constantinople Mr. Leroy at Péra lès Constantinople Charles de l’Espine on December 30th 1830, is unequivo- - in Petersburg, Mr. Wenham, at the Livio brothers company cal: to wind the watch (…), simply use the index fi nger and - in Vienna, Mr. Holzman father & son, n° 140 Rouge Street thumb to turn the gold knurled button in the pendant, con- tinuing to twirl these button between the fi ngers until one At the end of the 19th century, a clear evolution can be feels it stop.12 seen, since the certifi cates are less and less concerned with new models. This period witnessed the advent of certifi cates This type of document was very useful for the owner issued for historical models, at the request of collectors. of the watch as well as for the watchmakers required to This activity of conducting appraisals and issuing certifi - service or repair it. Given the international nature of his cates of authenticity has continued to today. clientele, Breguet was completely aware that clients might In addition to the registers that we have just described, not always be able to come to him and, with his character- one might also mention the important book “for commis- istic concern for organization, he set up a network of sions” – or in other words, for special orders, the very one watchmakers capable of “touching” his watches. It was in that features a request for a watch “pour brasselet” (for a this way, for example, that in 1818, the following annota- bracelet) ordered in 1810 by Caroline Murat, Queen of tion appeared on the certifi cates13: Naples, as well as the inventories.

50 51 BREGUET’S ARCHIVES

In addition, the Breguet archives also consist of many ious aspects of the life of the company and in establishing other documents: client letters which are an invaluable certifi cates of authenticity. They have played and continue source of information on the type of and quality of relation- to play a role in writing the history of the Breguet company ships the great watchmaker had with his clients; workshop that still harbors many aspects worthy of future research. booklets, a great number of technical notes, very often scat- The Breguet archives have kept step with the rhythm of the tered, written in the hand of Abraham-Louis Breguet or his history of Paris as well as with that of the company they son Antoine-Louis; and, not to be overlooked, the famous refl ect. They have survived revolutions, moves, changes in whole chapters of the Traité d’horlogerie (Watchmaking ownership, wars, and, as well, economic crises, and their Treatise) that Breguet developed and did not have time to ability to withstand the twists and turns of fate commands fi nish, almost completed chapters acquired in 2010 to en- admiration. Moreover, these archives are extended today rich an already remarkable collection14. with the printed registers of contemporary production that will one day in turn become historical documents! Far from being static documents, these different archives delight the historians who consult them. As we have seen, they constitute an important tool in grasping the var-

1 The archives are preserved within the Breguet Museum, on the fi rst 9 A number of documents from the very years of the company activ- fl oor of the Breguet boutique, at no 6 Place Vendôme. ity were lost when the workshops were ransacked during the French 2 Production registers, archives of Montres Breguet SA, Paris Revolution in 1794. 3 This fact, passed on from generation to generation, was noted by 10 The historical French term rhabillage (literally ‘dressing again’) re- several biographers. fers to what we now call a repair, an overhaul or a maintenance 4 The so-called “subscription” watch is a very simple single-hand service. watch introduced by Breguet in 1796 in the aftermath of the 11 This document was written twice: one copy was handed to the French Revolution. Its name stems from the fact that Breguet asked client, while the other was kept by the House of Breguet. The copy his clients to order it by subscription by paying a quarter of its price handed over to the client was folded and slipped into the watch when placing the order. presentation box. 5 Most repeater watches (striking on demand) were quarter repeater 12 This fi rst watch equipped with a winding button as followed by watches. Half-quarter repeater watches and minute repeater watch- several others during the 1830s. Antoine-Louis Breguet (1776- es were more elaborate and more costly. 1858), who was at the head of the company at the time, omitted to 6 “Perpétuelles” is the name given by Breguet to his automatic or fi le a patent for this invention. self-winding watches equipped with an oscillating weight. 13 The list of “authorized agents” evolved over the years. Some were 7 On a tact watch, one can read the time by touch using an outer former students of Breguet, or employed a watchmaker who had hand and small markings appearing around the circumference of spent time with Breguet. the case. 14 For more on this topic, see the study published in Quai de l’Hor- 8 A sympathique clock is a set composed of a clock and a watch. The loge nº 2 entitled “The manuscripts of Breguet’s horological treatise, watch, placed in a cradle at the top of the clock, can be reset and or the eventful story of an unﬁ nished project”. ◆ Letter addressed by A.-L. Breguet to the rewound via the clock. Minister of the French Navy regarding the delivery of a pocket chronometer.

52 53 L’HÉRITAGE

L’HÉR ITAGE By Jeffrey S. Kingston

54 55 L’HÉRITAGE

here is a temptation because of the overwhelming predominance of round cases to assume T that wristwatches began that way and only later did variations in shape, often termed “form cases”, appear. Easy to glide to that belief, but wrong. In fact the very first wristwatch created was housed in a form case. That was Br eguet No. 2639 ordered on June 8, 1810 by Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples and completed on December 21, 1812 and priced at 5000 francs. According to the Breguet archives, this first wristwatch in the world was an “oblong repeater for bracelet”. ◆ ◆ ◆

To be true, the Queen of Naples’ wristwatch was fully a shape: dials that may have a form other than round but are, century ahead of its time as wristwatches did not really be- nonetheless, flat; those that are curved in one direction only come popular until after World War I. Almost immediately (normally from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock) and those curved in surpassing pocket watches in popularity, the dominant two directions (from 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock and from shape was round. Nonetheless, form cases made an almost 9 o’clock to 3 o’clock). The watches with dials curved in immediate appearance, albeit in far smaller numbers, set- two directions are often described as having “spherical” or ting a pattern that persists today. “bombé” forms. Of course, the latter two categories are the most complex and, as stands to reason, the most difficult to What is overlooked, even by connoisseurs, is that pro- produce. It is there that Breguet’s Héritage Collection is ducing a form case wristwatch presents a unique set of found; fitted into tonneau shaped cases, all the models of challenges over the more common round form. This is the Héritage Collection feature bombé dials except for one particularly true if the watches are to feature handmade model which is curved in a single direction. guilloché dials in the Breguet style. The particular demands of crafting form guilloché dials are best understood by re Hand guilloché work as it is practiced at Breguet is one cognizing that there are, in fact, three distinct categories of of watchmaking’s grand crafts. Fully respecting a tradition

56 57 L’HÉRITAGE

UNIQUE CHALLENGES TO PRODUCE A FORM WATCH. Not only does the crafting of the dial demand special techniques, the form of the tourbillon movement corresponds to that of the case.

58 59 L’HÉRITAGE

which dates back two centuries to the workshops of Breguet’s founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, the artisan’s working in Breguet’s Vallée de Joux atelier, practice the métier as it was done historically, that is to say completely by hand. The cutting tool mounted on a classical rose en- gine machine is controlled by both hands of the guillocheur; one hand rotates the gold disk of the dial, the other hand applies the pressure so that the cutting tip, called a buren, will delicately carve the surface with the desired guilloché pattern. The pattern motif itself is created as rotating cams move the tip of the buren in different directions as the dial disk turns in front of it. There is no room for the slightest error. If the pressure applied to the cutting tip of the buren by one hand is not perfectly constant the pattern will be uneven and must be rejected as flawed. Similarly, if the rate of turn, controlled by the other hand, varies or worse still the rotation is stopped mid-pattern there is again a risk of uneven carving which likewise is a flaw. It should also be remembered that enormous precision is called for in the making of a dial. The placement of each and every pattern and its dimensions must conform to an exacting plan for the dial to fit the movement and its hands. Imagine, for example, if the pattern for a subdial, such as a date indication or power reserve, were not exactly where the movement design called for it to be. These demands are extreme and only the most talented and experienced guillocheurs are qualified to make aBr eguet dial.

This description of the guilloché craft applies to all dial forms, flat and curved and the earliest efforts to craft a curved guilloché dial did not depart greatly from those used to carve flat dials. Indeed for the earliest single dimension curved models, the dial when placed on the guilloché machine was flat and the guillocheurs worked upon it as they would a traditional flat dial. To achieve the desired curved shape, the dial would be bent—one direction only—after it

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HAND GUILLOCHÉ ON A BOMBE SURFACE. To create the guilloché pattern on a doubly curved surface requires both a trained eye and deft feel.

62 63 L’HÉRITAGE

had been decorated. What followed was a delicate process to adjust the fi t of the bent dial onto the movement and into the case.

Things become dramatically more complex with a THE HÉRITAGE CHRONOGRAPH DIAL. spherical or bombé dial. Working on a fl at dial and later The complex guilloché pattern is hand carved bending it into a spherical shaped after decoration becomes upon solid gold. out of the question. The required precision in the shape and its fi t into the case simply cannot be assured. So it falls upon the shoulders of the guillocheur to create by hand the guilloché pattern upon a spherical surface. To understand the enormously elevated level of craft required to decorate a bombé surface, put yourself in the shoes, so to speak, of a master guillocheur. As with a fl at dial, one of your hands will be completely occupied turning the dial on the machine. Remember, as with a fl at dial, that rate of turn must be perfectly steady. No room for hesitation or jiggles. Your other hand, the one that presses the tip of the buren onto the rotating surface, now has a far more diffi cult job to do than if the dial were fl at. For as the surface turns, if you are holding your buren in one spot, the dial surface will be alternately approaching and receding from the tip (unless of course you are cutting a perfect radial circle on the dial). Worse still, since the tip is also being moved back and forth by the cams of the machine to produce a decorative pattern, there will be even more changes to the positions on the surface of the sphere, some closer others further away, present- ing themselves to the contact point of the buren tip.

So how does the guillocheur delicately carve the pattern, always with a constant depth of the cuts, if the surface upon which he is working is constantly changing its dis- tance from the tip of the cutting tool? The answer is two fold: sight and feel. Always watching the cutting through a microscope the guillocheur examines the fi ne fi ligrees of gold that are being cut away from the surface of the dial.

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A SHAPE THAT CONFORMS TO THE WRIST. The double curvature of the Héritage Chronograph bestows a flowing form.

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His trained eye can adjust the pressure on the buren tip to produce absolutely constant-neither bigger nor smaller- threads of gold being cut from the surface. His second sense, feel, plays a large role as well. By touch he can sense the depth that the cutting tip is carving into the surface and adjust the pressure being applied by his hand to compensate as the spherical surface changes its position. Only a handful THE HÉRITAGE TOURBILLON. of craftsman in the entire world are capable of meeting this A unique element of the dial: the index at challenge. So few in fact that currently Br eguet was the first and remains the only watch house that has ever offered 6 o’clock serves as a cantilever bridge for watch collections with spherically shaped guilloché dials. the tourbillon. If you are a student of watchmaking art, you have no doubt called to mind curved, indeed slightly spherical in shape, pocket watch cases from the past that have featured guilloché decoration. As an aside, guilloché decoration upon a pocket watch case serves a useful purpose, as the design hides finger prints! However, there is an order of magnitude difference in the difficulty of placing a guilloché motif upon a watch case than upon a watch dial. Far higher precision is required for the realization of a dial than for a pocket watch case. Thus, it has taken nearly two hundred years since there were guilloché decorated cases being offered for there to be guilloché bombé dials.

The Héritage Collection is rich in its assortment of models. The single axis model is the reference 5480 which offers a clous de Paris motif on the main surface of its dial, which is curved from 12 to 6. Two models of the Héritage Collection feature not only spherical dials, but ones decorated with entirely original patterns created by Breguet’s guillocheurs. The reference 5497 tourbillon has an exclusive to Br eguet drapé moiré pattern on the main surface and flinqué alterné pattern on the subdial. Drapé moiré, as well graces the outer portion of the dial of the reference 5400 chronograph. Rounding out the men’s collection is

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HÉRITAGE FOR WOMEN. Not forgotten in the collection is the women’s model with moon phase and a dial fashioned in mother of pearl.

the reference 3660 which has a bombé guilloché dial decorated with the drape moiré pattern and a recessed small seconds subdial.

Women have not been forgotten in the collection. The reference 8661 offers a moon phase display and a central guilloché subdial. The pattern is the elaborate flinqué alterné with an additional twist as it is hand guilloched upon mother of pearl.

The physical and emotional sensations when trying on a piece from the Héritage collection are that of flow and fit as the curvature of the watch forms to the wrist. Intellectually, though, go a step further, to appreciate the unique talents of Breguet’s guillocheurs who made this shape possible.

70 71 BREGUET AND TALLEYRAND

Clock making and International Diplomacy: Clock making and International Diplomacy: The relationships between The relationships between BREGUET AND BREGUET AND TALLEYRAND By Marie-Hélène Huet TALLEYRAND By Marie-Hélène Huet and Emmanuel Breguet

◆ Portrait of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord (1754-1838) (oil on canvas), Prud’hon, Pierre-Paul (1758-1823) / Château de Valençay, France.

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o fewer than six regimes succeeded one another in France from the end of the eighteenth Ncentury to the Revolution of 1830: only one man can be said to have survived the political disruptions of the time with the elegance and precision that characterized the watches he bought from Breguet: Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, later bishop of Autun and Prince de Bénévent. He served six governments and survived several revolutions. He became the personal friend of a Tsar and an intimate of the Royal family of Spain; he gave advice to an emperor and several kings. He redesigned the map of Europe after the Fall of Napoleon. Talleyrand was also an admirer of a man of genius and helped him gain the most prestigious list of clients a clockmaker could ever dream of.

◆ ◆ ◆

Talleyrand, an exceptional character, cannot of course up with a deformed foot and a limp. After the death of be presented as just an amateur of watches, and it is not the their eldest son, when Charles-Maurice became the legiti- purpose of this article to suggest it. Yet even the most recent mate heir to the family titles and estates, his parents lost no and the most brilliant among Talleyrand’s biographers time in deciding that he was not fi t for the military career could no doubt study with some profi t the great man’s normally chosen by the eldest son, and made him forfeit relations with the “maisons de luxe,” as we say today. Of his rights in favor of his younger brother. Charles- Maurice, course, Talleyrand’s taste for haute cuisine is well-known: it was decided, would embrace the Church. Talleyrand, his famous cook, Antonin Carême, carried his art to new not given to self-pity, never complained about his infi rmi- heights, but Talleyrand’s taste for other luxury products and ty. But if he did not dwell on what amounted to a form of the artists and purveyors on whom he relied are themselves repudiation from his father, there is a note of bitterness in lesser-known. Yet, one fi nds among those the name of his Mémoires when he notes his parents’ indifference: Abraham-Louis Breguet. And the least we can say is that “I am perhaps the only man of distinguished birth and there was nothing imaginary in the relationship between belonging to a numerous and highly esteemed family, who the two men! never enjoyed, for a week of his life, the joy of living in the paternal home.” 1 A Prince’s Youth Talleyrand’s beginnings were inauspicious. He was It was not unusual for children born from aristocratic ◆ Book of the coronation by Percier and Fontaine: The Emperor arriving at Notre-Dame born in 1754, the second son of a somewhat impoverished families to be raised by a wet nurse, and the Church offered Line engraving done in watercolours by Percier (49 x 64 cm) 1807. From the Talleyrand collection (book offered by the Emperor). aristocratic family. From birth, or from accident, he grew younger sons a sometimes prestigious and brilliant career.

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But history has few examples of the treatment Talleyrand received from his parents. Out of rebellion or from a natural penchant for gaming and women, he combined an excellent theological education with the frequent visits to actresses and philosophical salons. By the time he was ordained, quite against his will, in December 1779, Talleyrand al- REVOLUTIONARY ENTHUSIASM. ready had a number of infl uential friends, and a reputation In spite of their excellent relationships with for gallantry. One of his most brilliant conquests was the members of the royal family, Breguet and young countess de Flahaut, whose mother had been King Louis XV’s mistress. So little effort was made to hide their Talleyrand both welcomed with enthusiasm liaison that when the young countess delivered a son named the reforms of the Revolution and became Charles in April 1785, all of Paris agreed that the father was actively involved in bringing about the changes none other than the young and witty abbe de Talleyrand. that seemed so necessary to the country. What was more unusual, still, was Talleyrand’s ability to combine his amorous affairs with his diligent activities at the service of the Clergy. Talleyrand was elected agent general , looking over a number of litigious cases. He took on this charge with enthusiasm, discovering at the same time his talents for diplomatic exchange. The King fi nally proposed that Talleyrand be named Bishop of Autun in November 1788.

The Revolutionary Years By 1789, Talleyrand had been elected by the clergy of Autun as its deputy to the Etats-Generaux, the Assembly the National Guard, Talleyrand, now a member of the that met in Versailles with ambitious plans for reforms. Committee of Public Instruction, presented to the Assem- Thus began Talleyrand’s extraordinary rise in French and bly the project that would bring the decimal system to European politics. France. When he proposed the nationalization of the Church’s immense possessions in order to restore the King- In spite of their excellent relationships with the mem- dom’s crumbling fi nances, the Church was astounded. bers of the royal family, Breguet and Talleyrand both wel- Talleyrand then conceived a proposal that would thor- comed with enthusiasm the reforms of the Revolution and oughly reform the nomination of bishops and priests, now became actively involved in bringing about the changes that to be elected and receive a stable and reasonable salary ◆ The Empress Josephine receives ambassadors at the Tuileries Palace, Paris, Talleyrand performing the introductions. seemed so necessary to the country. While the clockmaker from the Nation. The Pope’s blessing was no longer needed F de Myrbach in Sloane, Life of Napoleon volume 2 page 169. joined the Jacobins and would later become a member of in the Civil Constitution of the Clergy that was voted on

76 77 BREGUET AND TALLEYRAND

27 November 1790. The outrage was immense. Talleyrand lost no time in resigning his ecclesiastical functions and, now free from the career his father had decided for him, he gave himself wholly to politics.

Talleyrand later summed up his choice in these words: AN IMPROMPTU EXPERIMENTATION. “I put myself at the disposal of events. The Revolution Challenged to demonstrate the veracity promised a new destiny to the Nation: I followed the and the efficiency of his invention Revolution and risked my fate with its fate.”2 By this time, Talleyrand knew Breguet well. We have an acknowledge- (the parachute), Breguet is forced to an ment of debt regarding purchases made before 10 December impromptu experiment. 1791, dated 10 April 1792, and signed “Talleyrand- Périgord,” stating: “I will pay MM. Breguet and Co. nine hundred francs by 15 july 1792, and eleven hundred francs by 15 January 1793.”3 The sum was apparently never paid in its entirety…Amateur, but at times a bad debtor? Thus it seems from a letter sent by Xavier Gide— Breguet’s associate in Paris—on 28 April 1791, saying to Breguet then in Lon- don: “I intend shortly to make a delivery (…) to the abbe of Périgord and I propose to discuss money with him. He has owed it to us for long enough!” 4

As for the scene of the parachute, it has long been known to Breguet connoisseurs. Let’s recall it however. It takes place around 1790 and Breguet, at a gathering at the home of Talleyrand, explains to a few guests his recent in- After the Parisian revolution of 10 August 1792 and vention: a system named “pare-chute” or “parachute,” an the fall of the Monarchy, Talleyrand leaves for England. effective protection to the balance staff pivots in the event A year later, after the proscription of the moderate of a shock to the watch. Challenged to demonstrate the Girondins, Breguet is obliged to leave Paris to take refuge veracity of his claims, Breguet is forced to an improvised in Switzerland. 6 ◆ Movement of No. 3369, a quarter repeater. The movement is experiment. Without losing his sangfroid, Breguet drops well identified by its inclusion of a parachute anti-shock protecting his watch; the audience is stunned! Breguet picks it up slow- Interlude the balance staff. ly and passes it around so that everyone can recognize that The Alien Bill passed on 7 January 1793 authorized England it is still working. Upon which, Talleyrand, with one of his to expel all foreigners suspected of seditious activities. sardonic formulas, exclaims: Does this devil Breguet always Talleyrand was received everywhere with deep suspicion. In have to go one better?” 5 the eyes of the British Monarchy—naturally wary of the

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self did not understand the moral energy that galvanized common character of the director’s wives who, of course, this young Republic. Once in Philadelphia, however, he occupied the fi rst rank.”9 Barras, more ostentatious and ventured inland, and would later describe in unusual lyrical less perceptive than his minister, precipitated his own terms the American landscape: “I found a wild and un- downfall: Talleyrand took full advantage of the complex touched nature; forests as old as the world; (…) rivers’ banks network of intrigues that would lead to Napoleon carpeted with a young and vigorous vegetation; sometimes Bonaparte’ coup d’état. great open spaces of natural meadows; elsewhere, fl owers that were new to me; then traces of old hurricanes that had Napoleon and Talleyrand destroyed everything on their path.”8 But Talleyrand was Talleyrand briefl y describes in hisMémoires his fi rst en- mostly preoccupied with the European situation and con- counter with the young man whose goals he was going to stantly thought of returning to France. By 1796, he was serve for so many years: “Twenty victories go so well with back in Paris; the Terror was over and the Directory was youth, a beautiful expression, a pale face, and a form of ex- trying to restore order in a deeply divided country. haustion.” 10 There was perhaps a trace of envy in the older man with a limp witnessing the triumphs of a new genera- In truth, there was very little for Talleyrand to hope tion, ambitious, hungry for power, and free from all the from the new government in France. He had alienated his strictures of the ancient class system. ◆ Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, Prince of Benevent (1806), Duke of aristocratic friends by serving the Revolution and alienated ◆ Élisabeth Louise Vigée Lebrun. Madame Grand (Noël-Catherine Dino (1815); French statesman; Paris 2.2.1754-Paris 17.5.1838.-Por- the revolutionaries by emigrating. His former mistress, the At the same time, Talleyrand met a somewhat notorious Verlée, 1761–1835), Later Madame Talleyrand-Périgord, Princesse trait.-Phototype, coloured. after painting, 1808, by Francois Gerard de Bénévent” (50.135.2) New York: The Metropolitan Museum of (1770-1837). Countess de Flahaut, a staunched royalist now living in widow, Catherine Noel-Worlee, whom he would marry fi ve Art, 2000–. Hamburg, dismissed him, as she was ready to marry again. years later. Her portrait painted by Madame Vigée- Lebrun, Marie-Antoinette’s favorite artist, was shown at the 1783 Talleyrand immediately contacted Barras, a member salon. She was remarkably beautiful with charming man- of the Directory of fi ve that governed France at the time. ners, far above the vulgar thespians that surrounded turn of events in France—and those of the aristocratic Barras, quickly won over by Talleyrand, would soon ap- the Directors. émigrés , Talleyrand was no longer a charming, slightly dis- point him Minister of Foreign Affairs. The two men had solute young abbe, but a revolutionary who had brought more in common than usually acknowledged: both de- Talleyrand became Minister of Foreign Affairs two about the fall of the church. A year later, Talleyrand was scended from noble though impoverished families, both weeks after the coup d’état that brought Bonaparte to given 5 days to leave the country. He chose to embark for had espoused the ideas of the Revolution, both loved wo- power in 1799, and he remained at his side through the the United States. men, gambling, and luxury. But Talleyrand was a man of series of conquests that culminated in 1808. During that taste and decorum. Barras and the other member of the time, Talleyrand and Breguet have constant exchanges. In- In 1776, the Declaration of Independence had been Directo ry fl aunted their mistresses and wealth without re- deed, in the letters sent to Breguet around 1800, his diplo- received in France with enthusiasm. “M. de la Fayette’s straint. When Talleyrand recalls in his Mémoires a celebra- mat friend Ange-Marie d’ Eymar so much values—perhaps example had been followed by the brilliant part of the tion he organized for Bonaparte on the general’s return even somewhat exaggerates—the clockmaker’s easy access nation. The young French nobility, enrolled in the cause of from Italy, he writes wryly: “I neglected nothing to make to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, that he often states “ see Independence, later became attached to the principles it had the celebration popular and brilliant; and this raised a few Talleyrand,” or “speak of me to the Minister.”11 In this defended,”7 notes Talleyrand in his Mémoires. Yet, he him- diffi culties, because we had to deal with the more than beginning of the 19th century, Talleyrand appreciates the

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◆ The Gardens of the Château of Valançay, c.1770 (pen & ink and ◆ The Breguet archives document many sales made to the Spanish w/c on paper), English School, (18th century) / Private Collection. Prince during his stay in Valançay.

elegance and quality of Breguet’s creations, while his name Relations between Talleyrand and his watchmaker were alone recalled a host of memories of the Old Regime and so close that, when necessary, Breguet’s commercial corre- WATCHES TRAVEL WITH THE the Revolution. Abraham-Louis, for his part, cannot have spondence with foreign countries as well as his watches POSTAL SERVICE OF THE MINISTRY forgotten the “parachute” experiment; he is delighted to were sent by the postal service of the Ministry of Foreign OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS. have retained the esteem of a man who has become so Affairs, ancestor of the ‘diplomatic bag.’13 Such facilities powerful, if still a bad debtor. The sales registers don’t lie and such a degree of security certainly merited a few unpaid When necessary, Breguet’s commercial and a simple consultation clearly shows that Talleyrand debts. Following in the wake of the minister, numerous correspondence with foreign countries as himself, Courtiade his faithful valet, and a number of mem- French diplomats chose to wear Breguet watches, for exam- well as his watches were sent by the postal bers of his circle, such as the Comte de Montrond or the ple Andréossy, ambassador to London, Bourrienne, minis- Vicomtess of Laval-Montmorency, were familiar with the ter plenipotentiary in Hamburg, Hédouville, minister service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. premises on the quai de l’Horloge and were received there plenipotentiary in St-Petersburg, and Derville-Maléchard, with infi nite courtesy, the slightest scrap of information chargé d’affaires in Lucca, to name just a few….In this regarding a particular country, sovereign or ambassador domain, we should add, foreign diplomats, starting with being potentially of considerable value for the fi rm.12 ambassadors in Paris, had led the way for some time.

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The receptions Talleyrand gave at his ministry until 1807 and at his private residences were the most sumptuous in Paris. For Breguet, intent on spreading his name in diplomatic circles and throughout the political elites, they were occasions of intense activity. Talleyrand’s partiality for Breguet watches communicated itself both to his family EUROPEAN VISIONS. and to his professional entourage. His personal purchases, Talleyrand, for his part, was constantly together with those of his collaborators, his wife, his neph- ews, and his illegitimate son Charles de Flahaut, added up travelling, brokering alliances, truces or to some thirty pieces delivered between 1798 and 1823, peace treatises between Napoleon and with about twenty supplied before 1815. An impressive the European countries. number, indeed...14

Talleyrand, for his part, was constantly travelling, brokering alliances, truces or peace treaties between Napoleon and the European countries.. He did not like war and was thoroughly shaken when he visited the blooded battlefi eld of Eylau, the day after Napoleon’s victory. The fi rst signs of discord came in 1807, when Talleyrand opposed Napoleon’s war on Spain and his decision to depose the Spanish Bour- bons sovereigns. The exiled family was sent to the sumptuous chateau de Valençay, a Renaissance jewel purchased by Talleyrand a few years before.

The stay of the Spanish Bourbons at Valençay offers some curious insights into Talleyrand’s mind and his nostal- gia for the Old Regime. In his Mémoires, he thus recounts the ceremonious arrival of the exiled princes: “This air of ancient glory, in evoking their past greatness, added still more to the interest of their situation. They were the fi rst Bourbons I had seen after years of tempests and disasters. They are not the ones who felt embarrassment: I did, and I am pleased to admit it.”15 Talleyrand established for the ◆ Congress of Vienna, Autumn 1814 to 9.6.1815.-“Assembly Princes an etiquette reminiscent of his last days at the of important statesmen at the time of the Congress of Vienna”. (Talleyrand, Montgelas, Hardenberg, Metternich, v.Gentz). French Court: “Nobody was allowed to appear in front of Painting by Engelbert Seibertz (1813—1905); aft.fresco the princes until permission had been received to do so. in the conference room of the Maximilianeum; 82.5 × 148cm.

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No one could approach them except in proper dress…Each Alexander 1er to resist the Emperor’s entreaties. Was it trea- hour of the day was devoted to a specifi c activity: mass, rest, son? Not in Talleyrand’s eyes: he did not hide his feelings promenades, prayers etc…Would one believe that I made it from Napoleon who thought he could use his former mini- possible for the princes of Spain to discover a form of free- ster in spite of their fall-out. Talleyrand had developed a dom and pleasure they had never experienced when their unique personal relationship with leaders and ministers of father was King?’16 A delicate and attentive host, Talleyrand all European countries. At Erfurt, Talleyrand worked also initiated the young princes to the pleasures of hunting, closely with Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, a riding, and fencing. Talleyrand thus offered others all the diplomat, much praised by the Minister, who also deliv- pleasures refused to him in his youth. ered a number of watches from Breguet to the Russian and Polish nobility. Collaboration between Talleyrand and Breguet intensi- fi ed as well. The fi gures alone cannot possibly convey the An active retirement complex commercial benefi ts resulting from the multiple After 1808, Talleyrand retired to his sumptuous hotel, rue introductions and facilities Talleyrand—himself a great Saint-Florentin, near the current Hôtel de Crillon. During businessman—offered the master watchmaker of the quai the years that followed, the Emperor alternately berated de l’Horloge. Was it not at Talleyrand’s residence, for in- him and begged him to come back as Minister of Foreign stance, that during the Directoire, Breguet made the ac- Affairs. In a memorable scene that took place on January quaintance of the Turkish ambassador, Esseid Ali Effendi, 28, 1809, Napoleon called a special meeting during which, ◆ Movement of No. 1188, a tourbillon, sold for and, as a result became aware of the commercial potential of losing all restraint, he vented his growing resentment ◆ Valançay castle (16th 18th century) the sum of 3600 francs on August 1, 1808 to the Ottoman empire? And was it not Talleyrand, Prince of against the former minister: he called Talleyrand a thief, an Talleyrand property, room of the King of Spain. Prince Antonio de Bourbon of Spain during his stay in Valançay. Bénévent since 1806, who invited Breguet to his château at atheist, and an ungrateful coward. Exasperated by his Valençay where the Spanish Bourbons were held captives victim’s impassivity, Napoleon proceeded to taunt him with from 1808 to 1814? Few realize that the exiled princes who his lameness and to throw to his face the infi delity of his swore by Breguet’s creations purchased more than 41 piec- wife. Talleyrand left quietly, saying only it was a pity such a wedding, and that they managed to remain in good terms es. Many prestigious pieces are listed among the purchases great man should be so ill-mannered. even after 1814, when he would invite the young Dorothea made by Don Fernando, Prince of Asturias and future King to follow him to the Congress of Vienna and then to reside Ferdinand VII, those of Don Antonio and Don Carlos: It was during Talleyrand’s retirement from politics with him. In her Memoirs, the Comtesse de Boigne de- three tourbillon watches, two calendar clocks and a major- that he arranged a marriage that was going to change his scribed Madame Edmond as excessively pretty, consider- ity of repeating watches, including four minute-repeating life. He chose for his nephew, Edmond de Talleyrand, son ate, and gracious.18 watches, and two repeating watches in the Turkish style.17 of his brother Archambaud and future heir to the family These orders brought true relief to the Breguet maison in title, the youngest daughter of a noble family from the The fall of the Empire was to signal a renewal of the last years of the Empire. Baltic countries. The Tsar Alexander himself offi cially Talleyrand’s political activity and the return of Breguet’s asked the Duchess of Courlande for Dorothea’s hand on prestigious clientele. When the Allied forces entered Paris By that time, Talleyrand, persuaded that Napoleon’s behalf of Talleyrand’s nephew. They were married in April on March 31, 1814, the Tsar was lodged in Talleyrand’s ambitions had gone too far, no longer felt required to 1809. There are reasons to believe that Talleyrand had a residence, rue Saint-Florentin, and went in person to the support him. At Erfurt, in 1808, he encouraged the Tsar lasting affair with Dorothea’s mother before and after the quai de l’Horloge to visit Breguet just three days later, on

86 87 BREGUET AND TALLEYRAND

April 2nd!19 Meanwhile, Talleyrand participated in all the was received with all the consideration due to a Prince, and years. Both left a remarkable legacy. Abraham- Louis political discussions that were to follow Napoleon’s exile, Wellington gave a dinner in his honor the evening he Breguet, who always looked for new connections, was lucky working toward the return of the Bourbons. He inspired reached London. Talleyrand privately savored the contrast to have among his loyal clients such a man as Talleyrand, the project for a constitution that was to become the between his former status as a suspicious foreigner and his who had very quickly discovered the immense quality, the Charte, instituting in France a parliamentary Monarchy. present eminence as the head of the French Embassy in technical advance, and the elegance of the clockmaker’s Louis XVIII gave him back the position of Minister of England. He was 80 when he asked King Louis-Philippe work. Talleyrand has been both admired and despised; he Foreign Affairs, and Talleyrand was dispatched to the permission to resign his offi ce and return to France after has been praised for his talents and criticized for his count- Congress of Vienna in order to negotiate a durable peace four years of dutiful service. He died in Paris four years less changes of heart. But Talleyrand always remained loyal among the European nations. later on 17 May 1738. Breguet had preceded him by fi fteen to Breguet, and in this, he never changed his mind!

Napoleon’s return and Waterloo destroyed in part the results Talleyrand had negotiated at Vienna for his country. In 1815 he was replaced by the Duc de Richelieu. He was thought to be out of favor, but on 28 October 1818, the King made him Duke and hereditary pair of the kingdom of France.

From 1816 on, Talleyrand received four times a week at Bibliography: his hotel, rue Saint-Florentin, and there is a striking similar- Mémoires complets et authentiques de Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, 5 Orally transmitted from generation to generation, the anecdote is ity between the list of Breguet’s clients and the list of Prince de Bénévent, 4 tomes, Paris, Jean de Bonnot, 1967 recounted in all the works dedicated to Breguet. One may wonder Emmanuel Breguet, Breguet Watchmakers since 1775, The Life and about Talleyrand’s fi nal exclamation. Wouldn’t he have said it be- Talleyrand’s guests at the time. Was it not due to Talleyrand Legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), Paris, Alain de fore fi nding that the watch had survived the shock intact? that, in 1814-1816, Breguet had attracted again the favors Gourcuff, 1997 6 Breguet had a passport that allowed him to leave France legally. of the French Bourbons? Talleyrand’s niece, Dorothea, nev- Duff Cooper, Talleyrand , London, Orion, 1932 He will remain in Switzerland from August 1793 to May 1795. Georges Lacour-Gayet, Talleyrand , Paris, Payot, 1990 7 Mémoires , I, p. 69. er left his side, and most biographers agree that she became Sainte-Beuve, Monsieur de Talleyrand, Paris, Michel Lévy, 1870 8 Mémoires , id., I, p. 233-234. the last and most cherished of his mistresses. Talleyrand, Emmanuel de Waresquiel, Talleyrand, le prince immobile, Paris, 9 Id. p. 260. Fayard, 2003 10 Mémoires, I, Ibid., p. 299. separated from his wife since 1815, shared his time between Emmanuel de Waresquiel, Talleyrand, dernières nouvelles du diable, 11 Letters from Ange-Marie d’Eymar, private collection. Valençay and Paris, with regular thermal cures in Burgundy. Paris, CNRS, 2011 12 Montres Breguet SA, Paris, archives. Sales registry. 13 There was every reason to believe that this remarkable This fact is mentioned in Esseid Ali Effendi’s letters to Abraham- 1 Mémoires complets et authentiques de Charles-Maurice de Louis Breguet. Private collection. couple was getting used to a brilliant lifestyle, but more Talleyrand, Prince de Benevent, Paris, Jean de Bonnot, 1967. Vol. 14 Montres Breguet SA, Parism Archives. Sales registry. detached from political affairs Talleyrand has dominated for 1, p. 18. Translation by Crane Brinton, The Lives of Talleyrand, 15 Mémoires , I, p. 382. The Norton Library, New York, 1963, p. 38. 16 Mémoires, tome 1. id., p. 382. so long. 2 Quoted in Louis Madelin, Talleyrand , Paris, Flammarion, 1944, 17 Montres Breguet SA, Paris, archives. Sales registry. p. 54. 18 Comtesse de Boigne, Mémoires, 1. Du règne de Louis XVI à 1820. 3 The 1830 Revolution, however, gave Talleyrand a new Debt acknowledgment signed « Talleyrand-Périgord », 1 folio, Paris, Mercure de France 1999, p. 270. private collection. 19 Tsar Alexander 1st’s visit to Breguet, part of the family history, is ◆ Dorothee of Courlande 1793-1868 duchess of role. When Louis-Philippe became King, he appointed 4 Letter from Xavier Gide to Abraham-Louis Breguet, 28 April confi rmed in the registry of sales and the registry of mechanical Dino, wife of Edmond de Talleyrand. Talleyrand as ambassador to London. He had been igno- 1791, private collection. assembly. Archives Montre Breguet SA, Paris. miniously expelled by the Alien Bill in 1794. In 1830, he

88 89 THE SOUND OF TIME

THE SOUND OF TIME By Jeffrey S. Kingston

◆ Reine de Naples Sonnerie.

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here are complications and then there are sonneries. The very word “complication” T emphatically transmits its meaning: additions to a time piece, almost always diffi cult, that go beyond simple timekeeping. More than that, complications are an expression of a watchmaker’s talent showcasing the ability to endow a watch with that something extra, something that renders the resulting work, well, more complicated. Sonneries, that chime, whether it be to mark the pas- sage of an hour or to count the time, clearly something extra, of course, are complications.

◆ ◆ ◆

All complications exact technical mastery to conceive which set themselves apart in the universe of watch and build them. But sonneries demand of the watchmaker complications with their engrafting of artistic fl air upon something beyond the technical prowess to create the nec- complicated mechanics. essary mechanics; they call for artistry. They transform the timepiece into a musical instrument whose tonality, rich- Breguet’s repeaters can trace their lineage to the founder ness of sound, and clarity must please the ear. Why does Abraham-Louis Breguet. Originally the time repetition one sonnerie charm and enchant as it sounds the hours and complication was conceived to serve a very utilitarian pur- another ring hollow? Why have only certain violins become pose: telling time in the dark. Two hundred years ago the priceless concert treasures? technology to provide luminescence to the hands and indexes of watch simply did not exist. The logical alterna- Although he wasn’t speaking about watchmaking, tive was to equip the movement with a mechanism to count playwright, Tom Stoppard captured this idea of the out the time audibly (the other alternative produced by weaving of technical skill and artistry (albeit using the Breguet at the time were montres a tact, which sported an word “imagination” rather than “artistry”, but the idea external hand outside the case that was used to feel the time remains the same) when he wrote, somewhat pithily, “Skill based on its position). The most complex repeaters counted without imagination is craftsmanship and gives us many out hours, quarter hours and minutes, those timepieces of useful objects such as wickerwork picnic baskets. Imagina- lower complication offering fewer details, such as hour tion without skill brings us modern art.” Regardless of only. Although there were some early pocket watches that ◆ Breguet No. 3921, a quarter repeater. one’s view of modern art, the concept is valid for sonneries incorporated bells into the movement for the sounding of Montres Breguet SA collection.

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time, these were seen as cumbersome since the bells re- REPEATERS ARE JUDGED BY quired extremely large cases to accommodate them. Instead, THE QUALITY OF THEIR SOUND. the common solution moved away from bells to designs There are no magic formulas for that were far from musical, utilizing hammers which rapped on the case back to sound the time. producing beautiful sound.

In 1783 Abraham-Louis Breguet changed forever the construction of repeating watches with his pioneering invention of the sounding ring for the chiming of time. He was the first to find a way to achieve a musical ringing for the counting of time in a compact practical way. Replacing the hammers tapping upon the watch case, he fitted his ground breaking movements with circular metallic rings upon which the hammers would strike. Instead of harsh clacking, the rings transformed the sounding of the time into a musical chime.

Breguet’s legacy lives on so that today it is universally the case that repetition watches count time using metallic rings (which watchmakers call “gongs” or “timbres”). How- ever widely adopted this approach may be, the simple prescription of equipping the movement with hammers and rings does not capture what sets movements of distinction apart from the pack. Connoisseurs make their selection of sonneries based on the quality of sound. And it is here where art and technology come together.

The variables confronting watchmakers constructing a and the striking of minutes (the quarter hours use a combi- repeater are daunting. There are no magic formulas for pro- nation of each tone in succession), these variables are mul- ducing beautiful sound. What material for the ring and tiplied by more than two. It is more than two because not what size and shape? What material for the hammers? only must two tones be well developed, there must be an How are the rings to be attached? Where along the cir- harmonious relationship between the two. cumference of the ring should the hammer strike? What is the appropriate force for the hammer strike and how after Within its collections, Breguet proposes a variety of impact should the motion be damped? And since repeaters timepieces featuring sonneries. There are two models of customarily use different tones for the striking of hours minute repeaters both of which musically chime the hours,

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quarter hours, and minutes: the reference 7637 with a 24 hour indication and the reference 5447 with a full perpetual calendar including a retrograde month display. At the top of the pyramid is the 1907 pocket watch featuring a tourbillon, a grande sonnerie, petite sonnerie and minute repeater (a grand sonnerie is seen as a complication above that of a repeater as it sounds both the hours and quarter hours in the passing of each quarter hour, as distinguished from a repeater that solely sounds on demand when a slide is pulled; as well a grand sonnerie draws the energy for its sounding from the barrel of the watch and not from the command slide of a repeater; the petite sonnerie function sounds the hours on the hour, and sounds each of the three quarters). Another category altogether is the La Musicale which either on demand or as a pre-set alarm plays a musical melody (Rossini’s Thieving Magpie or Bach’s La Badinerie, ◆ Reference 1907 featuring a tourbillon, grand depending upon the model) which is approximately sonnerie, petite sonnerie and minute repeater. 20 seconds in length and which is played once on demand or which can repeat up to four times, for a total of approximately 80 seconds, with the alarm function (please see Issue No. 1 for a full discussion of “music box” that is incorporated into the movement). For women there is the Reine de Naples reference 8978 that chimes the hour with two different musical notes repeated three times. What all of these have in common are technically advanced movements that power the sonneries combined with studied artistry to produce rich sound.

The repeaters in Breguet’s current collection are the product of a long evolution tracing back to the 189 movement that debuted in 1993 with the model 3637. The years 2005, 2009, and 2014 have witnessed signifi cant revisions and enhancements to the movement and illus- trate the bridge between art and technology. The revision in 2005 was largely dedicated to the counting mechanism of the repeater; 2009’s changes were focused on sound:

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98 99 THE SOUND OF TIME

THE INTRICATE MECHANISM OF THE MINUTE REPEATER. There is of course beauty in the sound, but there is a special allure to the finishing of the complicated components.

100 101 THE SOUND OF TIME

SONNERIES SET THEMSELVES APART. and 2014 addressed the design of the base movement with In the world of watchmaking, sonneries improvements to the spiral (now silicium), the barrel, the gear train wheels, frequency (now 3 Hz up from 2 Hz) and demand not only complicated mechanics power reserve (now 75 hours up from 38). What is remark- but artistic flair as well. able is that while the technical enhancements of 2014 can be summarized in numbers and simple descriptions—frequency was “x” before and now it is “y” etc.—the work on the sound admits of no simple zingy second headlines, or as some say in business “no 15 second elevator speech” which encapsulates quickly what was done. But isn’t art like that?

Take for example, Br eguet’s work on the hammer strikes upon the circular metal gong. Their study was done as if the watch were a musical instrument where a strike, as with a musical instrument, produces many different frequencies. Those frequencies, which of course radiate from the watch, are composed of the natural frequencies of the gong, which, in turn, are largely dependent upon the relative position of the hammer strike and the dynamic conditions of the strike. So Breguet’s movement designers devoted themselves to the task of optimizing the hammer’s impact to favor production of frequencies which would be both perceptible and harmonious to the listener. At the same time, they sought to minimize the low bass frequencies which would not radiate well and the high frequencies which could not be readily heard.

Then there is the issue of the hammer itself. If the hammer is lighter, it will accelerate more quickly when it is released to strike the gong and, as one might expect, it will recoil more quickly. On the other hand, a heavier hammer, with the same drive impulse and the same recoil system, will behave in precisely the opposite way, slower accelera- tion, slower recoil. But, the heavier hammer is capable of delivering more energy and potentially producing a louder

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sound. Ah, ha! Posit the would-be watchmakers, simply fit the repeater with the heaviest hammers possible. Trouble is that over simplifies how the mechanism will behave and sound. If a heavier hammer, all other things being equal, is capable of delivering more energy, that does not mean that the movement designer can deliver that energy to the hammer from the movement. The problem ends up being diz- zyingly complex requiring optimization of the hammer mass, energy transfer, recoil spring properties, as well as the shape and geometry of the components. And as for the goal of delivering higher energy in the name of louder sound? That, too, is an over simplification. In some ways it can be likened to turning up the volume on a sound amplifier, but not mating proper speakers…louder, perhaps, but not satis- fying in the quality of the sound. So again optimization is the order of the day, if higher energy for louder sound is desired, then all the other components have to be carefully designed and crafted so that the resulting sound falls in a pleasing range for the ear. Louder is not better if the quality of the sound is diminished. Moreover, all of this optimization goes for naught if the design does not radiate the sound well from the watch case.

For those with an engineering bent, the functioning of a sonnerie can be seen as a chain of events: raw energy is stored in the repeater barrel when the slide is pulled which arms the barrel, that is transferred as potential energy as the hammer spring is armed, in turn, that potential energy becomes kinetic energy as the hammer goes into motion, thereafter there is impact energy as the hammer strikes the

104 105 THE SOUND OF TIME

gong, followed by vibrational energy of the gong (and some additional vibrational energy transferred to the movement bridges), leading to vibrational energy from the externals of the watch, fi nally resulting in acoustic energy in the form of radiated sound that can be heard. Every one of these steps must be carefully considered in the design of a sonnerie movement. ◆ Gongs, ovoid in shape, rectangular in profile. Although all of the fi ne tuning and optimization work for the repeater is not easy to summarize, one design change is, the material for the gong. Breguet formerly used steel for the gong, which now has been changed to gold. Why gold? Breguet’s movement designers found that it produced the fi nest and richest quality sound. There was an addi tional bonus. Because the gong rings and the watch case are both gold, they share a similar intrinsic impedance. This makes the transmission of sound from the gongs to the exterior of the watch case more effi cient and is the subject of a Breguet patent.

The Reine de Naples sonnerie presented a host of new and different challenges. Unlike the repeaters, the Reine de Naples features not a round, but an oval case. This meant that the sounding rings for the two tone hourly chiming needed to be oval in order to conform to the shape of the case. Experimentation yielded both a different shape and different mounting system than is used in the round repeaters. And, in addition, the solution yielded a patent.

The gongs in Breguet’s repeaters are round in shape and attached only at one end; the far end remains free. The best results for the Reine de Naples came from rectangular shaped gongs and double attachment, i.e. both ends fi xed. As with the repeaters, however, the rings are fashioned in gold. Not only was there a change in shape, but the method to fabricate the gongs was changed. For the repeaters, the

106 107 THE SOUND OF TIME

raw material for the rings is gold wire. But for the Reine de Naples, the starting point for the fashioning of the rectangular cross section gongs is bulk gold.

An entirely different approach was followed in the design of the La Musicale. Either on demand or at a preset alarm time, this timepiece, depending upon the model, plays a particular melody such as Rossini’s operatic melody. Inspired by historical music boxes, small pins under the dial bend the tongs of a small comb under the dial to generate the notes. Miniaturizing a music box under the dial produced unique challenges setting this sonnerie apart from other genres. These included designing a high quality regu- lator to ensure that the “beat” of the melody would remain even as it is played and fashioning a “sound chamber” inside the watch case, using Liquid Metal, a cutting edge patented material, to enhance the volume. A full description of this movement and its many watchmaking world firsts is found in Issue No. 1 of Le Quai de l’Horloge.

Sonneries occupy a special place in the constellation of Breguet timepieces. A Breguet is always a piece of art on the wrist, but the incorporation of rich sound opens up a rewarding additional dimension to the pleasures of ownership.

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Breguet and the CONCOURS DE GENÈVE By Jeffrey S. Kingston

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ummon, if you will, a mental image of brutal competition, and more particularly the S competitors. Jaws firmly set. Stern, hostile countenances. Professionals ready to pounce on the slightest miscue of their adversaries. Not a drop of goodwill to be found.

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Then there is the Concours de Genève. “Kind”. “Like The discipline changes year to year, alternating among family”. “Friendly”. These are the words of singer Polina different instruments, voice, and original composition. Pasztircsák, 2009 Voice winner, describing her impres- Presiding over the program and the selection of the jury is sions of the competition. For Shirley Brill, 2007 Clarinet an Artistic Committee which is selected, in turn, by a Board winner, “Intimate” “Family welcome” “Warm”. For Louis drawing from its primary partners, the Orchestre de la Schwizgebel-Wang, 2005 Piano winner, an “Adventure”. Suisse Romande, the Grand Thèâtre of Geneva, and the How often are these the adjectives associated with a contest? Geneva Conservatory. The diversity of the programs is But these are the textures that this unique and venerated enormous: 2006 Piano and String Quartet; 2007 Voice and music competition has woven since its founding in 1939. Clarinet; 2008 Piano and Cello; 2009 Voice and Percus- sion; 2010 Piano and Oboe; 2011 Quartet and Voice; 2012 The Concours de Genève is an international competi- Piano; 2013 Composition. tion organized by a private foundation which is principally supported by both the city of Geneva and the canton. Breguet has strong emotional and historical ties to clas- Unlike many other music competitions held throughout sical music. Opera composer Gioachino Rossini, pianist the world, the Concours de Genève is closely tied to the Arthur Rubenstein, composer Sergei Rachmaninoff, and local community. Instead of lodging the musicians in hotels pianist Lola Astanova, among others, were all Breguet own- for the duration of the performances, Geneva families ers. Music sponsorships are a key part of Breguet’s charitable welcome the contestants into their homes. outreach and figuring prominently is Breguet’s position as a

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principal supporter of the Concours, not only of the event itself, but its musicians. The Concours emphasizes the nur- turing and career development of its winners and this has become, for Breguet as well, a key focus of its contributions. Providing a stepping stone to future engagements, each of THE MUSICIANS OF THE CONCOURS. the prize winners receives two full years of service furnished The portraits of four winners tell the real by the ProMusica Genève concert agency which maintains relations with a broad range of orchestras, festivals, concert story of the Concours de Geneve. producers and music event organizers.

One of the key prizes in the competition is the “Coup de Coeur Breguet”. The winner of the Coup de Coeur Breguet receives an exclusive recording session and a CD fully sponsored by Breguet. To the uninitiated, or perhaps for those spoiled by all of those do everything electronic gadgets, this may not seem either particularly valuable or generous. After a few moments of reflection, the opposite conclusion emerges, for this is classical music after all and recordings require an orchestra, conductor and concert hall, all of which is underwritten by Breguet. And more, for, as a proper CD should be dressed with fine photographs, that, too, is provided by Breguet. At the end, each Coup de Coeur winner emerges with a handsome musical resume for submission to prospective event organizers.

But the real story of the Concours de Genève is not found with the resumes of the organizers, the rotation of the disciplines, the support for the winners, but with the musicians themselves.

Shirley Brill. 2007. Clarinet. Second Prize (1st not awarded), “Coup de Coeur Breguet” Prize.

For Berlin resident, Shirley Brill there is always a measure of stress in a competition, but in her mind the Concours de Genève stands apart from others. Particularly

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HOW DO THE COMPETITORS important was the welcome by local residents of Geneva. DESCRIBE THE CONCOURS? For the entirety of the competition she and the other contestants were hosted by Geneva families, in her case a wom- The adjectives include “kind”, “friendly”, an steeped in the lore and history of the city. Indeed, during “intimate”, “like family”. breaks in the competition, her host took her on tours of the city. The welcome was so warm that at times she felt as if she were her host’s daughter. Naturally, her host attended the public finals to cheer Shirley on. Even five years after the competition, Shirley keeps in touch and visits when she comes to Geneva.

There were similar warm feelings for her fellow competitors. Although she had in fact met some of them at other music competitions, the two weeks in Geneva brought them closer together. How often do opposing footballers, tennis stars, or chess masters spend evenings together out on the town during a competition? In Geneva, Shirley Brill did.

In clarinet circles, the Concours’ profile is large. Armed with her CD and, of course, the resume chronicling her top finish in the 2007 event, Shirley has been able to present an impressive portfolio to secure engagements. Not that her career was in any measure lacking in headlines before Geneva. Indeed, her stage debut, the result of competitive auditions, came at the age of 15 when she appeared with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta. She also has received prizes at Markneukirchen International Competition in Saxony and the International ARD Competition in Munich.

She appears regularly as a soloist, in a chamber music group with her husband, and twice a year with the West Eastern Divan Orchestra. It is the latter that occupies a rare position in the musical world, as the orchestra, directed by Daniel Barenboim, is composed of talented young

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musicians from countries in the Middle East: Egyptian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, Lebanese, Palestinian, Syrian artists all playing together.

Polina Pasztircsák. 2009 Voice. First Prize. Audience “COUP DE COEUR BREGUET”. Prize. “Cercle du Grand Théâtre” Special Pirze, “Coup A special prize is awarded to one musician de Coeur Breguet” Special Prize, “Mandarin Oriental” that includes a recording session, CD and Special Prize. professional photographs, all underwritten Polina Pasztircsák sat stunned as her name was sound- by Breguet. ed again and again and again with the award of prizes at the 2009 Concours. Although plainly the results have pro- pelled her on a path toward stardom, what struck Polina was that the competition did not feel like an organized search to find and package future stars. With a jury composed of singers, the competition became a celebration of voice, avoiding the overtones of a professional audition. No one was “buying” and the artists weren’t “selling”. Echoing Shirley Brill’s description, Polina speaks of the way the stress of competition was replaced by comfortable feelings of family and friendship.

Since her triumph, her career has blossomed. Expand- ing beyond her Hungarian roots, she now sings regularly in Switzerland, and soon will travel internationally to Japan in the lead role of Violetta in Traviata. Also on the horizon is a recording of Mozart opera arias.

Gilles Vonsattel. 2006 Piano. Second Prize (1st Prize not awarded). “Coup de Coeur Breguet”, Special Prize. Audience Prize.

By birth, Gilles Vonsattel is Swiss. But less than a para- graph into conversation with him, what emerges are 100% American cadences, intonations, and speaking style. As it should be, for he has lived in the States since the age of four.

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Several things stand out in his mind about the Concours. First is its openness to budding artists who have yet to achieve credentials or connections. Gilles sees a seg- CAREER DEVELOPMENT FOLLOWING ment of the classical music world as somewhat medieval. THE CONCOURS. For too many it is connections that matter. With whom did The Concours has become a stepping stone you study? And was that person connected to someone else who matters? And so on. The Concours breaks free of that to future engagements for the competitors. thorny web as the performances stand on their own and, equally importantly, many, without those connections, instead on the basis of submitted recordings, are admitted into a broad initial selection process. The winnowing down comes later as the competition proceeds through four different stages.

That openness played an important role in Gilles’ achievement. When he entered the Concours, he was little known in Europe. His American university career was divided between traditional academic studies of political science and economics at Columbia University and studies at the Julliard School neither of which served to illuminate him in the European music world. Indeed, the North Atlantic to him seems to be somewhat of a one-way street with European musicians being recognized and welcomed to American events, but much less so the other way around. Thus, despite winning the Naumberg 2002 Piano competition which led to a Lincoln Center debut later that year, For Gilles that meant an entrée into European music cir- European doors remained closed. cles. He now has engagements throughout Switzerland, Germany, UK, Spain, and Ireland. For Gilles, that was reversed after Geneva. Even though the Concours eschews the turbo charged PR apparatus that Gilles’ range is broad. Although his Breguet sponsored mark many of the world’s music competitions, it has firmly CD closely hews to classical tradition with Beethoven’s established an enviable track record in the discovery of tal- Piano Concerto No. 1 and two pieces from Liszt, he has ent. Its quiet success in finding those who have later opened his repertoire to not only living composers, but to achieved genuine stardom brings a measure of creditability modernists, appearing alongside Eluvium (Matthew Robert and acceptance to those who succeed in the competition. Cooper) in New York.

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Louis Schwizgebel-Wang. 2005 Piano. Second Prize (1st Prize not awarded). “Coup de Coeur Breguet”, Audience Prize.

Louis Schwizgebel-Wang is born of a Swiss father and Chinese mother and he is fond of saying that he feels Asian when in Switzerland and Swiss when in China. His Concours triumph in 2005 abounded with unusual dimensions. To begin with, this was Schwizgebel’s first international music competition. In one respect that might join him with others who enter upon the Geneva stage for the ◆ The CDs for Coup de Coeur Breguet winners. first time internationally, but hisreason does set him apart, for he was just 17 years of age. Then again, although it was A HALLMARK OF GENEVA his first foray upon the international scene, it did not feel IS ITS DIVERSITY. that way, for Geneva was his home town. So far from trav- eling to a foreign venue, he stayed at home with his parents Not only does the competition extend throughout the two and half weeks of the preliminary to a broad range of instruments, rounds and public final and, indeed, performed in the very it has been expanded to include hall in which he had done much of his music study. original compositions. From all of this it would be easy to conclude that he might have felt both intimidated and extraordinarily pres- career ever since has been spectacular. Last year praise was sured—first international competition, young age, parents showered upon his performance of Beethoven’s 4th Piano in the audience. In fact, just the opposite was true. The Concerto at the Leeds competition broadcast by the BBC. competition was in many ways liberating. His goal was to In turn that led to an engagement at the Royal Albert Hall get past the first preliminary round and once he passed that in London. His resume now includes performances with barrier, he felt the weight lifted. What began as a competi- major orchestras in Switzerland, France, and Germany. tion became an “adventure” with the tension gone. Of On the other side of the Atlantic he has been on the stage course, Geneva’s Victoria Hall, the scene of the public at New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. Asia, as finals, was packed with family and friends. However, the well, features prominently on his calendar with engage- prizes at stake were not a source of fret or worry because he ments in Shanghai (his mother’s native city), Beijing, never expected even to be in the finals. Tokyo and elsewhere.

His win at the Concours launched his career. Armed He now calls London his home. with a CD, replete with photos, fully underwritten by Breguet, he had what he termed his “carte de visite” to pre The 2013 Concours de Geneve program featured sent to festivals and other competitions. And the arc of his Original Compositions; for 2014 it is to be Piano and Flute.

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PUBLISHER PHOTOGRAPHS Montres Breguet SA Montres Breguet SA Collection CH-1344 L’Abbaye Joël von Allmen Switzerland Xavier Reboud Tel.: +41 21 841 90 90 Lionel Deriaz www.breguet.com Jean-Claude Capt Sébastien d’Halloy PROJECT MANAGER Pierre-Michel Delessert Géraldine Joz-Roland OTHER ILLUSTRATIONS EDITORS-IN-CHIEF © Giraudon / The Bridgeman Art Library, portrait of Charles Maurice de Talleyrand- Géraldine Joz-Roland Périgord (1754-1838) (oil on canvas), Prud’hon Pierre-Paul (1758-1823) / Jeffrey S. Kingston Château de Valençay, France, pages 72 and 73 © Diomedia, Photos 12 - Archive / Pierre-Jean Chalençon, book of the coronation AUTHORS by Percier and Fontaine: The Emperor arriving at Notre-Dame. Line engraving done Jeffrey S. Kingston in watercolours by Percier (49 x 64 cm) 1807. From the Talleyrand collection Professor Marie-Hélène Huet (book offered by the Emperor), page 75 Emmanuel Breguet © Diomedia, Mary Evans, the Empress Josephine receives ambassadors at the Tuileries SINCERE THANKS TO ALL Palace, Paris, Talleyrand performing the introductions. F de Myrbach in Sloane, Life of BREGUET STAFF MEMBERS Napoleon (volume 2 page 169), page 76 AND ESPECIALLY TO: © akg-images, Talleyrand, Charles Maurice de, Prince of Benevent (1806), Duke of Dino Christian Lattmann (1815), French statesman; Paris 2.2.1754-Paris 17.5.1838.-Portrait.-Phototype, coloured Jean-Charles Zufferey after painting, 1808, by Francois Gérard (1770-1837), page 80 Vincent Laucella © bpk | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Élisabeth-Louise Vigée Lebrun. Nakis Karapatis Madame Grand, page 81 Alain Zaugg © Charles Plante Fine Arts / The Bridgeman Art Library, The Gardens of the Château ENGLISH ADAPTATION of Valençay, c.1770 (pen & ink and w/c on paper), English School, (18th century) / Susan Jacquet Private Collection, page 82 © akg-images, Congress of Vienna, Autumn 1814 to 9.6.1815.-“Assembly of important CONCEPT, GRAPHIC DESIGN, PRODUCTION statesmen at the time of the Congress of Vienna. Painting by Engelbert Seibertz TATIN Design Studio Basel GmbH (1813—1905); aft.fresco in the conference room of the Maximilianeum, page 85 © Diomedia, Photononstop / A.J. Cassaigne, Valençay castle (16th 18th century), ARTISTIC DIRECTOR Talleyrand property, room of the King of Spain, page 87 Marie-Anne Räber Oliver Mayer © Getty Images / Photo by Apic, Dorothee of Courlande 1793-1868 duchess of Dino, page 88 PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY © Bertrand Cottet, pages 110, 112, 115, 118, 120 Gravoractual No reproduction of any text, picture or layout of this magazine is authorized without PRE-PRESS AND PRINTING prior the written consent of Montres Breguet SA. Courvoisier-Attinger SA © Montres Breguet SA 2013 Printed in December 2013

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