Breguet: The Royal Watchmaking House

Queen Marie Antoinette, Talleyrand (Prince of Benevento), Empress Josephine, and Napoleon Bonaparte are among some of the royal and loyal personalities of the Breguet watchmaking company. All of whom had a strong enthusiasm for the possession of the house’s luxury watches; admiring the sophistication and quality of the remarkable timepieces. The royals did a great job of spreading the word around; enabling fame of the Breguet house to travel well past the French borders.

A skill perfected from Switzerland to Paris

The story of this gifted jeweler, Abraham-Louis Breguet, started at Verrières, located in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland. He was apprenticed into the watchmaking trade at the young age of 15 years by his stepfather. Later, Breguet left his home country, to further improve his watchmaking skill, and moved to Versailles and then Paris.

In 1775, Abraham-Louis Breguet established his first workshop at 39, Quai de l’Horloge, at the Ile de la Cité. He was successfully able to enter Parisian high society and the French court due to the support of Abbe Marie.

During the time that Abraham-Louis Breguet spent in Paris, he was acknowledged for his remarkable skill and talent that led to the development of the automatic watch, self-winding or “Perpetuelle”. In addition, Breguet introduced other inventions like the spring-stamp for the repeater watches as well as the “Pare-chute”; first anti-shock device to be invented. All this contributed to his becoming a mastermind in the watchmaking trade by 1784.

Nonetheless, in 1789, owing to the repercussions of the French Revolution, Abraham-Louis Breguet had no choice but to leave France. He went back to Switzerland and lived in Geneva, Friborg, and Locle before, once again, returning to Paris in 1792.

After this, he went back to developing his inventions and, in 1810, created the first wristwatch for the Queen Consort of Naples, Caroline Murat.

La Maison Breguet today

Breguet is a renowned name, having won prizes and awards, in Haute Horlogerie; the most recent of which is the Woman’s Watch 2016. The brand is also known for the creation of exceptional luxury jewelry: bracelets, necklaces, rings, earrings, pendants, and numerous other accessories. It has an international reputation for its stunning timepieces; representing quality and sophistication. At present, the brand continues to flourish under The Swatch Group and is a leader in the watch industry. If you are the proud owner of a Breguet watch, then you will be happy to know that this timepiece is one that is always in vogue.