23’’’ gilded movement, ruby cylinder escapement, flat three-arm balance with parachute suspension, flat blued steel balance spring with bi-metallic compensation curb, index regulator, repeating train with partially exposed blued steel spring, racks beneath dial, single polished steel hammer striking intermediate hammer to repeat on one coiled steel gong

silver clou de Paris engine-turned dial, satin finished chapter rings for hours with black Roman numerals and pearled minutes, crémaillère borders to chapters, subsidiary guilloché date dial with damier pattern and satin finished chapter, blued steel Breguet hands, angular cartouche panel signed Breguet et Fils, twice signed with secret signature Breguet No. 3450 between XI and I o’clock, back of dial stamped B 3450 T

20ct gold Tavernier case, engine-turned à grains d’orge, case back centred with small vacant cartouche roundel, milled band, pull quarter-twist repeating piston between I & II, pendant with rubbed assay, case back interior with baby’s head 2 Paris assay in fitted cartouche (2nd standard gold 840/1000), Pegasus 2 mark in hexagonal cartouche (840/1000 Paris 1819-1838) and numbered B 3450 and T 3724, MAB beneath a triangle within lozenge-shaped cartouche for Tavernier workshop, polished gold cuvette signed Breguet Horger de la Marine Royale no. 3450, aperture for winding with directionals, twin crémaillère borders, interior of cuvette with Paris baby’s head 2 assay and ram’s head restricted warranty mark (Paris 1819-1838)

short pink gold Breguet chain with ratchet key, end link by key twice stamped with French eagle’s head assay, additional pink gold Breguet chain terminating in later silver and gold clip with French boar/eagle mixed metal assay

Measurements

diameter 52.5mm

case depth 12mm

short chain length with key 165mm

longer chain 335mm (excluding later clip)

weight excluding chains 111g

total gross weight with both chains 134.9g

Accompaniments

With original Breguet certificate and deep burgundy morocco leather box numbered 3450 to lid, velvet and silk lined fitted interior, base with gilt stamp signed Breguet & Compie, Quai de l’Horloge du palais No. 39 à Paris, and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate

It is extremely rare to find a watch retaining its original signed Breguet certificate and this records the purchaser simply as Monsieur Potemkin. This may refer to Prince Yakov Alekseevich Potemkin (1782–1831), a Guards officer who rose to the rank of general-adjutant and later lieutenant-general in the service of Tsar Alexander I. A cousin of Grigory Potemkin of Taurida, he played a prominent role in the Napoleonic campaigns and was closely associated with the Imperial court.

The date is geared to advance each day, however, as with most Breguet watches featuring a date indication, there is no dedicated slide or corrector for adjustment; instead, the owner was expected to advance the date manually, when required, using a wooden peg.