24’’’ gilded movement, jewelled lever escapement, jewelled pivot holes to train, two armed bi-metallic balance partially recessed into the main plate, the balance rim in four parts joined by recessed blued steel affixes with pink gold screws, blued steel balance spring with overcoil and index regulator, double parachute suspension to balance pivots, the split mechanism with polished steel bridge work visible to the backplate, whip acting on balance rim connected to stop slide to case edge beneath cuvette

silver engine-turned dial guilloché à grain d’orge, eccentric subsidiary time dial with twin chapters for Roman numerals and pearled minutes, satin finished ring to dial edge for chronograph seconds, blued steel Breguet hour/minute hands, central blued steel and gold split seconds hands, oval cartouche signed Breguet

gold Tavernier case engine-turned à grain d’orge, pushers either side of pendant to the left for starting seconds, right for activating clutch lever for split, slide beside right pusher for locking, hinged case back centred by small circular vacant cartouche, interior with case maker’s mark MAB beneath triangle for Tavernier workshop, numbered B 3168 and T 3635, Paris assay/discharge marks comprising cockerel drinking with head raised in irregular octagon (second standard gold 840/1000 Paris 1809-19), baby’s head 2 in fitted frame (840/1000), further rubbed assay, pendant and inside back with 1819 chickweed census mark in six-lobed cartouche, polished gold cuvette with aperture for winding, engraved Breguet Horger de la Marine Royale, No. 3168, crémaillère borders, edge beside nib for stop lever marked A/M for arrêt/marche

Measurements

diameter 57.2mm

depth 12.2mm

weight 116.4g

Accompaniments

with Breguet Certificate no. 3886, dated 1 August 1986, and a later Desoutter Morocco leather fitted presentation case with velvet lined interior and silk lined lid having gilt lettering reading Desoutter, 4 Hanover Street, London, N.W., the base with dyed green leather and central roundel, Desoutter’s name and address repeated, and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate

Collection of Leonard Sax, Chicago

Sotheby’s New York, 10 december 2015, Lot 253

A watch of exceptional quality, the original handwritten entry for no. 3168 within the Breguet work books notes: “Cette pièce tant par sa composition que par la belle main d’oeuvre, est ce que nous pouvons faire de mieux…Cette Construction est tout à fait nouvelle et sûre dans ses effets” [This piece, both in its composition and in its fine workmanship, is the best we can do…This construction is entirely new and reliable in its effects].

An important precursor to the split-seconds chronograph, this split-seconds ‘Observation’ stop watch is often regarded as a prototype of the modern chronograph. Only four such split-seconds stop watches by Breguet are currently known: nos. 3167 and 3168, both begun in 1817, and two later examples of similar conception, nos. 4000 and 4009.

The Archives record that work on the movement of no. 3168 (“with double seconds”) began in July 1817, with the escapement completed in March 1819. Its gold case, numbered 3635, was supplied by Tavernier in October 1818. The pendant and inside case back bear the chickweed assay mark, used only during a brief three-month period between 16 August and 16 November 1819,1 confirming that the watch was submitted for assay during this window. Work then continued with testing and adjustment until completion in October 1821. The watch was then sold to Monsieur Fournier on 14 January 1822 for Fr. 2,800.

In July 1817, when work began on no. 3168, Breguet simultaneously started another split-seconds stopwatch of near-identical form, no. 3167. Like no. 3168, its escapement was finished in March 1819, and its case, numbered 3628, was supplied by Tavernier in September 1818 — the month before the case for 3168. Work on no. 3167 concluded more swiftly, however, with completion in June 1820, when the watch was ready to present as Breguet’s latest invention. It was sold shortly afterwards to Monsieur Ferey, Breguet’s agent in Le Havre, for Fr. 2,280 (Fr. 2,400 less a discount of Fr. 120).

Thus the Archives reveal that although production of nos. 3167 and 3168 began in tandem in July 1817 and progressed along a similar timetable, the final work and adjustment of no. 3168 continued for more than a year after the completion of no. 3167. As is often remarked, no two Breguets are ever truly alike, and this is very much the case with these two related watches. Breguet was constantly striving to adapt and improve his designs, and here we see him experimenting with new solutions to the challenge of displaying and recording elapsed time, working through refinements with characteristic ingenuity. In the present watch, no. 3168, he introduced a new element absent from no. 3167: a whip acting on the balance to stop the watch. This device is activated by a small slide to the inner rim beneath the case back that engages a lever to move the whip; a tension spring is visible beneath the foot of the balance cock, with the whip itself positioned to the left of the balance. This allowed the recording of two events: the split pusher halted the blued steel seconds hand, while the slide could then be deployed to record a second interval by stopping the entire movement — and with it, the central gold seconds hand. Apparently lacking in no. 3167, the feature was developed further in nos. 4000 and 4009, where the whip was shortened, given a hammer-like projection at its tip, and connected to a slide on the case side—allowing the watch to be stopped directly from the band without opening the back.

Breguet’s split-seconds watches are among the rarest and most enticing of his complication pieces. Each of the four known examples is constructed to a remarkable standard and are unified by their large scale, shared bridge architecture, and distinctive proportions, yet with marked differences. The refinement of the present movement, no. 3168, is exceptional. In the Breguet Archives it is described as of First-Class production and constructed on the principles of the Marine Chronometer (ouvrage de première classe et sur le principe des horloges marines). Of special note are the compensation balances of nos. 3167 and 3168, in which the rims are divided into four parts and joined by recessed blued-steel affixes. While many inking chronographs were fitted with lever escapements, the cylinder was also used, sometimes with uncompensated balances, as they were often required for short timing periods only. The quality of these split-seconds stop watches demonstrates that they were intended for timing long intervals with an accuracy appropriate for scientific or astronomical observation. Indeed, as George Daniels observed in The Art of Breguet: “split-seconds stop watches are much rarer than the chronographs… [They are] high-grade lever watches capable of maintaining a very close rate.”2

The dial is of the classic engine-turned Breguet form, and while off-set or eccentric dials are not uncommon in his work, the adoption here of such a proportionately small time dial is highly unusual. This design directs attention to the experimental timing mechanism, expressed through twin central seconds hands in contrasting blued steel and gold. Designed to record intervals of time, the left-hand pusher starts the central chronograph hands, the right provides the split; however, there is no flyback or reset function. The seconds calibrations are set on a high-sheen satin-finished outer ring, their clarity and generous spacing ensuring that the elapsed time can be read with ease.

The dial layout, the finely engine-turned and elegantly slim case, and the ingenious lever and clutch system of the present example all embody the clarity and brilliance of Breguet’s horological language. Daniels illustrates the three other known split-seconds stop watches (The Art of Breguet, figs. 269a–b, 310a–b, 312a–b), and comparison between them reveals the key stages of Breguet’s developing ideas: the lever system, locking bolts, and the form of the balance stop—innovations that continued to be explored in nos. 4000 (sold 1825) and 4009 (sold 1845). All four known examples are fitted with locking slides for the chronograph. Nos. 3167 and 3168 (the present watch) have a single slide at 1 o’clock, preventing accidental interruption while in use. By contrast, nos. 4000 and 4009 are equipped with locking bolts beside each pusher, eliminating the risk of inadvertent operation - such as when the watch was carried in a pocket.

The present watch was sold in January 1822, just eighteen months before Breguet’s death in September 1823. With nos. 4000 and 4009 completed posthumously, no. 3168 stands as the final example of this remarkable experiment to have been sold during his lifetime. The split-seconds chronograph with reset, in the form we would recognise today, would not appear until around 1870,3 although further experimentation was carried out in the meantime by other watchmakers, such as Thomas Prest (c.1840).4

Breguet no. 3168 occupies a position of unique importance: not only one of the rarest of Breguet’s Observation watches, but also one of the final works completed during the great master’s lifetime. It embodies the spirit of his lifelong experimentation in advancing horology, uniting technical ingenuity with aesthetic refinement in a watch that stands as a lasting testament to his genius.

1 Fieggen, M., French Precious Hallmarks 1789 to Date, 2024, p. 36.

2 Daniels, George, The Art of Breguet, London & New York: Sotheby Parke, Bernet, 1975, p. 73.

3 eds. Turner, Nye, Betts, A General History of Horology, Oxford: OUP, 2022: Brenni, Paolo, Timing and Driving Systems, p. 578.

4 For an example of Prest’s split-seconds work see: Barter, A., Schnipper, D., 500 Years | 100 Watches, London: Prestel, 2023, pp. 174-175.