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SUMMARY:an-important-20ct-gold-split-seconds-stop-watch-of-first-class-cons
 tructed-on-the-principles-of-marine-timekeepers - Date de vente : 09/11/20
 25
DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : An important 20ct gold split-seconds stop watch o
 f First Class constructed on the principles of marine timekeepers\n\n24’
 ’’ 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 affix
 es with pink gold screws\, blued steel balance spring with overcoil and in
 dex 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 cuvett
 e\n\nsilver engine-turned dial guilloché à grain d’orge\, eccentric su
 bsidiary time dial with twin chapters for Roman numerals and pearled minut
 es\, satin finished ring to dial edge for chronograph seconds\, blued stee
 l Breguet hour/minute hands\, central blued steel and gold split seconds h
 ands\, oval cartouche signed Breguet\n\ngold Tavernier case engine-turned 
 à grain d’orge\, pushers either side of pendant to the left for startin
 g seconds\, right for activating clutch lever for split\, slide beside rig
 ht pusher for locking\, hinged case back centred by small circular vacant 
 cartouche\, interior with case maker’s mark MAB beneath triangle for Tav
 ernier workshop\, numbered B 3168 and T 3635\, Paris assay/discharge marks
  comprising cockerel drinking with head raised in irregular octagon (secon
 d 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 chic
 kweed census mark in six-lobed cartouche\, polished gold cuvette with aper
 ture for winding\, engraved Breguet Horger de la Marine Royale\, No. 3168\
 , crémaillère borders\, edge beside nib for stop lever marked A/M for ar
 rêt/marche\n\nMeasurements\n\ndiameter 57.2mm\n\ndepth 12.2mm\n\nweight 1
 16.4g\n\nAccompaniments\n\nwith Breguet Certificate no. 3886\, dated 1 Aug
 ust 1986\, and a later Desoutter Morocco leather fitted presentation case 
 with velvet lined interior and silk lined lid having gilt lettering readin
 g Desoutter\, 4 Hanover Street\, London\, N.W.\, the base with dyed green 
 leather and central roundel\, Desoutter’s name and address repeated\, an
 d a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate\n\nCollection of Leonard Sax\, C
 hicago\n\nSotheby’s New York\, 10 december 2015\, Lot 253\n\nA watch of 
 exceptional quality\, the original handwritten entry for no. 3168 within t
 he Breguet work books notes: “Cette pièce tant par sa composition que p
 ar la belle main d’oeuvre\, est ce que nous pouvons faire de mieux…Cet
 te Construction est tout à fait nouvelle et sûre dans ses effets” [Thi
 s piece\, both in its composition and in its fine workmanship\, is the bes
 t we can do…This construction is entirely new and reliable in its effect
 s].\n\nAn important precursor to the split-seconds chronograph\, this spli
 t-seconds ‘Observation’ stop watch is often regarded as a prototype of
  the modern chronograph. Only four such split-seconds stop watches by Breg
 uet are currently known: nos. 3167 and 3168\, both begun in 1817\, and two
  later examples of similar conception\, nos. 4000 and 4009.\n\nThe Archive
 s record that work on the movement of no. 3168 (“with double seconds”)
  began in July 1817\, with the escapement completed in March 1819. Its gol
 d case\, numbered 3635\, was supplied by Tavernier in October 1818. The pe
 ndant and inside case back bear the chickweed assay mark\, used only durin
 g a brief three-month period between 16 August and 16 November 1819\,1 con
 firming that the watch was submitted for assay during this window. Work th
 en 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.\n\nIn July 1817\, when work began on no. 3168\, Breguet simultaneou
 sly started another split-seconds stopwatch of near-identical form\, no. 3
 167. Like no. 3168\, its escapement was finished in March 1819\, and its c
 ase\, 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 prese
 nt as Breguet’s latest invention. It was sold shortly afterwards to Mons
 ieur Ferey\, Breguet’s agent in Le Havre\, for Fr. 2\,280 (Fr. 2\,400 le
 ss a discount of Fr. 120).\n\nThus the Archives reveal that although produ
 ction of nos. 3167 and 3168 began in tandem in July 1817 and progressed al
 ong a similar timetable\, the final work and adjustment of no. 3168 contin
 ued for more than a year after the completion of no. 3167. As is often rem
 arked\, no two Breguets are ever truly alike\, and this is very much the c
 ase with these two related watches. Breguet was constantly striving to ada
 pt and improve his designs\, and here we see him experimenting with new so
 lutions to the challenge of displaying and recording elapsed time\, workin
 g through refinements with characteristic ingenuity. In the present watch\
 , no. 3168\, he introduced a new element absent from no. 3167: a whip acti
 ng on the balance to stop the watch. This device is activated by a small s
 lide to the inner rim beneath the case back that engages a lever to move t
 he 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 allowe
 d the recording of two events: the split pusher halted the blued steel sec
 onds hand\, while the slide could then be deployed to record a second inte
 rval by stopping the entire movement — and with it\, the central gold se
 conds hand. Apparently lacking in no. 3167\, the feature was developed fur
 ther 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 th
 e back.\n\nBreguet’s split-seconds watches are among the rarest and most
  enticing of his complication pieces. Each of the four known examples is c
 onstructed to a remarkable standard and are unified by their large scale\,
  shared bridge architecture\, and distinctive proportions\, yet with marke
 d differences. The refinement of the present movement\, no. 3168\, is exce
 ptional. In the Breguet Archives it is described as of First-Class product
 ion and constructed on the principles of the Marine Chronometer (ouvrage d
 e première classe et sur le principe des horloges marines). Of special no
 te 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. W
 hile many inking chronographs were fitted with lever escapements\, the cyl
 inder 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 obse
 rvation. Indeed\, as George Daniels observed in The Art of Breguet: “spl
 it-seconds stop watches are much rarer than the chronographs… [They are]
  high-grade lever watches capable of maintaining a very close rate.”2\n\
 nThe 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 su
 ch a proportionately small time dial is highly unusual. This design direct
 s attention to the experimental timing mechanism\, expressed through twin 
 central seconds hands in contrasting blued steel and gold. Designed to rec
 ord intervals of time\, the left-hand pusher starts the central chronograp
 h hands\, the right provides the split\; however\, there is no flyback or 
 reset function. The seconds calibrations are set on a high-sheen satin-fin
 ished outer ring\, their clarity and generous spacing ensuring that the el
 apsed time can be read with ease.\n\nThe dial layout\, the finely engine-t
 urned 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-se
 conds 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 b
 alance stop—innovations that continued to be explored in nos. 4000 (sold
  1825) and 4009 (sold 1845). All four known examples are fitted with locki
 ng 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 b
 eside each pusher\, eliminating the risk of inadvertent operation - such a
 s when the watch was carried in a pocket.\n\nThe 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 wo
 uld recognise today\, would not appear until around 1870\,3 although furth
 er experimentation was carried out in the meantime by other watchmakers\, 
 such as Thomas Prest (c.1840).4\n\nBreguet 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 maste
 r’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.\n\n1 Fieggen
 \, M.\, French Precious Hallmarks 1789 to Date\, 2024\, p. 36.\n\n2 Daniel
 s\, George\, The Art of Breguet\, London & New York: Sotheby Parke\, Berne
 t\, 1975\, p. 73.\n\n3 eds. Turner\, Nye\, Betts\, A General History of Ho
 rology\, Oxford: OUP\, 2022: Brenni\, Paolo\, Timing and Driving Systems\,
  p. 578.\n\n4 For an example of Prest’s split-seconds work see: Barter\,
  A.\, Schnipper\, D.\, 500 Years | 100 Watches\, London: Prestel\, 2023\, 
 pp. 174-175.
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