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SUMMARY:an-important-and-exceptionally-rare-gold-self-winding-minute-repeat
 ing-lever-watch-the-hours-and-quarters-repeating-toc-the-minutes-on-a-gong
 -with-60-hour-state-of-wind-indication-constructed-on-the-principles-of-ga
 rde-temps - Date de vente : 09/11/2025
DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : An important and exceptionally rare gold self-win
 ding minute repeating lever watch\, the hours and quarters repeating à to
 c\, the minutes on a gong\, with 60-hour state of wind indication\, constr
 ucted on the principles of Garde-Temps\n\n23’’’ gilded movement\, le
 ver escapement\, the steel lever pallets inset with rubies\, four-arm bi-m
 etallic balance with Arnold-type compensation affixes screwed to opposite 
 pair\, remaining two arms with screws passing through the rims\, early for
 m or parachute suspension\, both pivots with conical jewel\, hours and qua
 rters repeating via a single hammer striking a block mounted to movement e
 dge by 3 o’clock\, the minutes via separate hammer on a gong\, large per
 petuelle weight mounted to edge of backplate\, two buffer springs for weig
 ht mounted around movement edge\, movement edge beneath front bezel at 7 o
 ’clock with slide for perpétuelle weight locking engraved M/A for March
 e/Arret\, precision adjustment screw beneath 4 o’clock for regulation\, 
 movement edge further signed and numbered 6/87 No. 47\, Inventé par Bregu
 et à Paris\, No. 47\n\nwhite enamel dial\, Breguet numerals\, outer minut
 e ring\, sector for state-of-wind calibrated for 60 hours\, large subsidia
 ry seconds\, blued steel Breguet pear-shaped hands\, cursive Breguet signa
 ture within subsidiary seconds\n\ngold engine-turned ‘collier’ case\, 
 the back guilloché à grains d’orge\, band with wave-form engine-turnin
 g\, pusher at 3 to open case front\, quarter turn piston repeat through pe
 ndant\, inside case back numbered 47 B\, rubbed assay and maker’s mark\n
 \nMeasurements\n\ndiameter 56.5mm\n\ndepth 19.5mm\n\nweight of watch 152.5
 g\n\nweight including chain and key 158.2g\n\nAccompaniments\n\nwith a lat
 er short gold Breguet chain and ratchet key with French weevil import assa
 y in fitted frame (1838-64) and a later morocco leather Breguet fitted box
  with gold tooling\, velvet lined fitted interior\, the base with gilt rou
 ndel signed Breguet & Compie quai de l’Horloge du Palais\, No. 39 à Par
 is and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate\n\nGeorge John Spencer\, 2n
 d Earl Spencer (1758-1834)\n\n22 December 1802 returned to Breguet in Pari
 s for repair (probably via Recordon)\n\nc. 20 June 1803 returned to London
  via Miss Recordon for Louis Recordon\, Breguet’s London agent.\n\nRepar
 ied by E. Dent of Pall Mall in 1969 for £65.\n\n…\n\nProfessor Thomas E
 ngel\n\nEngel\, Thomas\, A. L. Breguet\, Watchmaker to Kings\, 1994\, pp. 
 88-89.\n\nAn exceptionally rare perpétuelle watch\, this is an important 
 early work by the great master that not only retains its original enamel d
 ial\, but in addition to its lever escapement with Arnold-style balance an
 d early parachute shock protection\, also incorporates minute repetition. 
 Beyond its horological significance\, it carries a fascinating provenance\
 , stretching from George John Spencer\, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834)\, t
 o Professor Thomas Engel\, one of Breguet’s most passionate collectors.\
 n\nThe Breguet Archives do not contain records before 1787 and so it is no
 t possible to be certain when the first perpétuelle watches were made. Em
 manuel Breguet’s own research has shown that Breguet’s version of the 
 self-winding watch was developed between 1775 and 1779.1 Breguet claimed h
 imself that by 1780 Marie Antoinette and the Duc d’Orléans were both in
  possession of such a watch. Watch No. 2 10/82 is the earliest now known 
 and is believed to have been owned by Marie Antoinette\, its fractional nu
 mber indicating a date of completion in October 1782.2 Early Perpétuelle
 s were fitted with distinctive white enamel dials\, their finely painted A
 rabic hour indexes were complimented by delicate minute rings\, subsidiary
  seconds and an up-and-down sector showing the watch’s state of wind.\n\
 nNot all perpétuelles were completed in order\, with some occasionally st
 arted and finished years apart. Many had their dials replaced\, either due
  to damage or to modernise their appearance. Perpétuelles were always ext
 remely expensive and Breguet was keen to re-purchase them whenever the opp
 ortunity arose. Updating these watches with the newly fashionable guilloch
 é enamel dials for which Breguet had become so well-known was therefore n
 ot uncommon in the 19th century. It is extremely rare to find early perpé
 tuelles that retain their original enamel dials.\n\nBreguet was one of the
  few watchmakers to exploit the lever escapement at this early date. Its i
 nventor\, Thomas Mudge\, had himself noted that to successfully produce th
 e lever escapement “requires a delicacy in the execution that you will f
 ind very few artists equal to.”3 It is in this watch that the finesse of
  Breguet’s interpretation of the lever escapement may be appreciated. He
 re one may also find an early example of his parachute protection — a sa
 fety device designed to guard the balance staff against shock\, originally
  developed for his perpétuelles to mitigate the vibrations caused by the 
 heavy platinum weight as it buffered against its limiting springs.\n\nAlth
 ough Breguet made a large number of repeating watches in a variety of diff
 erent forms\, those with minute repetition are extremely rare. A most nove
 l and unusual combination\, the hours and quarters are repeated à toc by 
 a single hammer striking a block to the inside of the case band by 3 o’c
 lock. By contrast\, the minutes are struck by a separate hammer on a short
  flat steel gong. There is continued debate as to the invention of the gon
 g-form of repeat but as Daniels notes in The Art of Breguet\, “If Bregue
 t did invent the gong it was in this form and probably before 1783.”4\n\
 nThe fractional number of the present watch shows that it was completed in
  June 1787. It does not appear in Breguet’s sales books (which began dur
 ing 1787) but it does appear in the repairs register. The entry in the Bre
 guet registre de rhabillage is dated 1 Nivose An XI (22 December 1802) and
  records that the watch’s owner was Lord Spencer. The repairs undertaken
  between 1802 and 1803 included: “arbre de barillet\, roue de remontoir\
 , pont de barillet\, grand ressort de masse\, une partie des vis\, une rou
 e à rochet.” (work carried out on the barrel arbor\, the winding wheel\
 , the large mass spring etc). These repairs were completed around 20 June 
 1803 (beginning of Messidor) for Fr. 360\, after which the watch was retur
 ned to London via Miss Recordon\, who delivered the watch to her father\, 
 Breguet’s London agent\, Louis Recordon.\n\nFor a perpétuelle with simi
 lar Arnold-type balance\, see Daniels\, George\, The Art of Breguet\, 1975
 \, p. 115 pl. 20 & 21 and for another minute repeating perpétuelle\, see 
 op. cit. p. 210\, figs. 211 a-c.\n\nGeorge John Spencer\, 2nd Earl Spencer
  (1758–1834)\n\nGeorge John Spencer\, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834)\, w
 as a leading Whig statesman\, philanthropist\, and the foremost English bi
 bliophile of his age. Born at Wimbledon Park\, the only son of the 1st Ear
 l Spencer (1734–1783) and Georgiana Poyntz\, he was educated by Sir Will
 iam Jones before attending Harrow School and Trinity College\, Cambridge\,
  and entered Parliament as Viscount Althorp before succeeding his father a
 s Earl Spencer in 1783.\n\nIn politics\, Spencer served as First Lord of t
 he Admiralty (1794–1801)\, where his appointments of Jervis\, Duncan\, a
 nd Nelson contributed directly to the victories of St Vincent\, Camperdown
 \, and the Nile. He handled the naval mutinies of 1797 with firmness and t
 act\, personally negotiating at Spithead and confronting sedition at the N
 ore. Briefly Home Secretary in 1806–7\, he later retired from national p
 olitics to concentrate on philanthropy and county affairs in Northamptonsh
 ire.\n\nLord Spencer was home secretary during the Grenville/Fox coalition
 \, the so-called “Ministry of All the Talents” from 1806-1807. Part of
  his commission was to investigate the conduct of Caroline Princess of Wal
 es whose daughter\, the Countess of Flahault (née Margaret Mercer Elphins
 tone) is also featured in this auction through her own Breguet watch no. 3
 38 (see lot 64).\n\nThough Spencer’s view of France was hardened by the 
 Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars\, it did not stop him (or many of his co
 ntemporaries) from seeking out the craftsmanship of the great Breguet in P
 aris. Politically\, he was sceptical of French intentions\, and in 1802 he
  was among just sixteen peers who spoke and voted in the House of Lords ag
 ainst the Peace of Amiens\, believing it an unsound and temporary settleme
 nt.5 Yet ironically it was precisely this fragile interlude of peace which
  allowed him to send this Breguet watch back to Paris for repair on 22 Dec
 ember 1802\, probably via Breguet’s London agent\, Louis Recordon. Brita
 in declared war on France on 18 May 1803\, ending the Treaty of Amiens\, b
 ut the watch was safely returned to London shortly afterwards via Recordon
 ’s daughter.\n\nHis greatest distinction lay in his library at Althorp\,
  which\, expanded by major purchases such as Count Reviczky’s collection
 \, grew to over 40\,000 volumes and became the nucleus of the John Rylands
  Library in Manchester. A founder and the first President of the Roxburghe
  Club\, he was regarded as the greatest collector of early printed books i
 n Europe.\n\nSpencer’s wife\, Lady Lavinia Bingham (1762–1831)\, was a
  celebrated society hostess\, and together they regularly entertained lead
 ing figures of the day at Althorp and at Spencer House in London. They had
  eight children\, among them John Charles Spencer\, 3rd Earl Spencer\, and
  Father Ignatius Spencer. Through this line the 2nd Earl was a direct ance
 stor of Diana\, Princess of Wales\, while his first cousin\, George Spence
 r\, 4th Duke of Marlborough\, was the great-great-great grandfather of Win
 ston Churchill.\n\nThomas Engel (1927–2015)\n\nProfessor Thomas Engel wa
 s a German inventor and industrial chemist\, internationally recognised fo
 r his pioneering work on polymers. In 1966 he developed a commercial proce
 ss for cross-linking plastic extrusion\, making a significant step forward
  in plastics technology and\, in 1972\, he won the Diesel price\, which he
  shared with Wernher von Braun.\n\nEngel’s passion for horology began in
  the 1960s when a friend produced a Breguet repeating watch during a car j
 ourney. Its chime captivated him\, and soon afterwards he bought a copy of
  Sir David Salomons’s book on Breguet — “from that moment I was hook
 ed\,” he recalled. Over the following decades he built a distinguished c
 ollection\, with Breguet at its centre\, and was known for his insistence 
 on originality and quality. His admiration for Breguet extended beyond col
 lecting: in collaboration with the Swiss watchmaker Richard Daners\, he cr
 eated a series of finely executed “Engel Breguets” after the master’
 s style\, now valued as collectors’ pieces in their own right.\n\nA prol
 ific writer\, Engel published an important work dedicated to the work of B
 reguet titled A.L. Breguet\, Watchmaker to Kings. He also pursued ambitiou
 s plans to establish an “Engel Time Museum” to share his collection wi
 th the public\, though the project was never realised. Remembered as one o
 f Breguet’s most ardent modern admirers\, Engel united the perspectives 
 of scientist\, collector\, and maker in a way that ensured his name would 
 remain closely associated with the legacy of Abraham-Louis Breguet.\n\n1 B
 reguet\, Emmanuel\, Breguet Watchmakers since 1775\, Revised and Expanded 
 Edition\, Swan Éditeur\, 2016\, p. 32.\n\n2 Daniels\, George\, The Art of
  Breguet\, London & New York: Sotheby Parke\, Bernet\, 1975\, pp. 63-66 an
 d for no. 8\n\nsee p. 139\, figs. 67a–c.\n\n3 Extract from a letter writ
 ten by Thomas Mudge to his patron Count von Brühl in August 1776 and reco
 unted in Good\, The First Lever Watch made by Thomas Mudge\, pp. 33-35.\n\
 n4 Daniels\, George\, The Art of Breguet\, London & New York: Sotheby Park
 e\, Bernet\, 1975\, p. 66.\n\n5 Lester\, M.  (2008\, January 03). Spen
 cer\, George John\, second Earl Spencer (1758–1834)\, politician and boo
 k collector. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography https://doi.org/10.
 1093/ref:odnb/26125
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109
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