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UID:3ce0ab2251194eaeaa0df9aca7d21cb0
DTSTAMP:20260404T075046Z
SUMMARY:a-very-fine-and-small-18ct-gold-open-faced-ruby-cylinder-watch-with
 -eccentric-dial-specially-sealed-case-gold-chain-and-key - Date de vente :
  09/11/2025
DESCRIPTION:Nom du lots : A very fine and small 18ct gold open-faced ruby c
 ylinder watch with eccentric dial\, specially sealed case\, gold chain and
  key\n\n12’’’ nouveau calibre gilded movement\, ruby cylinder escape
 ment\, three-arm blued steel balance\, parachute suspension\, extended ste
 el regulation index for adjustment in case band\, numbered to bridge benea
 th dial 119\n\neccentric white enamel dial signed Breguet\, Roman numerals
 \, outer minute ring\, blued steel Breguet hands\n\n18ct gold Sécheret ca
 se\, engine-turned à grains d’orge\, back centred with polished circula
 r cartouche decorated with five translucent blue enamel roundels\, a sixth
  roundel forming an aperture for hand-setting square\, off-set aperture fo
 r female winding square\, milled band\, regulation index recessed to the b
 and between 10 and 11 o’clock\, pendant with indistinct head assay mark\
 , inside case back numbered 338 B and 632\, French Hippocrates head 3 in i
 rregular hexagonal cartouche (3rd standard gold 750/1000\, 1838-1919)\, ca
 se maker’s mark LS with underlined triangle above and star beneath in lo
 zenge-shaped cartouche for Leopold Sécheret\n\nshort gold Breguet link ch
 ain with double ended male/female ratchet key\, shank’s roundel with Fre
 nch eagle’s head assay (1838-46) and maker’s mark LS with star beneath
  and crown above\, chain’s upper jump ring punched twice with ram’s he
 ad restricted warranty mark (Paris 1819-1838)\n\nMeasurements\n\ndiameter 
 31mm\n\ndepth including crystal 7mm\n\nchain length with key (excluding wa
 tch) 105mm\n\nweight of watch including key and chain 23.1g\n\nAccompanime
 nts\n\nBreguet Certificate No. 4443 dated 11 May 2016\, later fitted box w
 ith gilt tooling\, numbered 632 to the lid and signed Breguet to the inter
 ior silk lining\, leather pouch with the stamp of Jump\, Mount Street\, Lo
 ndon and a Breguet 250th anniversary certificate\n\nThis exquisitely finis
 hed watch\, no. 338\, purchased by the Comtesse in 1840\, displays many of
  the subtle refinements for which the Maison Breguet was celebrated. The w
 hite enamel dial is elegantly off-set\, a deliberate design choice which a
 lso served a practical purpose by allowing the movement to accommodate a l
 arger mainspring barrel. The central cartouche of the case back is decorat
 ed with six roundels: five are filled with translucent dark blue enamel\, 
 while the sixth ingeniously conceals the recessed square for hand-setting.
  Additional features include the winding square placed off-set within the 
 case back and a regulation index recessed discreetly into the band between
  10 and 11 o’clock. This arrangement ensured that neither the front nor 
 the back of the watch needed to be opened for winding\, setting\, or regul
 ation. Indeed\, as the case back is not designed to be removed from the ex
 terior\, access to the movement itself was possible only after the removal
  of the dial and\, even then\, it could be released from the case only by 
 operating a sequence of secret locking screws - a clear attempt to prevent
  interference or tampering.\n\nMargaret de la Billardrie\, Lady Nairne\, B
 aroness Keith and Countess of Flahault (1788-1867)\n\nWithin her courtly c
 ircles\, the Comtesse de Flahault\, née Margaret Mercer Elphinstone\, wou
 ld have been familiar with the work of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Her marriage
  to the Comte de Flahault in 1817\, however\, brought her into direct cont
 act with many of those within Breguet’s orbit. Auguste Charles Joseph\, 
 Comte de Flahault de la Billarderie (1785–1870)\, was born in Paris to A
 délaïde Filleul\, later Madame de Souza-Botelho\, the noted novelist. He
  was widely acknowledged to be the natural son of Charles-Maurice de Talle
 yrand-Périgord\, the future Prince de Bénévent and one of the most infl
 uential European statesmen of his age. Though never formally legitimised\,
  Flahault’s career benefited from Talleyrand’s discreet support\, and 
 his rise - from aide-de-camp to Napoleon to senior diplomatic appointments
  under successive regimes - reflected the advantages of this connection.\n
 \nPrince Talleyrand was one of Breguet’s most important patrons\, respon
 sible for introducing the watchmaker to a wide circle of influential and i
 mportant clients. It was at Talleyrand’s house that Breguet is said to h
 ave demonstrated his invention of the parachute balance-staff protection s
 ystem by throwing a watch to the floor in front of his host and their gues
 ts - to general astonishment\, the mechanism continued to run.\n\nThe Comt
 e de Flahault was himself a Breguet customer. Before his marriage to Marga
 ret he had purchased watch No. 2200\, a lever watch made “sur le princip
 e de garde-temps”\, acquired on 31 August 1814 for Fr. 3\,000 (sold Anti
 quorum 7 December 1988\, lot 223). During the 1830s\, Flahault became aide
 -de-camp to Ferdinand-Philippe\, Duc d’Orléans\, another important patr
 on of Breguet. It was during this period\, in 1836\, that the Duc d’Orl
 éans took delivery of one of Breguet’s most celebrated works: an ormolu
 -mounted red boulle Sympathique quarter-striking clock with half-quarter r
 epeating watch\, nos. 128 and 5009. Given their close association with the
  Duc\, it is very possible that the Flahaults would have seen the Sympathi
 que. The Sympathique later entered the collection of the Time Museum\, was
  sold at Sotheby’s in December 1999\, and is now at the Patek Philippe M
 useum in Geneva.\n\nThe Comtesse de Flahault occupied a singular position 
 in early nineteenth-century society in both London and Paris. Born in Hert
 ford Street in London’s Mayfair as Margaret Mercer Elphinstone in 1788\,
  she was the only child of Admiral George Keith\, 1st Viscount Keith (1746
 -1823)\, and Jane Mercer of Aldie (d. 1789). Her father\, a distinguished 
 naval officer\, was created Baron Keith of Stonehaven Marischal in the Pee
 rage of Ireland (1797) and Baron Keith of Banheath\, co. Dunbarton in the 
 Peerage of Great Britain (1803)\, both with the unusual special remainder 
 to his daughter Margaret. This provision ensured that\, upon his death in 
 1823\, the dignities did not lapse for want of a male heir but instead des
 cended to his daughter. Accordingly\, Margaret succeeded suo jure as 2nd B
 aroness Keith. In 1837\, upon the death of her cousin William\, 6th Baron 
 Nairne who died unmarried\, Margaret also inherited the title Baroness Nai
 rne. She was a rare instance of a woman of her generation holding multiple
  peerages independently\, rather than by courtesy or marriage.\n\nMargaret
  was already a familiar figure at court before assuming her father’s tit
 les\, in large part through her close friendship with Princess Charlotte o
 f Wales (1796–1817)\, the only child of the Prince Regent\, later George
  IV\, and heir presumptive to the throne. The Princess’s household was t
 ightly controlled by her father\, who restricted her companions to a very 
 narrow circle of young women of suitable family and character. Margaret’
 s parentage and social standing\, combined with her reputation for intelli
 gence and spirit\, secured her place within this select company. Surviving
  correspondence demonstrates that Charlotte turned to Margaret regularly\,
  and the frequency of their letters suggests the depth of the bond that de
 veloped between them. Their friendship was both personal and political\, p
 roviding Charlotte with a trusted confidante as she navigated the isolatio
 n and tensions of her position. The relationship endured until the Princes
 s’s untimely death in 1817\, an event which left a lasting impression on
  Margaret.\n\nOn 20 June 1817\, Margaret married Auguste Charles Joseph\, 
 Comte de Flahault-de-la- Billardrie (1785-1870). The Comte had been educat
 ed in Britain and as an aide-de-camp to Napoleon Bonaparte went into exile
  in Britain after Napoleon’s fall. Returning to favour at the French cou
 rt\, the Flahaults moved to France in the late 1820s\, and Margaret establ
 ished herself as a prominent figure in Parisian society. The Comte was ent
 rusted with a series of important diplomatic postings including ambassador
 ships at Rome and Vienna. From 1860-1862 the Comte served as French Ambass
 ador to the Court of St. James’s during Queen Victoria’s reign. His ca
 reer concluded with the prestigious office of Chancellor of the Légion d
 ’honneur in Paris.\n\nMargaret died in 1867 at the Palais de la Légion 
 d’honneur and was buried in Scotland at Tulliallan Castle. Of her five d
 aughters\, the eldest\, Emily Jane\, became Lady Nairne through succession
 \, though the Keith baronies themselves lapsed as they were restricted to 
 male heirs.1\n\n1 Sources for the life of the Comtesse de Flahualt: Burke
 ’s Peerage\, 1967\; Reynolds\, K.\, Flahault de la Billardrie\, Margar
 et de [née Margaret Mercer Elphinstone]\, suo jure Lady Nairne and suo ju
 re Baroness Keith\, and Countess de Flahault de la Billardrie in the Frenc
 h nobility (1788–1867)\, society hostess. Oxford Dictionary of National
  Biography\,  Oxford: 2004\; Aspinall\, A. ed. Letters of the Princess Ch
 arlotte 1811-1817\, London: Home and Van Thal\, 1949.
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20251109
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