Dear friends of IWS, today I want to take you on a discovery not of a watch, but of a man who wrote the history of watchmaking starting in the late 1700s.
This is one of the most important, if not the most important, figures in the entire watchmaking world, especially in terms of what complications he invented.
Among these, honorable mention deserves the world-famous Tourbillon, that is, what is still considered one of the most important and sought-after innovations in the world of watchmaking.
Having reached this point I really think you have figured out who I am referring to: Abraham-Louis Breguet.
Creator of several innovative mechanical solutions that are still in use today, as well as being the founder of the watch house that bears his own name, Breguet has always retained a place of honor in the heart of every fan of the world of hands.
We are talking about inventions so important and enduring that they have always been used by other maisons as well and are often named after this great person.
Indeed, one need only think, from a mechanical point of view, of the Breguet balance spring or, from an aesthetic point of view, of the spheres and indexes with Breguet Arabic numerals.
Components that, as soon as they are mentioned in the world of collecting, immediately take shape in the mind of every enthusiast.
A question might now arise, namely, what were all the inventions, both mechanically and in terms of design, invented by Abraham-Louis Breguet from the late 1700s to the present?
Dear friends of IWS, it only remains for me to tell you to make yourself comfortable to take you on a discovery of all the technical and aesthetic solutions resulting from the genius of what, to date, we can define as the “father” of watchmaking.
Abraham-Louis Breguet
Before we get into the meat of the article, I think it is useful and interesting to give a brief overview of Abraham-Louis Breguet’s life.
Born in 1747 in Neuchâtel, Breguet was one of the greatest inventors and innovators in the world of watchmaking.
1775 was the year that marked the first milestone in his career, as he started the famous watch manufacture that still bears his own name: Breguet.
Creator of incredible timepieces, including the highly complicated Breguet Marie-Antoinette pocket watch, Abraham-Louis Breguet was the inventor of several complications including the tourbillon, which is the most important one that can be attributed to the master. Developed beginning in 1795, Breguet’s tourbillon saw the light of day and was granted a patent in 1801.
1810 was another very important year as the first women’s wristwatch took shape, again by Breguet and which was later sold in 1812 to the queen consort of Naples, Caroline Murat.
Admired by the entire watchmaking world, Abraham-Louis Breguet is still praised today for his inventions that take shape in the house’s timepieces, as well as in many watches from some of the world’s most prestigious manufactures.
1780: Breguet experiments with automatic winding
One of the earliest innovations and inventions, attributed to the great Abraham-Louis Breguet, is a movement winding system that is still used inside watches today, namely, automatic winding.
A system that, despite being found on most mechanical timepieces today, turned out to be a real breakthrough for the time it was conceived in that all existing movements required external intervention in order to be wound and sometimes even the use of special keys.
To be precise, however, it was not the creation of an automatic winding system using a traditional oscillating weight, as we commonly know it today.
Abraham-Louis Breguet, in fact invented an entirely different automatic winding system through the use of a mass attached above a rotating arm that rises and falls to wind the barrel spring. In detail, the system devised by Breguet consisted of an oscillating “jerking” mass that responded to the wrist movements and walking movements of the wearer of the watch.
The oscillating mass, equipped with springs that allowed it to return to its starting position after each movement, raised two barrels, stopping when the springs had reached maximum extension.
1783: Breguet hands
Instead, 1783 represents the birth of a non-technical solution, but one of dial design, which we still find today on Breguet watches and beyond.
I’m talking about the iconic Breguet hands, also known as the “à pomme évidée” hands, which were born out of Breguet’s desire to create something different from the hands of the time, which were generally short, wide, and highly decorated, giving the watch a certain heaviness and making it difficult to read the dial.
Thus, in 1783 a new type of gold or blued steel hands, called “à pomme évidée” because of their hollowed-out apple or crescent moon shape, saw the light of day.
Used by most maisons of the time, Breguet hands had a decline in their use from the late 19th century until 1930, when they made a comeback.
Known for their extremely simple but elegant shape, even today Breguet hands are used not only by the house itself, but also by other watchmakers.
1783: Breguet’s Sound Springs
The late 18th century represented a real challenge for a number of watchmakers, who were grappling with the creation of a clock that could tell the time even in lightless conditions.
Since there were no luminescent materials above the dials of pocket watches at the time, the search for a solution to the problem resulted in the creation of one of the most fascinating complications ever: the minute repeater.
Thus, in 1680 the first repeating clocks in history saw the light of day, and from there on, there were several watchmakers who tried to refine their craft.
In 1783 the skilled Breguet intervened on this issue, who was able to create the first watch in history equipped with an audible spring instead of the traditional bell in use until then.
After an initial experiment with a spring mounted transversely on the bottom plate, Breguet’s ultimate innovation was the creation of a sound spring wrapped around the watch movement.
Thanks to this solution, it was possible to greatly limit the thickness of watches with such sound complication, as well as to achieve a more harmonious and discreet sound.
Always regarded as one of the most fascinating complications, even today many of Breguet’s watches are made with that peculiarity ready to mark time through harmonious chimes.
1783: Breguet Arabic numerals
Also in 1783, along with the “à pomme évidée” hands and the introduction of innovative sound springs for chiming watches, Breguet made what became the iconic “Breguet” Arabic numerals.
These are in fact indexes with Arabic numerals that we can find on many watches from renowned maisons, some of which even represent true collector’s gral.
1786: Breguet’s Guilloché dial
In 1786 an aesthetic innovation was born that would prove to be a true art in dial finishing. Specifically, it was the introduction of a new dial decoration technique, still used today in the most prestigious timepieces of the various watchmaking houses.
This is the guilloché dial, hand-engraved with a guillochage lathe, a process that involves etching the surface with a network of straight, curved, or broken lines.
Breguet was impressed by this technique and began using it in 1786. What fascinated him was the aesthetic result, which gave the dial an extremely simple but, thanks to the special texture, highly elegant appearance. The guilloché finish also offered anti-reflective properties, ensuring better legibility of the watch’s indications and clearly delineating the various zones for reading the indicated information.
1789: The Breguet winding key
Instead, in 1789 the winding key was born, which immediately took the name “Breguet key.” It was nothing more than a key “external” to the watch that allowed its movement to be wound.
1790: Breguet’s Parachute
Breguet is also credited with the creation of the “parachute” shock-protection system, i.e., the ancestor of the modern “Incabloc,” as well as the first shock-protection device in history. Known to be one of Breguet’s most famous inventions, the skilled master, aware that in the event of the watch being struck, the pivots of the balance wheel would be the most fragile, decided to give them a cone shape and secure them with correspondingly shaped bearings mounted on a spring.
Here came into being the system of elastic suspension of the balance, known as the “parachute,” which, starting in 1792, was integrated on the Maison’s automatic watches. The final version of this system was then presented in 1806 during the National Exhibition.
Even today, this system is considered one of Breguet’s most important inventions intended to protect the axis of the balance in case of shock.
1795: The Breguet Spiral
Another innovation that Breguet brought to the world of watchmaking was the creation of an entirely unique balance spring.
But what exactly is this component?
The spirarle is nothing more than the part of the movement that marks the rhythm and ensures the constancy of the movement’s rate from which therefore the precision of the watch is derived. The innovation that Breguet brought to this component was the creation of a spirarle with the last coil raised and with a diminished curvature so as to ensure the concentric development of this element.
As a result of these modifications, the watches had become more accurate and the axis of the balance wheel wore less quickly.
From there on, the Breguet spiral was adopted by all watchmakers of the world’s most famous maisons and, to this day, continues to find its place above most mechanical watches.
In 2006 came another breakthrough, from the house of Breguet, which introduced the first wristwatch with a silicon balance spring and escapement, thanks to which the watch’s components are free of magnetic fields that could alter the movement’s performance.
1801: Breguet’s Tourbillon
In 1801 occurred what would mark a momentous turning point for the world of watchmaking, namely the invention of the Tourbillon by Abraham-Louis Breguet. It was in fact a system that improved the precision of pocket watches and, more importantly, gave rise to one of the finest and most sought-after complications in the world of watchmaking.
The development and creation of such a complication stemmed from the fact that Breguet was aware that the force of gravity, represented the main enemy of the regularity of running of watch movements.
Thus, time settings and running accuracy were changed every time the clock changed its position.
In order to overcome this problem of changing position, which is very normal during the use of a watch and, therefore, of changing the regularity of running, Breguet decided to place the entire escapement inside a movable cage capable of making one complete rotation every minute.
With this system, it was possible to compensate for running faults due to the change in position of the balance wheel when the watch was subjected to shifts.
Although state-of-the-art solutions have been developed since then to ensure that watches run precisely, even today the Tourbillon, patented in 1801, remains an extraordinary invention that is still used above the world’s finest timepieces.
1810: Breguet makes the first wristwatch
During her reign in Naples, Caroline Murat, the younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, supported the arts to a large extent and purchased more than 30 Breguet watches and clocks.
In 1810, the skilled watchmaker Breguet, who in the meantime had established himself at the Quai de l’Horloge in Paris, began work on a novel creation for the Queen of Naples: a wristwatch. Which is quite normal nowadays, but completely unusual for the time in that it was the world’s first wristwatch.
Distinguished by an oblong shape and a guilloché silver dial, this clock also enclosed within it a repeater, moon phases, and a thermometer.
1820: The Breguet Chronograph
The chronograph as we know it today was conceived and created by Louis Moinet in 1816 through the introduction of a pocket watch capable of measuring times in 60ths of a second.
This was a stunning invention that, for the time in which it was created, still amazes everyone nowadays as it was a clock with a mechanism that high-frequency, from as much as 216,000 vibrations per hour.
A few years later, in 1820, the highly skilled Abraham-Louis Breguet intervened on the chronograph scene with the introduction of the “observation chronometer.” This highly innovative system, for the period in which it was conceived, allowed for the measurement of intermediate fractions of time or the duration of two simultaneous events. In addition, in 1822, Breguet created and began marketing, in collaboration with the watchmaker Fatton, the first ink chronographs.
This particular watch was equipped with a seconds hand that deposited, on demand, a tiny drop of ink on the dial, writing the duration of an event. Today, 200 years later, the chronograph complication still represents one of the most beloved by enthusiasts as well as being one of the most widely used throughout the watchmaking world.
1830: Breguet’s keyless winding system
In 1830, Antoine-Louis Breguet, son of Abraham-Louis Breguet, brought a revolutionary innovation to the watchmaking scene, namely the winding crown.
On December 30, 1830, the house’s No. 4952 watch was sold by Antoine-Louis Breguet, a pocket watch equipped, for the time, with a revolutionary knurled button located at the top of the case which served two functions: setting the time and winding the watch.
And thus was born the modern winding crown that, to this day, still finds a place on our beloved timepieces.
1991: Breguet’s perpetual equation of time
On April 17, 1991, the first wristwatch with perpetual equation of time was patented by the house of Breguet.
1997: Breguet’s in-line perpetual calendar wristwatch.
On May 15, 1997, thanks to the maison’s innovative spirit and savoir-faire, the perpetual calendar online was born.
1998: Breguet’s smallest self-winding chronograph movement.
In 1998, however, the smallest self-winding movement ever created in the world debuted on the house’s “Marine” line.
2006: Breguet’s silicon escapement wheel and anchor
2006 saw the adoption of a completely new material for making some of the most critical components of the movement.
The company, in fact, began using silicon to make the wheel and escapement anchor of the movement. The choice of this material was due to the fact that it presents itself as an element insensitive to magnetic fields in addition to being highly resistant to corrosion and wear.
Since this material is also lighter and harder than steel, thus reducing inertia, it does not require lubrication and provides much greater geometric freedom.
2010: the high frequency of Breguet
Instead, 2010 marked the debut of an incredible movement that, unlike the traditional frequency of 18,000 to 28,800 vibrations per hour, beat at an impressive 72,000 vibrations per hour, or 10 Hertz.
This is the caliber mounted above the Breguet Type XXII, which is a new and updated version of the legendary Type XX. Thanks to this incredible movement, Breguet achieved the record of having created the first mass-produced mechanical chronograph with a 10 Hertz movement capable of marking twentieths of a second.
2010: Breguet’s magnetic chime regulator
Also in 2010, Breguet marked another milestone for the world of watchmaking with the introduction of the magnetic strike regulator, an innovative system equipped with magnets that works on the principle of peripheral currents (or Foucault currents) allowing it to overcome the drawbacks of the classic friction-based regulating system.
A revolutionary invention with regard to mechanical chimes in that, unlike the traditionally used system, i.e., a regulator built into the gear train powering the chime, Breguet invented a silent regulator using magnets for the first time in the production of mechanical wristwatches.
2010: Breguet’s magnetic pin
Instead, on November 9, 2010, the house filed a patent dedicated to the magnetic pivot, which is a system that can harness the effects of magnetism to increase the precision and reliability of Breguet watches
Through this ingenious system, the company’s engineers and watchmakers were able to create a solution to limit the negative effects of magnetism in a mechanical watch, as well as improve its friction, rotation, and balance axis stability.
Conclusions
Having taken you on a tour of each of the incredible innovations brought to the world of watchmaking by this incredible maison, we are left to wait impatiently for incredible new technical solutions that we are sure will be able to arise from what I believe to be one of, if not the most important house in the entire world of hands as far as mechanical innovation is concerned.
If we stopped to think for a moment about what the world of watchmaking would be like today without the genius of Abraham-Louis Breguet, I really think that what are the most beautiful watches ever would not exist.
In fact, thanks to this skillful man, many of the most renowned maisons in the entire watch industry have been able to make multifaceted watches with unique appeal that will forever remain the object of desire for many enthusiasts.
Who knows if in the future, when it is now thought that all mechanical and technical solutions, in terms of watchmaking, have already been created, we might see the emergence of new complications and engineering solutions for our beloved timepieces by someone who will be able to, if not surpass, at least match Abraham-Louis Breguet.
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