Abraham-Louis Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland in 1747 and after being apprenticed to a watchmaker in Versailles, married and began his own business in 1775. The rest, as they say, is horological history as are the numerous inventions, technical innovations and styling, most of which are still in use today.
After Breguet’s death, a jewellery company by the name of E. Brown in London purchased the company from Breguet’s descendants. In 1970, the company was bought by Chaumet, then acquired by Investcorp during the Chaumet bankruptcy proceedings in 1987. The Swatch Group became the proud owners in 1999, along with the movement manufacturer La Nouvelle Lémania and Valdar a component manufacturer, for an estimated purchase price of 200 million Swiss francs.




MARIE-ANTOINETTE POCKET WATCH
Domaine du Petit Trianon in Versailles


Today’s Breguet
Despite criticism from within and outside the Group, Nicolas G. Hayek went ahead with the purchase and he was immediately caught up in the Breguet dream of mechanical complications. The brand’s management team, headed up by Nicolas G. Hayek, has breathed new life into the famous trademark. Despite the registration of a three or four new patents in the 1900s prior to the Swatch Group’s acquisition, the Breguet brand concentrated on producing mainly sports watches for pilots and navigators, but after the takeover it quickly resurfaced from its half forgotten, almost indifferent position in the watch world to the revered status that the Breguet name merits.
Since the purchase, another 20 million francs has been spent in new machines in the movement workshops, not to mention the money required for model development and the re-creation of classic Breguet models.
The immediate focus was placed on Breguet’s legendary invention, the tourbillon, however, other brilliant new creations, faithful in both styling and complications to the Breguet heritage, have been launched and patents for more than twenty horological improvements and inventions have been applied for in just five years.


Breguet and France
However, Nicolas G. Hayek has not forgotten the close ties between Abraham-Louis Breguet and France, consequently, in its role as a patron to the arts, Montres Breguet recently donated five million euros for the restoration of the Domaine du Petit Trianon in Versailles, one of Marie-Antoinette’s favourite corners in Versailles Palace.
The link between Abraham-Louis Breguet and France’s Queen, is an important one in the company’s history since a secret admirer of Marie-Antoinette ordered a watch for her from Breguet that included all the known complications of the period. Given the demanding work involved, the watch took some time to be completed but by then, Marie-Antoinette had been guillotined for her opposition to the reforms demanded by the leaders of the French Revolution.
Upon its completion, the watch is said to have found its way into the hands of royalty and then, in 1983, it was stolen from a museum in Jerusalem and has since disappeared with its whereabouts remaining a mystery.
Hayek decided to reconstruct this extraordinary timepiece and using the company’s extensive records and original documentation, he oversaw the fastidious reconstruction of the famous Marie-Antoinette pocket watch, an arduous task considering that each and every unique piece of the watch had to be made by hand to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s original specifications.




TOURBILLON MARINE
18 carat pink gold tourbillon with chronograph. Hand-wound movement, 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, small seconds on the tourbillon carriage at 12 o’clock, 50-hour power reserve, sapphire caseback, rubber strap with folding clasp, water-resistant to 100 metres.

MARINE CHRONOGRAPH
18 carat white gold watch equipped with a self-winding movement. 18 carat silvered gold dial with wave decoration, chapter ring with Roman numerals, Arabic numerals for minutes, centre chronograph minutes and seconds, date aperture and 12-hour counter at 6 o’clock, seconds sub-dial at 9 o’clock, 48-hour power reserve, sapphire crystal caseback, rubber strap with folding clasp, water-resistant to 100 metres.

REINE DE NAPLES
Ladie’s watch in 18 carat white gold equipped with a self-winding movement with a platinum rotor, bezel, caseband and ball lug set with 139 diamonds (1-32 carats), 18 carat silvered gold dial with mother-of-pearl overlay, Breguet Arabic numerals. Strap in black satin with a folding clasp set with 26 diamonds (0.14 carats), sapphire crystal caseback, water-resistant to 30 metres.


The Breguet Manufacture’s future
Breguet watches are now a ‘must’ with watch aficionados, collectors and, perhaps most importantly, a younger, erudite clientele. With the increase in production, new markets are being developed in India, South America, Turkey, Korea and Taiwan.
Major investments in renovation, buildings and new production facilities have been made, which combined with new boutiques in Seoul, Geneva and Los Angeles that include manufacturing workshops where the fascinating world of watchmakers can be observed, ensures that Breguet watches are being discovered by a whole new generation.
Breguet timepieces are a unique means of enjoying the very best in horological creations that include eye-catching mechanical complications as well as re-developed and re-designed Breguet chef d’oeuvres.
As the company quietly progresses in both prowess and its ideal of manufacturing a maximum of 50,000 watches a year, the Abraham-Louis Breguet name lives on … as does that of Nicolas G. Hayek, the man that brought the innovative brand back into the Haute Horlogerie fold.