Commemorative TIMEPIECES
Celebrating classic innovations from Breguet
Breguet’s ties with royalty trace back to Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who ordered various timekeepers from Abraham- Louis Breguet’s workshop on Ile de la Cité, Paris.
Imperial patrons included Napoleon Bonaparte, Empress Josephine and Napoleon’s sister, Caroline Murat, the Queen of Naples.
Breguet’s first ever wristwatch was actually commissioned by the Queen of Naples, who received the oblongshaped repeater equipped with a thermometer in 1812. The classic ovoid case remains a hallmark of the Reine de Naples collection, whose majestic models, along with high-jewellery timepieces related to the other consorts, were exhibited at an exclusive viewing held at Savelberg restaurant and hosted by the Swatch Group Trading (Thai
land) and Pendulum, the official distributor of Breguet in Thailand.
Striking in both appearance and mechanism, Reine de Naples 8973, released in 2012, marked the 200th anniver
sary of Breguet’s first wristwatch.
The Grand Complication acoustically appeals with two chimes repeated thrice, marking the top of every hour. Strik
ing hammers appear above a subdial at 11 and 1 o’clock, and in-between, a rose engraved in gold indicates the engage
ment of the hour striker, while a pushpiece at 2 o’clock disables the striking mechanism.
A lavish setting of brilliant-cut diamonds and blue sapphires on the bezel and snap, as well as on a silvered gold dial and flange, give it an alluring blue face, with the different nuances of the precious stones creating a subtle gradation.
The back is as stunning, with the sapphire crystal revealing bridges, oscillating weight and decoration forming an image of a Mediterranean-style garden pavilion, evoking those of Caroline Murat’s stately residences
The centrepiece of the high-jewellery collection, though, is a blooming Reine de Naples with 116 diamond- baguette petals independently swaying on the caseband, made pos
sible by mobile gem-setting.
The inventive timepiece is one of Breguet’s Crazy Flowers, whose flange, inward-sloping dial and off-centre chapter ring also sparkle with diamonds. Housed in a case entirely set with baguette- cut dia
monds, Reine de Naples Haute Joaillerie 8939 also showcases savoir faire in pavé setting of baguette diamonds on the dial. Manually engine-turned in silvered gold, the off-centre dial plate features a pear-cut diamond at 6 o’clock, while mother-of-pearl rays elegantly mark the hours.
THE BOWS AND RIBBONS ON MARIE ANTOINETTE’S GOWNS INSPIRED THE DESIGN OF DÉSIR DE LA REINE