In his lifetime he was considered the leading watchmaker of his day, and he built up a clientele that included many leading public figures. He was to produce a watch for an officer of the queens guard that would incorporate every complication and all the latest developments of the time. Breguet pledged to help restore the petit trianon in marieantoinettes private estate and, in exchange, was given the wood from her tree. Breguets administrative offices are found and lorient 5 minutes down the. It took 44 years to complete after it was first commissioned in marie antoinette never saw the watch through to its completion, as she was sent to the guillotine 10 years before it breguet 1160 marie antoinette taschenuhr original replica handson alle uhren. Hayek gives an exciting challenge to our watchmakers. In 1783, a mysterious admirer of hers ordered from breguet, as a gift for the queen, a watch that was to be as spectacular as possible, incorporating the fullest range of horological expertise known at the time. Perhaps breguets most famous timepiece is the marieantoinette pocket watch, which took. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. The so called marie antoinette, once the target of one of the biggest museum heists in history, was the masterpiece made by 18thcentury genius nicholas breguet, for that doomed queen.
Champion du monde 1959 by breguet sold at the geneva watch auction. Today, the breguet 160 marie antoinette original pocket watch is on display at the l. Learn more about the piece and artist, and its final selling price. The intriguing story of marie antoinette and her legendary. Nicholas parsons takes a closer look at some antique breguet watches. The tale of intrigue begins in 1783, when an anonymous patron tapped legendary watchmaker abrahamlouis breguet to create a pocket watch for queen marie antoinette.
Breguets only known adventure into so called tool watches was with the type xx originally made for the pilots of the french naval forces. The incredible story behind breguets marie antoinette watch. Technically, its a replica of a watch made in 1783 that we thought was lost to history, until its miraculous recovery in 2007. So impressed with the brand, marie antoinette commissioned a watch that took 34 years to build. Nur wenige monate nach ihrem gemahl konig ludwig xvi. Abrahamlouis breguet was one of the most prolific watchmaking geniuses of his time.
Two years later, he produced an automatic repeater watch with quarter repeater n 2 1082 for marieantoinette, queen of france. It took 44 years to complete and is perhaps the most famous watch in history, as much for its intriguing story as. In it, john biggs skillfully weaves 4 main stories, all astonishing, and a few minor subplots surrounding the the breguet 160 watch commissioned for marie antoinette by her secret lover and built by abrahamlouis breguet and his son over four decades, finally being completed long after antoinette and her paramour had separately been put to. With only a few rare documents to guide them, breguet s watchmakers spent long months reproducing this exceptional timepieces ultracomplicated. My hope is that the original queen marie antoinette breguet pocket watch and the new breguet grand complication ref. That photo above is me holding breguet s marie antoinette number 1160, a 63mm pocket watch crafted from gold, and one of the worlds most complicated pocket watches. Purchase protection amazon app download amazon assistant download help. Breguet unveils its marieantoinette watch fhh journal. If you are interested in this story, i highly recommend checking out that article because the story of the reference 160 marie antoinette timepiece is one that all watch lovers. Said to have been fascinated by breguet s watches, marie antoinette acquired over the years a number of his timepieces, notably a perpetuelle fitted with a selfwinding device. See more ideas about marie antoinette, marie antoinette movie and norma shearer.
The incredible story of marie antoinettes watch with nicholas parsons. If louis xvi and marie antoinette were buried in mass graves. Breguet represents tradition and innovative technology. Tracing the enthralling story of breguets rise to fame, parsons visits paris and versailles, and the vaults of todays multimillionpound breguet business. Very strangely, ken kessler makes an appearance who i suppose some of us will remember from hifi magazines in the eighties or nineties and hes now working for revolution. Bbc four the incredible story of marie antoinettes watch with. In addition, he invented the first travel clock, sold to napoleon bonaparte in 1798, and the first wristwatch, delivered to caroline murat, queen of naples in 1812. Breguet debuted the breguet 1160 marie antoinette replica back in 2008. Breguet, marieantoinette watch, replica made by montres breguet s. The revolutionaries who stormed the bastille found the queen a ready target for all that was wrong with france.
Commissioned by an unknown admirer of marie antoinette in 1783 as a gift for the queen, it was not completed until 1827, 34 years after her death. I covered the story here, with a lot more background information about the original breguet 160, its story, loss, and eventual recovery. Automatic perpetuelle minuterepeater watch, complete automatic date, equation of time, power reserve, metallic thermometer, large independent seconds hand and small directdrive seconds, gold case, rock crystals dial. Breguets marieantoinette exhibition in tokyo solitaire. Breguets marie antoinette watch is now back in its place at the l. Breguet s marie antoinette watch is now back in its place at the l. Tracing the enthralling story of breguet s rise to fame, parsons visits paris and versailles, and the vaults of todays multimillionpound breguet business. Breguet is the name youll find on the most exclusive watches in the world both the original marie antoinette pocket watch and the replica released to celebrate its heritage and mysterious life even the replica is so exclusive it was built never to be sold.
It is actually a pure coincidence that breguet unveiled the breguet 1160 marie antoinette pocket watch just months after the original 160 was found. How thieves stole the most expensive watch in the world. View a very attractive and extremely rare stainless steel chronograph wristwatch with black dial and rotating bezel, caseback engraved esso j. November 2, 1755, hofburg palace, vienna, austria died. The work on this watch start in 1782 by abrahamlouis breguet and was finished in 1827 by his son, 4 years after his death. Abrahamlouis breguet 10 january 1747 17 september 1823, born in neuchatel, then a prussian principality, was a horologist who made many innovations in the course of a career in watchmaking in france.
But one would predict that this watch might end up going on another adventure sooner rather than later. Marie antoinette and napoleon were among breguet s exclusive clientele. The private marieantoinettes clock, one of the most complicated ever outputs of the workshop of a watchmaker, has been completely redone by its original designer, breguet, which submitted friday to salon watches basel after three and a half years of work. Queen marie antoinette desired a pocket watch containing all known horological complications at the time. It is more than likely the most valuable horological object in. The incredible story of marie antoinettes watch with. Breguet grande complication marieantoinette number 160 price.
Breguet 1160 marie antoinette pocket watch original. Featuring such acting greats as rip torn and judy davis this particular production offers a much different perspective on. It took 44 years to complete and is perhaps the most famous watch in history, as much for its intriguing story as its ingenious. The incredible story behind breguets marie antoinette. The only thing that differed from marie antoinette is that they did not found anything that proved it was his. Alas, the queen never got to admire her present, watch number 160, known as the marieantoinette in her honor.
Hayek challenged himself to precisely reproduce the queen marieantoinette watch, stolen in 1983 from a jerusalem museum. These are some of the definitions used for the exceptional breguet timepiece no. The watch completed 34 year later so marie antoinette could see it. Featuring kirsten dunst in the lead role the 2006 version of marie antoinette offers a more youthful approach to the subject matter. The following is a long excerpt from my new book, marie antoinettes watch. Abrahamlouis breguet marieantoinette watch 20052008. The craftsmanship and style of the breguet watches prompted bregeut to become a favorite among even the royal court, particularly the selfwinding breguet watch. That photo above is me holding breguets marie antoinette number 1160, a 63mm pocket watch crafted from gold, and one of the worlds most complicated pocket watches. Technically, its a replica of a watch made in 1783 that we thought was. The marie antoinette may have already been displayed in.
The strange story of marie antoinettes watch wired. Many experts refer to it as to the most important watch ever. Featuring such acting greats as rip torn and judy davis this particular production offers a much different perspective on the young queens life than what had. It was only finished in 1827, 34 years after her death, 4 years after.
Many experts refer to it as to the most important watch ever produced for technological. In it, john biggs skillfully weaves 4 main stories, all astonishing, and a few minor subplots surrounding the the breguet 160 watch commissioned for marie antoinette by her secret lover and built by abrahamlouis breguet and his son over four decades, finally being completed long after antoinette and her paramour had separately been. Breguet 1160 marie antoinette pocket watch original replica. Ive seen about 10 films as part of my study of 1938 oscarnominated movies, and marie antoinette, starring norma shearer, is by.
Long a purveyor to the french court, breguet thus had a free hand. Like for the queen, they found wood, bones some turned to dust immediately and parts of the body that mixed with the. Louis xvi ended up buying several different breguet watches. Inside the breguet museum in paris this is one of the those places that if people only knew existed, would be an absolute hot spot on the global watch lovers tour. This i found to be by far the most dry and least interesting part of the story. Shop for a collection of certified pre owned, used, breguet. Breguet, perhaps the most iconic individual watch maker of all time.
We found subtitles for the program the incredible story of marie antoinettes watch with nicholas parsons. I saw at once they had taken the jewel of the collection, the breguet no 160. Breguet a very attractive and extremely rare stainless. Hayek challenged himself to precisely reproduce the queen marie antoinette watch, stolen in 1983 from a jerusalem museum. Marie antoinette exhibit wins breguets time watchpro. Marie antoinette and napoleon were among breguets exclusive clientele. When they dug to find louis xvi, they found a body that had not been preserved as well as marie antoinettes. At least 120 distinguished guests were invited to the exhibitions inauguration, hosted by breguet president and ceo, marc a. They revolutionized the art of watchmaking with inventions such as the tourbillon and parechute shock protection. Apr 16, 2009 i saw at once they had taken the jewel of the collection, the breguet no 160. The theft sent shockwaves through the international watch market.