Caption:

These watches were made by Abraham Louis Breguet (1747-1823) in Paris, France. Breguet was born in Switzerland but moved to Paris in 1762. He was one of the greatest makers of precision watches of all time and these two watches are fine examples of his work. The watch on the right dates from c 1818. It is a repeating watch with the additional features of a curb compensator, Breguet's spring-bearing parachute and 'Geneva'-type stopwork. The watch on the left is signed 'Breguet' on the top plate but 'Breguet et Fils' on the dial. Breguet took his son, Antoine, into partnership in 1807, and this watch probably dates from 1825, just after Abraham-Louis' death. The timekeeping is controlled by a bimetallic compensation balance and Breguet's 'overcoil' balance spring.