The Reason
An example of an original tourbillon made by Abraham-Louis Breguet with an oil-free natural-impulse escapement (échappement naturel) with free-sprung Breguet over coil spring. Diameter: 66 mm.
The tourbillon rotates once in four-minutes rotation, with constant small seconds at 10 o'clock and an independent stop-seconds at 2 o'clock. 36-hour power-reserve indicator at 6 o'clock. Originally delivered with a gold engine-turned dial, later replaced with an enamel dial with Turkish numerals in 1841 at the request of its owner. A.-L. Breguet sold 35 tourbillon watches between 1805 and 1823. Fewer than 10 of them are known to survive. June 26, 2019 marks the 218th anniversary of the patent of the Tourbillon.
(B 1188: bought for almost CHF 2,150,000 (hammer price CHF 1,950,000) at the Antiquorum sale of October 20, 2002 in Geneva).
The low resolution images shown below are a sample of those that can be found in high resolution in the full deconstruction of the 1188 which can be freely downloaded here.
This Breguet Tourbillon was sold when A-L Breguet was 61, and probably built by him. During the following hundred years the watch changed ownership and in 1841, 18 years following the death of A-L Breguet, the new owner had the dial changed by the original company. The deconstruction of the watch shows the condition it is found in today (2019). It has not been dismantled in excess of ninety years, the dried lubrication that is viewed in many images has now crystallised, synonymous with early non-synthetic oils which in itself dates the last interaction to the watch being prior to 1905. Synthetic lubrication started to be developed at this time. This is only assumption and the watch could have been lubricated using earlier surviving oils and greases at a later date. What is clear from the overall condition of the watch, elements such as the oxidisation of the visible gilding compared to those elements that have been hidden and protected, and the accumulation of dust and particles is that the watch has not been ventured into for many years. Despite this, when wound, the watch immediately comes to life.
The goal of A-L Breguet through the development of the 'échappement naturel' as well as other technical elements which will be shown below, was to overcome the problems of his day caused by natural forms of lubrication which had a very limited lifespan and would quickly affect the precision of early timepieces. What he strove to achieve, he succeeded in doing.
The double hinged, engine turned watch case, opened below. In between the outer case-back and the movement is an inner case back protecting the movement but allowing the watch to be wound by the key. The hands were adjusted by opening the front bezel and placing the key on the square of the canon pinion. The canon pinion is the piece upon which the minute hand sits.
The stop-seconds is activated by a plunger set into the pendant. When not in use it sits flush, against the pendant. To activate it, the plunger is pulled up, turned through 90degrees, and then when pushed down activates the stop start mechanism.
The dial was made from enamel and was marked with the Breguet secret signature (below the 12), which was machined into the dial by use of an early form of pantograph. This was executed as a result of the copies that were being made by other manufacturers at the time producing fakes of Breguet watches. Marking enamel in this way was a complex process and difficult to reproduce cleanly.
The dial is locked in place by a single, blued steel screw below the centre, an element which became familiar with many Breguet timepieces. The case with a brass pin, secured the concentric location of the dial on the movement. The dial was enamelled on both sides to assure the tensions with in it were even.
On the back is painted in enamel the dial manufacturers name.
The original Breguet blued steel hands.
The dial removed. At 1 o’clock the mechanism for the stop-seconds function. The quadrant gear at 6 o’clock is part of the power reserve mechanism.
The movement removed from the case.
The fusee to the left and the barrel to the right. The barrel remains armed with 8 teeth of the ratchet wheel above it, ensuring tension on the chain linking it to the fusee.
The four minute tourbillon held by a single bridge held onto the centre of the train and barrel bridge.
The tourbillon cage is driven by the large steel pinion to its left, meshing with the base-plate of the cage which is itself a wheel. The steel pinion meshing to the right of the tourbillon cage drives the stop-seconds system.
The tourbillon cage removed from the movement.
The underside of the tourbillon cage showing the two large steel screws added to help poise the equilibrium of the construction.
The balance wheel with gold and platinum timing screws plus Breguet over-coil balance spring.
The escapement lever for the “échappement naturel”.
The movement with the main bridge removed.
The steel piece screwed to the vertical pillar is an adjustable friction spring which removes the play from between the teeth of the pinion driving the stop-seconds hand and the tourbillon cage.
The barrel removed from the movement with the chain free of tension and loose around the drum. The droplets on the barrel cover are crystalised remnants of the early grease used to lubricate the barrel arbour.
In the full deconstruction that can be downloaded at the bottom of this page, a complete view of the watch with all of its idiosyncrasy’s can be found. We look into every detail of the case, dial, through the movement and even the unique nature of the original chains.
Below are additional images explained in detail in the accompanying PDF book that can be downloaded for free.
To learn more about Breguet www.breguet.com