In 1783, Breguet was commissioned to make a watch for Marie-Antoinette (interestingly, the individual to place the commission request is not known, although there is speculation that it might have been one of her guards, or some believe it to have been Swedish aristocrat Count Hans Axel von Fersen, a close friend of the French monarchs). The watch was to be made entirely of precious metals, and the most complicated piece to ever have been made, with no time or budget set: “Everywhere, gold must completely replace brass… all of the complications possible and known to be incorporated… no limit on time of manufacture or price”. A gift fit for a Queen with a penchant for luxury and precision, the request was for something that would embody the utmost in both technical complexity and beauty.
Immediately, Breguet set about working on what would become the most complex and ambitious timepiece of his career. However, Marie-Antoinette would never live to see the watch following her execution during the French Revolution in 1793.
Whilst the original order was placed in 1783, the watch itself was not completed until 1827, more than three decades after Marie-Antoinette was executed, and sadly also 4 years after Breguet himself passed away in 1823 at the age of 76. The watch was completed under the supervision of Breguet’s son, Louis-Antoine (who had served an apprenticeship under Breguet’s close friend, John Arnold). When it was completed, the Breguet Marie-Antoinette no.160 was the most complicated timepiece in the world and had cost between 17,000 and 30,000 Francs to make.
I find it astonishing to think that this incredible objet d’art was created in the late 18th and early 19th Century. A watch comprising 827 individual parts, 23 complications, incredible complexity, built entirely of 18ct gold and with an unusual (for that era) transparent dial… all without any of the technologies we have today.
After it was completed, with those who commissioned it and the intended recipients long since departed, the watch remained with the Breguet company. The first recorded owner passed away whilst the watch was in for repair, and so in 1838 the Breguet company once again turned custodian. The Breguet Marie-Antoinette exchanged hands between a series of notable collectors beginning with Sir Spencer Brunton in 1887, and ultimately under the custodianship of Sir David Lionel Salomans in 1917. When he passed away, his daughter donated the watch to what would become the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem.
As if the preceding story of Breguet’s Marie-Antoinette was not enough already, the watch was stolen along with many other exhibits from the museum in 1983. For 23 years, the watch had vanished without a trace, the thief having never been caught. At least, that was until 2006 when the watches were discovered in a vault belonging to a widow’s now-deceased husband, who transpired to be a notorious thief named Na’aman Diller. Once recovered, the watch was returned to the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art, and is once again proudly displayed for all to enjoy.
Interestingly, such was the importance of the Breguet Marie-Antoinette 160, in 2004 (whilst the original remained missing) Nicholas G Hayek challenged the Breguet watchmakers of the time to recreate a replica of the Marie-Antoinette, this time with the reference number 1160, which took 4 years to complete.
