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Lot Essay
The present "Classique Grande Complication" model combines the two most famous symbols of Abraham-Louis Breguet's phenomenal creative genius: the tourbillon and a "perpétuelle" or automatic movement. Its technical appeal is further enhanced by the 5-day power reserve.
A.-L. Breguet was the first to discover, through his oscillating platinum-weight watch, a formula which would produce a reliable automatic watch. In 1780, he started producing his "perpétuelles" commercially, selling the first examples to the Duke of Orléans, cousin of King Louis XVI, and to Queen Marie-Antoinette.
The "tourbillon", Breguet's historic invention patented in 1801, was conceived to compensate for rate errors resulting from the effect of gravity on the moving parts. A watch balance will go fast or slow depending on the position of the watch. Breguet solved the problem by rotating the entire balance and escapement about their common axis once a minute, averaging out the positional errors by the constant rotation. Breguet received a patent from France's ministry of the interior for "a new regulating device known as the tourbillon" on 26 June 1801. The document was dated according to the republican calendar of the time, 7 Messidor, Year IX.
A.-L. Breguet was the first to discover, through his oscillating platinum-weight watch, a formula which would produce a reliable automatic watch. In 1780, he started producing his "perpétuelles" commercially, selling the first examples to the Duke of Orléans, cousin of King Louis XVI, and to Queen Marie-Antoinette.
The "tourbillon", Breguet's historic invention patented in 1801, was conceived to compensate for rate errors resulting from the effect of gravity on the moving parts. A watch balance will go fast or slow depending on the position of the watch. Breguet solved the problem by rotating the entire balance and escapement about their common axis once a minute, averaging out the positional errors by the constant rotation. Breguet received a patent from France's ministry of the interior for "a new regulating device known as the tourbillon" on 26 June 1801. The document was dated according to the republican calendar of the time, 7 Messidor, Year IX.