Collection Prince Victor NAPOLEON, (1862-1926), - Lot 292
Collection Prince Victor NAPOLEON, (1862-1926), grandson of King Jérôme, the last brother of Napoleon I and Catherine of Württemberg. BREGUET ET FILS. Rare and magnificent pocket watch with date and barometer. Round case in 18K yellow gold, double cuvette in 18K yellow gold signed "Breguet n°2233", snap-on back. Plain back. Dial in gold finely guilloché in the style of Breguet, painted Roman numeral indexes; hour sub-dial at 10 o'clock, seconds sub-dial at 2 o'clock, and barometer at 6 o'clock, on a grained background. Breguet hands in blued steel. Mineral glass. Mechanical movement with key winding, cylinder escapement n°2233. Rooster head hallmark, small warranty hallmark (1798/1809) and title hallmark. Diameter: 45 mm. Gross weight: 69.59g. Provenance: -Marie Louise of Bourbon, Queen of Etruria -Collection Prince Victor NAPOLEON -Collection Prince Louis NAPOLEON -Charles BONAPARTE, Princess Catherine NAPOLEON, and Princess Laure NAPOLEON -Acquired by Countess Viviane de WITT. History: An important name in watchmaking, the Breguet brand was founded by the Neuchâtel-born Abraham-Louis Breguet, (1749-1800), in Paris in 1775. Presented at court, he supplied watches to Marie Antoinette. He returned to Switzerland during the Revolution and came back to Paris in 1795 where he soon served the imperial family, multiplying inventions. He notably launched the first automatic watches in 1780, the perpetual calendar in 1795, the tourbillon regulator in 1801, and the first wristwatch created for the Queen of Naples, Caroline. According to the archives of the House of Breguet, this flat watch, (without striking), with seconds and date, which bears the number n°2233 in the original inventories, has a gold dial equipped with a thermometer. It was started in April 1807 and declared completed in June 1808. The watch was sold on June 6, 1808, to the Queen of Etruria, (1801-1807), for the price of 1440 Francs; (most likely Elisa Bonaparte, who became Grand Duchess of Tuscany in 1808, succeeding the Bourbons. The Queen of Etruria, Marie-Louise, left her states in 1807 but, nevertheless, Elisa never held this title). The watch returned to Breguet for restoration on November 9, 1830. It was brought by "Madame the Duchess of Rovigo" but it was specified that the watch "belongs to the Princess of Montfort" (a courtesy title held by Catherine of Württemberg, wife of Jérôme Bonaparte and former Queen of Westphalia). The watch is described as: "simple watch with seconds and date, case with collar and guilloché gold dial and thermometer, the hand is missing as well as the seconds hand." The watch was completely restored for 95 francs and returned on February 1, 1831. A request for a copy of the archive extract was sent to the House of Breguet; it will be forwarded to the buyer upon receipt. We thank Emmanuel Breguet and the archives of the House of Breguet for the valuable information they have provided us about this historic watch.
