I · The Maker/II · The Object/III · The Record/IV · Acquisition
Room I · The Maker
Abraham-Louis Breguet founded his Paris atelier in 1775 and, in the fifty years after, gave watchmaking the tourbillon, the overcoil hairspring and the pare-chute, inventions the craft still runs on. This Lépine belongs to that unbroken lineage: a late-nineteenth-century keyless-lever movement finished to the maison's own standard in its Paris workshop, its dial and cuvette both numbered N° 2961. The hand-cut cipher on the back is the mark of an owner who carried it, not a later addition.
The Object
A solid 18ct gold Breguet Lépine from the maison's Paris workshop. Pristine white enamel dial, blued pomme hands, and a hand-engraved cipher back.
An open-face Lépine of 49.2mm in solid 18ct gold, made for Breguet's Paris workshop at the close of the nineteenth century, and kept the way watches almost never are. The white enamel dial is entirely without hairlines, chips or spotting, signed Breguet 2961 beneath twelve, with painted Roman hours, an outer Arabic minute track, sub-seconds at six and the maison's own hollow-tipped pomme hands in flame-blued steel.
The back is where a previous owner made the watch his own. On a ground of tightly cut guilloché, a scrolling foliate cartouche frames a large entwined cipher, cut by hand in relief. Engraving like this only exists on watches that were carried, and carried proudly; it is the opposite of an anonymous case, and it has worn barely at all.
Open the covers and the quality announces itself quietly: the front lid, back cover and inner cuvette all close with the crisp, positive click of a case never forced or repaired. The movement behind them is a gilt-frosted keyless lever finished to the standard the house set for itself, with fifteen ruby jewels visible in the train and mirror-polished bridge work. It winds smoothly on the original reeded gold crown, sets cleanly and runs.
Late-nineteenth-century Breguets rarely come to market at all, and when they do it is usually with time's compromises: a repaired case, a chipped dial, a movement waiting on a service. This one arrives without them.
The marks, the movement and the condition are set out piece by piece in the drawers below; the matching numbers are set out in The Record.
Beneath the case
Open each drawer to look closer
- 1French eagle-head guaranteeThe eagle-head poinçon certifying 18-carat gold, struck to the case interior.casegold
- 2Cuvette engraving N° 2961The inner dust cover hand-engraved Breguet / N° 2961, matching the dial.cuvettesignature
- AKeyless lever, manual windA gilt-frosted keyless-lever movement; it winds smoothly and sets cleanly.
- BWolf's-tooth crown wheelFour polished screws over a large going barrel.
- CBlued Breguet overcoilThe balance runs on a jewel-set cock over the maison's own overcoil hairspring.
Case
Excellent
Sharp guilloche to the back, crisp cipher engraving and deep colour to the gold; front, back and inner cuvette all snap shut cleanly, with no dents, dings, hinge repairs or solder marks. Case number 22687 and the French eagle-head 18k gold guarantee mark to the interior.
Dial
Excellent
Pristine white enamel with no hairlines, chips or spotting; the "Breguet 2961" signature has softened with age but is fully legible.
Movement
Excellent
Gilt with polished steel bridges, wolf's-tooth crown wheel and blued Breguet overcoil hairspring, jewelled throughout; winds smoothly, sets cleanly and runs well on its own power.
Crystal
Excellent
Original glass, unmarked.
Crown
Excellent
Original reeded 18ct gold matched to the case colour; winds and sets true.
Hands
Excellent
Original flame-blued steel Breguet pomme, complete and evenly coloured.
49.17
This watch
25.75
€2 coin
A €2 coin is 25.75 mm. This case is more than two and a half times its area.
Room III · The Record
Matching numbers, inside and out
The dial is signed Breguet 2961 and the inner cuvette is hand-engraved with the same serial, Breguet / N° 2961, in the maison's elaborate house script. The case carries its number, 22687, and the French eagle-head guarantee for 18-carat gold to the interior. Dial, cuvette and case all agree.
- Maker
- Breguet
- Model
- Lépine open-face
- Case
- 18ct gold
- Diameter
- 49.17mm
- Case number
- 22687
- Hallmarks
- French eagle-head 18k gold guarantee
- Dial
- White enamel, Roman hour numerals, outer Arabic minute track, sub-seconds at six
- Dial signature
- "Breguet 2961"
- Cuvette
- Hand-engraved "Breguet / N° 2961"
- Hands
- Flame-blued steel Breguet pomme
- Movement
- Keyless lever, manual wind, gilt with polished steel bridges
- Crown wheel
- Wolf's-tooth, four polished screws
- Hairspring
- Blued Breguet overcoil
- Jewels
- 15
- Complications
- Sub-seconds
- Country of origin
- France (Paris)
- Era
- Belle Époque, c.1885-1905
The Estate Collection
Room IV · Acquisition
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