THE ART OF BREGUET

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Apr 14, 1991

LOT 202

Breguet No.1498 Three-wheel weight-driven skeleton clock, with compound pendulum, Republican and Gregorian calendar and thermometer. A replica of the three-wheel clock made by Abraham Louis Breguet in collaboration with Samuel Roy, one of only 11 examples made by the workshops of the Musée International d' Horlogerie of La Chaux-de Fonds.

Frame: Gilt-brass, the front bar engraved with the days of the week, and signed on plaques at the Base: "Breguet No.1498 ". Facetted black marble base with applied initial " B ", on four turned feet.
Dials: Revolving silvered brass ring for the 24 hours, with Arabic hour and 10 minute numerals, and 2 minute divisions, attached by friction springs to the barrel arbor and making one revolution in 24 hours, mean time indicated by a blued-steel pointer, solar time by the gilt sun hand. An applied silvered sector on the front pillar marking the minutes up to 10, with a threepointed star hand, the silvered seconds ring attached to the escape wheel, with blued-steel pointer attached to the plate. Gregorian and Republican year calendar engraved on the revolving silvered ring at the base, the equation cam affixed to the back, and driven from the hour wheel by a single pin advancing 1 tooth every 24 hours, able to be disengaged to correct for the bissextile year. A plumb bob fitted for levelling, the cord doubling as the date indicator. Upper surface of the weights marking the day of the week as they descend.
Movement: Double weights with single barrel, pin-wheel escapement with half-seconds beating gridiron pendulum, jewelled knife-edge and needle-point suspension, the vase-shaped counter-weight mounted on the bimetallic compensation bar, with a sector-shaped scale at the front to indicate the effects of temperature change.
Dim. 52.5 x 30 x 19 cm.