This clock is not only extremely attractive with a classic Breguet dial and hands, but incorporates several unusual technical refinements to the movement. It has the very rare feature of minute repeating as well as Grande and Petite sonnerie striking ? a subtle but important distinction between this clock and other Grande & Petite sonnerie carriage clocks. The going barrel for the striking is much larger than that of the going train, to provide power for the complicated striking and repeating. The movement is fully matte-gilded, including the gongs. Of the eleven Breguet hump-back carriage clocks publically known to exist, the present clock is the most complicated. It has a total of 10 complications: Grande Sonnerie Striking; Petite sonnerie striking; alarm; perpetual calendar; days of the week; date; months; years, moon phases and equation of time. It is the only known example with quadruple digital perpetual calendar. Silver hump-back carriage clocks were introduced by Breguet circa 1812. Only a few were ever made, they are among the best ? and the most expensive - ever produced. During Breguet?s lifetime perhaps less than five were made and a similar small number were made in the late 19th and early 20th century, at the request of very important clients. The hump-back shape was very popular, its shape being used not only by the house of Breguet but by others such as Cole and Jump in England. Breguet was the inventor of the carriage clock, in total only about 200 are mentioned in the registers recording the entire Breguet production, beginning in the 1780s. Of all the Breguet carriage clocks, the ?hump-back? model is one of the most desirable, the shape having retained its modernity.
Tito It seems likely that this clock belonged to Josip Broz Tito (1892-1980), President of Yugoslavia from 1953?1980. Marshal and Madame Tito?s state visit to Paris occurred during 1956, the year of the sale of this clock. The Breguet Certificate dated October 1980 was requested after Tito?s death in May 1980.