Important Watches, Collectors’ Wristw...

Hotel Noga Hilton, Nov 14, 2004

LOT 82

A Monsieur Maleszewski Breguet, No. 255, sold to Monsieur Maleszewski on 29 Floreal an VI (May 5, 1798) for 672 Francs. Very fine, rare and important silver and gold early souscription pocket watch.

CHF 20,000 - 25,000

EUR 13,000 - 16,000 / USD 16,000 - 20,000

Sold: CHF 63,250

C. Three-body, ?forme quatre baguettes? by master casemaker Ami Gros, engine-turned back with gold center, bezels, pendant, and hinges, band engraved in an uncommon pattern. D. White enamel, Breguet numerals and outer five-minute track with 2 1/2 minute divisions, signed on the reverse ?S. Cavé, Pl. Thionville, 266?, secret signature below 12. Blued-steel Breguet hand. M. 54 mm (24'''), frosted gilt, early asymmetrical-plate, central barrel wound from the front only, overhanging Breguet ruby cylinder escapement, three-arm brass balance with unusually thin rim, blued steel flat balance spring, temperature compensating curb.Dial and movement signed, case punched with the serial number and casemaker?s mark. Diam. 62 mm.


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Grading System
Grade: AA

Very good
Case: 3 - 14
Movement: 3*

Good

Overhaul recommended, at buyer's expense
Dial: 3 - 8 - 04

Notes

This is a rare example of an early Breguet souscription watch with its irregular plate design, the predecessor of the bridge design. It appears that Breguet made only about ten of these early souscriptions; very few have survived. The present watch is an important forerunner of the souscription watch, which was probably Breguet?s most commercially successful idea. Pierre Paul Maleszewski 1767?1828 Was a nephew of Polish King Poniatowski. He represented the King to the French Government, becoming secretary of the French Embassy in Vienna, secretary of General Bernadotte, the French Minister of Defense, and finally, controller-general for the army of the Rhine under General Championetta, later holding the same position in the Italian Army. In 1793 he married Jeanne-Françoise Venture. The couple stayed for five years in Paris, until Maleszewski?s departure alongside General Championetta. Upon departing for the Rhine Army, Maleszewski left his beautiful wife and their daughter under the care of his friend Breguet. This was no doubt very unwise, and upon returning to Paris Maleszewski found that his wife was pregnant with Antoine-Louis Breguet?s child. The child, Louis-Clément-François Breguet, born on December 22, 1804, later became a very capable manager of the Breguet company, clearly taking after his famous grandfather. Bibliography: Andrzej Grodek, Piotr Maleszewski and his Social Science, Ph.D. Thesis, 1935. Emmanuel Breguet, ?Breguet ? Watchmakers since 1775?, Paris, 1997, pp. 171-174.