The Breguet Certificate No. 4 505, dated March 16, 2018, mentioned that this watch was sold on 24 thermidor an 11 (August 12, 1803), to a friend of Monsieur Azara, for 600 francs, most likely the diplomat and Ambassador of Spain, then stationed in Paris, regular client of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823). The Breguet Livres d’établissement (Establishment Books) mentions that the cylinder of this movement was made by the master himself (noted as “Cilindre B”). Breguet’s “Souscription” Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) conceived of the idea for the “souscription” watch in 1794. It was one of the many “inventions” resulting from his period of forced exile in Switzerland during the French Revolution. The concept was both simple and brilliant: to offer his clients a watch that was ordered in advance and delivered upon completion. In silver, with the gold rims being the only decoration, the “souscription” watches were of a large diameter allowing the enamel dial to be divided in such a way that both hours and minutes could be read from a single hand. The movements had a single plate, the spring barrel mounted in the centre and the wheels elegantly positioned and retained by bridges. The single hand was driven directly off the barrel arbour, eliminating the motion work and the intendant friction, and the ruby cylinder escapement was fitted with a parachute (shock protector) and a compensation curb to assist in correcting temperature errors; features that were the norm for all of Breguet’s first class watches. To further reduce the selling price, Breguet decided to produce these watches in small series (between 12 and 20 examples at a time), with the buyers paying an account of 25% in advance and the balance on completion. Hence the term “de souscription” (by subscription). The success of these watches enabled Breguet to both re-establish his business, which had understandably been badly affected by the French Revolution and his exile, and to finance much of his research into other areas of horology. For a note on the history and development of Breguet’s “Souscription” watches see the catalogue: Antiquorum, Geneva, auction, October 14-15, 2006, pp. 32-33. Azara, Don José Nicolás de Barbuñales, Aragon, December 5, 1730 ?? Paris, January 26, 1804 He was appointed in 1765 Spanish agent and procurator-general, and in 1785 ambassador at Rome. During his long residence there he distinguished himself as a collector of Italian antiquities and as a patron of art. He was particularly associated with Cardinal Bernis, François-Joachim de Pierre (1715-1794) and the painter Anton Raphaël Mengs (1728-1779), who made his portrait in 1774 (Madrid, Museo del Prado). He was also an able and active diplomatist, took a leading share in the difficult and hazardous task of the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain, and was instrumental in securing the election of Pope Pius VI. Azara was the Pope’s representative during the negotiations with France for the Armistice of Bologna (June 23, 1796). He withdrew to Florence when the French took possession of Rome in 1798, but acted on behalf of the pope during his exile and after his death at Valence in 1799. He was afterwards Spanish ambassador in Paris in 1798. In that post it was his misfortune to be forced by his government to conduct the negotiations which led to the Treaty of San Ildefonso (October 1st, 1800), by which Spain was wholly subjected to Napoléon. Azara was friendly to a French alliance, but his experience showed him that his country was being sacrificed to Napoléon. The First Consul liked him personally, and found him easy to influence. Azara died, worn out, in Paris in 1804. His end was undoubtedly embittered by his discovery of the ills which the French alliance must produce for Spain. His younger brother Félix de Azara (1746??1821) was a noted naturalist in South America.