Le Roy, Charles (1765-1839), Paris Basile-Charles Le Roy (1765-1839) is the founder of the Le Roy company in 1785 in Paris (13-15 Galerie Montpensier, Palais-Royal). He was appointed circa 1806 ‘‘Horloger de S. A. I. & R. Madame, Mère de l’Empereur et Roi’’ (Clockmaker of His Imperial and Royal Highness Madame, Mother of the Emperor and King), Lætitia Bonaparte (1750-1836), mother of Napoléon Bonaparte (1769-1821), Emperor of the French (1804-1814 and 1815). He became circa 1810 “Horloger de S. M. le Roi de Westphalie” (Clockmaker of His Majesty the King of Westphalia), Jérôme Bonaparte (1784-1860), King of Westphalia (1807-1813), youngest brother of Napoléon I. “Montre médaillon à tact” ?? Pocket watch with tactile feature This watch demonstrates the strong influence of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823) on one of the best Parisian makers of his time, Bazile-Charles Le Roy (1765-1839), although he was not his pupil. This watch can be compared with the best quality of those produced by the eminent maker ?? the father of modern watchmaking. In fact, only few “Montres médaillon à tact” were produced by other makers during Breguet’s life and even after his death. Most of the rare examples which were not made by one of his pupils, Charles Oudin (1768-1840) in Paris, carry the signatures of Le Roy and Lépine in Paris (house founded by Jean-Antoine Lépine (1720-1814), at this time led by Claude-Pierre Raguet-Lépine (1753-1810), his son-in-law). Apart from the highly decorative watches, made by Breguet for the Islamic Market on the advice of his friend, Esseid Ali Effendi (or Morali Seyyed Ali Effendi; c.1750-1809), first Ottoman ambassador in Paris (1797-1802), he also produced gold and enamel, pearl or diamond-set “montres à tac”, namely for those clients of his who were fond of highly decorative watches enhanced with enamel and precious stones. Such watches, less austere in appearance than Breguet’s usual production, although the decorative elements remained largely functional, enjoyed a certain success despite their high price. Virtually every member of the Bonaparte family owned at least one example. Unlike Breguet’s “Montres médaillon à tact” which are built on the basis of the “souscription” calibre (with central barrel), the watches made by Le Roy are built with a Lépine-type calibre. Breguet classified his “souscription” watches as “petite”, “moyenne” and “grande”. Of about 915 “souscription”-type watches that Breguet made, only about 35 “petites” are known to exist, most of these are “Montres médaillon à tact”; this proves the rarity of this kind of pieces. It appears that it was Breguet who first made them, in the spring of 1799, the first one being sold to Madame de Bétancourt, the wife of Breguet’s most trusted friend, Augustin de Bétencourt y Molina (1758-1824), hydraulic engineer. When looking through Breguet records one notes that these enamelled, diamond-set “Montres médaillon à tact” are among his most expensive watches (without horological complication), between 1 500 and 1 700 francs! Very few watches of this kind were also made by Charles-Bazile Le Roy under his own type (nine are known today, see list below). The “à tact” feature was often used when the owner wanted to discreetly check the time. Later, in the mid-19th century, Genevan watchmakers built other types of “montres à tact”, so-called “montres d’aveugles” (watches for blind people). Some examples are known made by Bautte (house founded by Jean-François Bautte (1772-1837) in 1791), Patek Philippe (house founded in 1839) and Ekegrèn (house founded by Henri-Robert Ekegrèn (1823-1896) in 1857).