History: According to the repair records, the watch was returned for overhaul on 1 June 1839, at the request of a Mme. D'Escherny. Note: The size and case style of this watch are very similar to the souscription. The movement is however a fine example of the caliber named by Breguet himself as montre simple, nouveau calibre and designated as the final development for his watches made without striking or repeating; usually they were constructed in a smaller size.
Jean-Conrad BARON HOTTINGUER (1764 - 1841)
Jean-Conrad Hottinger, banker and friend of Abraham Louis Breguet, originally from Zurich, Switzerland. He began his career in Paris as a teller with Lecouteleux, well before the revolution, opening his own banking business in 1786, and the first Insurance Company in France in 1787. Wisely returning to Switzerland under the terror, he passed some time in London where he married the daughter of the wealthy Redwood family, planters from New England. After some years in America, during which he met Prince Talleyrand, amongst the most famous men of the whole Revolutionary era, he returned to Paris in 1796, and announced the re-establishment of a new banking house under the old title: " Hottinger et Cie.", in May 1798. Expansion of the business was rapid, with a bank opening in Le Havre in 1802 and another soon afterwards in Marseille. Hottinger was amongst the 200 largest shareholders in the newly formed Banque de France, and became Governor of the same in 1803. He was appointed a judge at the Tribunal de Commerce in 1806, and a member of the Chambre de Commerce in 1810 as well as a representative for La Seine to the Parliament of One Hundred Days. The records of the Breguet firm list more than 26 clocks and watches either bought by or given to him by Breguet. Seven generations of the family have, without a break, served on the board of Hottinger & Cie., which continues today as one of the leading private merchant banks. Significant dates in the early history of the Bank: 1786 - The name Hottinger appears in the Royal Almanac under the heading "Bankers for Trade and Settlements in all countries" 1787 - First Royal Insurance Company founded by J.C. Hottinger 1803 - Jean Conrad Hottinger appointed Governor of the Bank of France 1811 - Organisation by the bank of the transport of American Cotton to France 1815 - Launch of a whaling fleet to the Southern Atlantic 1816 - Introduction of Maritime Insurance 1818 - Organisation of a Savings Bank in Paris, in partnership with Benjamin Delessert 1852 - Participation in the creation of the first Paris-Lyon rail network, followed by the P.L.M., and the Northern lines. Established the General Water Company.