Note: It is generally accepted that Breguet invented the tourbillon on his return From Switzerland in 1795, although the Patent was in fact not granted until 1801. The letter cited below ( in literal translation) may be of interest, and was addressed by Breguet on 24 Floréal an 9 (14 April 1801) to the Minister of the Interior, to present his invention: "Citizen Minister, I have the honour to present to you a memo detailing a new invention, applicable to instruments for measuring time, that I have named Régulateurs à tourbilon, and I request a patent for the construction of these regulators for a period of ten years. 1 have succeeded, by this invention, in removing through compensation the errors due to positional differences in the centres of gravity, and by the movement of the regulator, in distributing equally the friction over all parts of the pivots of the said regulator and the holes in which they turn , in such a way that the lubrication of the contact points will always be equal even as the oil thickens, and in removing many other errors that affect, to a greater or lesser extent the accuracy of the movement, in a manner that is totally beyond the present knowledge of our art, even with an infinite period of trial and error. It is after due consideration of all these advantages, with the ability to perfect the means of fabrication and the considerable expenses I have incurred in arriving at such a point, that I have decided to apply for a patent to fix the date of my invention and to compensate myself for the expenses I have incurred. Signed Breguet." The principle of his invention was to eliminate positional errors in a timekeeper. It consisted of mounting the escapement on a platform (a cage) which revolved in a given period, most usually one, but occasionally four or six minutes. The errors were therefore regularly reproduced, and cancelled each other out. The first timekeeper fitted with the invention was numbered 282, and signed on a silver plaque, fitted to the tourbillon carriage: Exete. en Messd. An 8 ( June - July 1800), with the backplate signed: 1er régulateur à tourbillon.
STANISLAS COMTE POTOCKI (1742-1821) Count Stanislas Potocki was born in 1742 in Lubin and died in 1821 in Willanow. He married Alexandra, Princess Lubomirski. Count Potocki held the knighthood of the White Eagle and Saint Stanislas Merits and was Great Master of the Polish Freemasons, he was also Nuncio of the Diet in 1776, 1786 and 1788. He left Poland after its dismemberment in 1793, was arrested in Carlsbad at the uprising of Kosciuszko, lived in captivity for eight months in Josephstadt and when the Great Duchy of Warsaw was created, he became the Senator Palatine, Head of the Council of State and of the Council of Ministers. Napoleon nominated him Minister of Culture and Education. Potocki kept these portfolios even after the Polish Kingdom had been annexed by Russia in 1815. He founded the University of Warsaw in 1816 and was elected President of the Senate in 1818. He sacrificed his entire fortune to promote literature, sciences and arts, and personally built up a beautiful collection of paintings, Etruscan vases and engravings in his Willanow castle, near Warsaw. He was the author of many works, such as "Of Eloquence and Style" in 4 volumes, published in Warsaw, 1815; " Journey to Ciemnogrod", a satirical novel in 4 volumes and a Polish translation of the great works of Winckelman on Antique Arts. David painted this equestrian portrait of him which is considered as one of the masterpieces by the artist.