THE ART OF BREGUET

Geneva, Hotel Des Bergues, Apr 14, 1991

LOT 43

A Monsieur le Comte Potocki Thermometer No. 2119, sold by Moreau on 1 May 1804, for the sum of 336 Francs. Oval gold ring thermometer.

CHF 20,000 - 25,000

Sold: CHF 25,300

Case: 18 ct., oval form, by Tavernier, glazed on both sides with engine-turned band and articulated reeded shank.
Dial: Gold, engine-turned, by Tavernier, signed: "Breguet & Fils", on a plain reserve. Blued-steel hand.
Mechanism: Double-curb of bimetallic strip made of brass and steel, with double rack and pinion and spring controlling the hand.
In very good condition. Dim. 29 x 24 mm.


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Notes

History: According to both the fabrication and sales books, this thermometer was begun in 1806 and completed in 1808. Sent to "la Maison de Russie" on 8 April 1809, it was sold by Moreau to Count Potocki on 10 May 1910 through an introduction from Comte Ozarouski. Note: This ring thermometer is an example of the second type of thermometer produced by Breguet. The first models, less sensitive in operation, were constructed with a single rack; by comparison, two racks, moving in opposite directions with a tensioning spring served to better distribute the force acting on the small pinion carrying the hand. A final development, published by Breguet in his small catalogue for the French Industrial Exhibition of 1819, was the construction of a thermometer with a trimetallic curb composed of platinum, gold and silver.