Prince Victor NAPOLEON Collection, (1862-1926), - Lot 292

Lot n° 292
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Estimation :
20000 - 30000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 338 000EUR
Prince Victor NAPOLEON Collection, (1862-1926), - Lot 292
Prince Victor NAPOLEON Collection, (1862-1926), grandson of King Jerome, the last brother of Napoleon I. BREGUET ET FILS. Rare and magnificent gousset watch with date and barometer. Round case in 750/1000 yellow gold, double bowl in 750/1000 yellow gold signed "Breguet n°2233", clipped back. Plain back. Gold dial, finely guilloché in the Breguet style, painted Roman numeral hour markers; hour sub-counter at 10 o'clock, seconds sub-counter at 2 o'clock and barometer at 6 o'clock, on a granite background. Breguet hands in blued steel. Mineral crystal. Mechanical movement with key winding, cylinder escapement. N°2233. Cock's head hallmark, small guarantee hallmark (1798/1809) and title hallmark. Circa 1807-1808. Diameter: 45mm. Gross weight: 69.59g. Watch in good condition. Working mechanism. Provenance: -Marie Louise de Bourbon, Queen of Etruria -Collection prince Victor NAPOLEON -Prince Louis NAPOLEON Collection -Charles BONAPARTE, Princess Catherine NAPOLEON and Princess Laure NAPOLEON -Acquired by Countess Viviane de WITT. History: An important name in watchmaking, the Bréguet brand was founded by Neuchâtel-born Abraham-Louis Bréguet (1749-1800) in Paris in 1775. Introduced to the court, he delivered watches to Marie-Antoinette. He returned to Switzerland during the Revolution and to Paris in 1795, where he soon served the imperial family, multiplying his inventions. He launched the first automatic watches in 1780, the perpetual calendar in 1795, the tourbillon regulator in 1801 and the first wristwatch created for the Queen of Naples, Caroline. According to the Maison Bréguet archives, this flat (no striking), seconds and date watch, numbered n°2233 in the original inventories, features a gold dial with thermometer. It was started in April 1807 and declared finished in June 1808. The watch was sold on June 6, 1808 to the Queen of Etruria, (1801-1807), for the price of 1440 Francs; (presumably Elisa Bonaparte, who became Grand Duchess of Tuscany in 1808, succeeding the Bourbons. The Queen of Etruria, Marie-Louise, left her states in 1807, but Elisa never bore this title). The watch returned to Breguet for reconditioning on November 9, 1830. It was brought by "Mme la Duchesse de Rovigo", but it is specified that the watch "belongs to the Princesse de Montfort" (courtesy title worn by Catherine de Wurtemberg, wife of Jérôme Bonaparte and former Queen of Westphalia). The watch is described as follows "simple seconds and date watch, collar case and guilloché gold dial with thermometer missing both the hand and the seconds hand". The watch was completely refurbished for 95 francs and returned on February 1, 1831. A request for a copy of an extract from the archives has been sent to Maison Bréguet; this will be forwarded to the purchaser as soon as it is received. We would like to thank Emmanuel Bréguet and the Maison Bréguet archives for the valuable information they were able to provide on this historic watch. Temporary import The buyer will be required to pay import duties, i.e. 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the item is immediately re-exported outside the European Union. Work in temporary import The buyer will have to pay import fees of 5.5% in addition to the hammer price, unless the buyer immediately re-exports the lot outside the European Union.
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