The little Breguet Museum in Zurich
The answer is pretty clear. Ask serious watch collectors, connoisseurs who the most important watchmaker and inventor is, then one name will keep on coming up.
Louis Abraham Breguet.
He not only built the most complicated pocket watches and chronographs in the world, but also invented entire complications.
Today most high end watch makers pride themselves on building the complication known as tourbillon (a complication which simply stated helps the watch maintain accuracy despite different positions the watch is exposed to). The tourbillon was invented however by (any guesses)? Yes, Louis Abraham Breguet.
Without him this complication would not exist. If that was not enough Breguet also invented the overcoil – also known as the ‘Breguet Spiral’ which helps the watch maintain accuracy.
In the history of important clocks and watches nobody was more important an inventor and watchmaker than Breguet.
His client list read like a who’s who of European Royalty: Marie Antoinette (for whom he built the most complicated pocket watch in existence), The Duke of Wellington, King George IV, Alexander I of Russia (which partially explains why Russian love Breguet today) and Napolean Bonaparte.
Today the brand Breguet is owned by the Swatch Group which is solely due to the vision of Mr. Hayek who recognized the tremendous history and innovation of Breguet. In the world of high end ‘Haute Horlogerie’ or high- end watchmaking, Breguet sits near the top of the pyramid along with other names such as Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin.
So when I found out that in there is a little ‘Breguet Museum’ in Zurich I jumped at the chance to learn more about the past of this great brand. The Museum is located at the top floor of the Breguet retail store located at Bahnhofstrasse 31, 8001 Zurich.
The first picture shows the so called ‘Subscription watch‘.
The pocket watch only has one hand and it was important in Breguet history as customers had to make a down payment in order to buy the watch.
Up untill then Breguet allowed their customers to order a watch without any upfront payment. This watch is also the first watch which Breguet advertised officially.
The watch below shows a ‘Tast Uhr‘ or touch watch. It was made for men or women who wanted to tell time discretely and thus could feel the watch and tell the time just by ‘the feel’ of the hand while keeping it in their pocket.
The next pocketwatch below shows a watch made for the ‘Turkish market‘.
The problem was that during the French revolution under Napoleon Breguet could not rely on this traditional market like France and Russia so he designed watches for the Turkish market. Notice the fine decoration on the side.
Breguet was known to make some of the most beautiful desk watches in the world. Below a fine desk watch with ‘Annual calender‘ function.
Ever wonder where the name ‘Breguet numerals’ comes from? Well you guessed it, from Breguet. Below a fine pocketwatch with ‘Breguet Numerals’ on the dial.
The watch below is a so called ‘Faton Chronograph‘ made in 1845. It was called ‘Faton’ because it used ink to mark the elapsed time.
The next watch should delight LME readers: A chronograph pocketwatch given to Ettore Bugatti!
Lastly a watch which could also be a Patek or a Vacheron. In the 1950s and 1960s Breguet to please a conforming market produced some fine ‘Triple calender wristwatches‘.
Monterey auction 2013: when condition is everything
We are still digesting the big number.
No, not the Ferrari 275 NART spider (we leave that to the other blogs and press). We find another record much more interesting and relevant. A Porsche 356 Speedster from 1956 sold for $1.4m. This is a record for a Speedster which normally sells for around $250-300’000. What on earth happened?
Believe it or not- but the price of $1.4m for a speedster in this case makes sense.
The yearly auctions at Monterey 2013 are over but because they are the biggest and most important yearly auctions- they set the tone of the classic car market going forward. The press will report numerous records. Most paid ever for an F1 McLaren ($8.5m). A record for a Ferrari 250 TDF ($9m). Records are fun to talk about but and make good headline news but we leave that to the mainstream press. Something more interesting happened which our readers should pay attention to.
In a strong classic car market where almost any classic car is selling based on its age alone- collectors clearly differentiated at Monterey. They paid handsome prices for originality and condition.
Lets take a look at some examples.
The Porsche Speedster selling for $1.4m? Sure it was rare (it carried the sought after 4cam engine) but it was very original. The engine was completely original, the doors, hood and deck lid still carried the original stampings on it. Even the dry sump had the stampings on it. Tires? Yes even they were the original Dunlop tires from when the car left the factory in 1955. The car even still had the original service book and original drivers manual. The chances of finding another speedster in such condition and originality?
Close to zero. That explains the $1.4m price tag.
Another car worth talking about: A 1955 300SL Gullwing Mercedes sold for $1.7m. This is a new record for a ‘normal 300SL Gullwing’. The Clark Gable car sold for more but because of provenance. What made this car fetch such a high sum? Once again condition and originality. The car was delivered with ‘Rudge wheels’ when it left the factory. The car had one owner from 1966 to 2010! Additionally the car was restored by Paul Russell who along with HK Engineering are the worlds top specialists in restoring 300SL. For more information on the 300SL click here.
Everyone is trying to guess the future of the classic car market.
Will it continue to break records? Can these high prices last? Will a correction come this year? We don’t know the answers but one thing we are sure of. The best cars that are in superb condition and are completely original will continue to break records-even in a falling market.
Like we have said in one of our previous posts, you can never overpay for trophy assets (see the post here).
Blancpain Fifty Fathoms: A legend turns 60!
What brands come to mind when thinking of Iconic diving watches? Rolex submariner? Panerai Luminor? Omega Seamaster?
All these brands have made great diving watches and continue to do so today. But there is a little known fact about diving watches which our readers should know about: The inventor of the diving watch in the early 1950s along with Rolex was Blancpain.
You see Blancpain was asked by the French marines (to be precise divers called the elite ‘frogmen’ headed by Maloubier) to create a reliable diving watch and thus the now Iconic Blancpain Fifty Fathoms was born in 1953.
The Fifty Fathoms was produced in various forms, among which were the Aqua Lung (main picture above with the explorer dial variation). The Aqua Lung was among the earliest models and today are very collectible. Other variations included the Milspec (made for the Pakistani army among others), the Tornek Rayville (made for the US market) and the Bund (made for the German army) and the LIP. The Milspec and Tornek Rayville are especially sought after today and models in good condition are extremely expensive making early Rolex Submariner references (excluding the big crown versions) look like bargains.
Why are early Blancpain diving watches so sought after by collectors?
Well for one they are beautiful. Secondly Blancpain made watches for the Polish, German, American, Pakistani, French, and Norwegian military which gave the brand credibility. Thirdly it also helped that Jacques Cousteau (the legendary underwater explorer) loved his Blancpain Fifty Fathoms.
The success of the Fifty Fathoms lasted for almost 28 years until 1980 when Blancpain, the ‘brand’, ran into troubles. Blancpain re-introduced the Fifty Fathoms back in 2008 to pay tribute to the legendary divers watch. This year the Fifty Fathoms turns 60 years and Blancpain can be proud of creating a legend.
Credit for information on the Milspec and Tounek Rayville models go to Mr. Nicolas Fondaneche of PuristsPro.