History of the Breguet brand

January 10, 1747. Abraham-Louis Breguet is born in Neuchâtel, in the principality of Neuchâtel to Jonas-Louis Breguet and Suzanne-Marguerite Bolle. The Breguet family is part of the local bourgeoisie.

1758. Jonas-Louis dies prematurely, aged thirty-nine. In 1759 his widow remarries his first cousin, Joseph Tattet, who is a professional horologist. The young Abraham-Louis was thus initiated into horology by his step-father.

1762. The fifteen-year-old Abraham-Louis goes to France, where he is apprenticed to a clockmaker in Versailles. Then the young Breguet moves to Paris where he studies science at Collège Mazarin under Abbé Marie, who becomes his mentor. He probably frequents the workshops of two great masters, Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine.

1775. Breguet sets up his own business on quai de l’Horloge on the Ile de la Cité in Paris. Aged twenty-eight, he marries Cécile L’huillier in the church of Saint-Sulpice in Paris.

August 16, 1776. Breguet’s only son, Antoine-Louis Breguet, is born. Four years later, his wife dies.

1784. Breguet is inducted as a master of the clockmakers’ guild. Introduced at court, his clientele includes France’s leading figures.

1787. Breguet goes into partnership with Xavier Gide, a watch and clock dealer. They found the Société Breguet & Compagnie, which trades in timepieces and jewelry.

1791. Breguet considers moving to England until the revolutionary situation calms down in Paris, having many friends and connections in London. He brings his son over to London.
Disagreements between Gide and Breguet over political and business issues lead to the dissolution of their partnership in September.

1793. Breguet leaves Paris with his family for Switzerland in August, fleeing the revolutionary agitation.
Back in Paris, the workshop continues to function under Boulanger.

1794. Breguet establishes a small workshop in Le Locle (Switzerland) and devises numerous innovations. The workshop on quai de l’Horloge in Paris, which had never closed, is ransacked and forced to move.

1796. The Paris workshop moves back to its former premises. Breguet writes an explanation of his inventions.

1798. Breguet is awarded a gold medal at the National Industrial Exhibition.

1802. Breguet is awarded a gold medal at the National Industrial Exhibition.

1804. Birth of Breguet’s grand-son, Louis-Clément Breguet.

1808. To develop his Russian market, Breguet opens an establishment in Saint Petersburg. He is granted the official title of Horologist to His Majesty the Czar and the Imperial Russian Navy.

1811. Breguet publishes anonymously Traité sur la force animale et sur le principe du mouvement volontaire (Treatise on Animal Force and the Principle of Deliberate Movement).
In reaction to Napoleon’s policies, Czar Alexander I forbids the importation of French products into Russia; Breguet is forced to close his Saint Petersburg establishment.

1816. Breguet is named a member of the Académie des Sciences by a royal decree by Louis XVIII.

1817. Publication of Instructions sur l’usage des montres marines exécutées par M. Breguet (Instructions on the Use of Marine Watches Made by Mr. Breguet).

1822. Publication of the firm’s first trade catalog: Horlogerie pour l’usage civil et pour les Sciences, de Breguet et Fils […] (Horology for Civil and Scientific Use, Breguet & Son).

1823. Breguet is a member of the jury of the National Industrial Exhibition. He dies on 17 September, aged seventy-six. Antoine-Louis Breguet, aged forty-seven, becomes head of the firm.

1827. Gold medal at the National Industrial Exhibition.

1833. Antoine-Louis retires from business. Louis-Clément Breguet, twenty-nine, becomes head of the firm.

1834. Gold medal at the National Industrial Exhibition.

1843. Louis-Clément is appointed to the Bureau des Longitudes.

1844. Gold medal at the National Industrial Exhibition. Watches are henceforth sold from a shop located on place de la Bourse in Paris.

1845. Louis-Clément is named Chevalier in the Légion d’Honneur for the success of his electric telegraph.

1856. Work on electric timepieces, notably town clocks for the city of Lyon.

1870. Louis-Clément, aged sixty-six, decides to devote himself entirely to electrical applications. He sells his horological business to Edward Brown. The Brown family would continue to own the company until 1970.

1933. The Breguet firm moves to 28 rue de la Paix, where it will remain until 1970.

1970. The Breguet brand is purchased by the Paris jewelry firm of Chaumet.

1976. The Breguet workshops move to Le Brassus in Switzerland’s Joux valley. Henceforth all timepieces would be made in Switzerland.

1991. The Groupe Horloger Breguet is founded.

1999. Groupe Horloger Breguet is bought by the Swatch Group, the world’s leading watchmaker. A Breguet boutique opens on place Vendôme in Paris.

2000. The Musée Breguet opens on place Vendôme.

2001. Work begins on the new Breguet workshop in the village of L’Orient. (Switzerland).

2004. The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg hosts an exhibition of old Breguet watches.

2005. Nicolas G. Hayek decides to remake watch number 160, the famous “Marie-Antoinette”.

2008. Following a two-year restoration program, the completely restored Petit Trianon and Pavillon Français are officially re-opened in Versailles.