Breguet souscription watch
Abraham-Louis Breguet’s simple watch with a single hand, sold by advance subscription to a wider public.
Abraham-Louis Breguet was the most inventive watchmaker of the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Among other things he invented the tourbillon, patented in 1801, and gave his name to Breguet hands and Breguet numerals.
The souscription watch of the 1790s was his attempt to make a good watch cheaper: a standardised movement and payment in advance, like a subscription.
Materials: Silver or gold case, enamel dial, brass and steel movement
Manufacture: Made in series in Breguet’s workshop in Paris; the buyer paid a quarter in advance.
Only one hand, read against a clear scale.
The large, clean dial with Breguet numerals.
A secret signature scratched into the dial, Breguet’s protection against forgery.