A world-class presentation of Breguet timepieces will be on show at London’s Science Museum from this month to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet.
The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers manages a permanent exhibition at the Kensington museum.
From September 13 there will be a special focus on the work of Mr Breguet, arguably the most significant watchmaker in the history of horology, and his connection to British monarchs and other associations to this country.
The Breguet exhibition will be accessible by the public for a full year through to September 2024.
There will be 25 important timepieces including an exceptionally rare gold four-minute tourbillon watch made for George III in 1808 (pictured top).
Breguet’s master craftsmanship in the field of watchmaking earned him a prestigious clientele that included Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, alongside other international nobility, and the elegance and technical innovations of his designs were considered the height of style and fashion.
His English clients read as a who’s who of Georgian Britain, and during the late 1700s, he visited London several times, becoming friends with one of the country’s finest chronometer makers, John Arnold, and later recruited English craftsmen to work for him in France.
Abraham-Louis Breguet: The English Connection runs from September 13 2023 to September 8 2024 at London’s Science Museum.
