IV Mania Maintenance

Fig. 12, Cahier d’atelier de la main d’Abraham-Louis Breguet - Collection Montres Breguet S.A. © Montres Breguet S.A.

The increasing demand for decoration follows a growing specialization of function in the art of making a watch. Each item, by the 19^th century, represented the production of a team of craftsmen ranging from the gold or silversmith, jewelers, enamellers, chasers, engravers, miniatures for the case and dial, braziers, gilders, and many more. Above all, it required meticulous attention in the principle and execution of the horologist, reserved to only a few of the finest artists like Antoine-Louis Breguet (1775-1823) whose sketch book is featured in this exhibition (Fig. 12). The particular miniaturization of the pocket watch, and the pursuit for miniaturization, demanded a state-of-the-art horological technique. It was viewed as a mechanical feat to work in the small, such that long practice fashions an average working watch and genius makes a piece that functioned for about three years without restoration.

The maintenance of watches is costly, crucial, and above all, frequent. A German 18^th century saying exclaims, “If you want to make trouble for yourself, take a wife, buy a watch, or hit a cleric!” The average watch needs cleaning every year (to add more oil to avoid friction, to wound the spring…) and is sensitive to extreme temperatures and abrupt movements. The mechanical miniaturization and vulnerability of this revolutionary instrument renders it more valued and valuable. 

One of Breguet's most famous inventions was the very first automatic watch (Fig. 13). The case was entirely see-through to showcase the mechanical intricate and triumphant success. 

Fig. 13, Breguet n° B1160 - Montre perpétuelle à répétition des minutes Réplique de la montre Breguet n° 160 dite « Marie-Antoinette » exécutée par Montres Breguet S.A.