Abraham Louis Breguet
| Abraham-Louis Breguet | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
10 January 1747 Neuchâtel, Switzerland |
| Died | 17 September 1823 (aged 76) Paris, France |
| Resting place | Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris |
| Occupation | Horologist, Inventor |
| Organization | Breguet |
| Notable work | Tourbillon Mechanism |
| Spouse(s) | Cécile Marie-Louise L'Huillier ( – 1780) |
| Children | Antoine-Louis Breguet |
| Parent(s) | Jonas-Louis Breguet ( – 1758) Suzanne-Marguerite Bollein |
Abraham-Louis Breguet (10 January 1747 – 17 September 1823), born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, was a horologist who made many innovations in the course of a career in watchmaking in France. In his lifetime he was considered the leading watchmaker of his day, and he built up a clientele that included many leading public figures and members of the European nobility. Alongside his friend and contemporary John Arnold, Breguet is now widely acknowledged as one of the greatest horologists of all time. One of his famous ancestors was the Swiss Jean Breguet (who died in 1593) a Protestant pastor in Neuchâtel very much influenced by the ideas of Jean Calvin.
He is the founder of the Breguet company, which is now the luxury watch division of the Swiss Swatch Group.
Breguet was born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland to Jonas-Louis Breguet and Suzanne-Marguerite Bollein. Breguet's father died in 1758, when he was ten, and his formal schooling ended when he was 12. Breguet's mother remarried to Joseph Tattet, who came from a family of watchmakers. Tattet had a showroom in Paris; the family tried for some time to entice the young Breguet into the trade, to no avail, but he eventually took to it with great interest and in 1762, aged 15, he was sent to be apprenticed to an unknown Versailles master watchmaker. At this time the Court had a great influence on the trade and the best watchmakers established themselves around Versailles.
The young Breguet soon "astonished" his master with his aptitude and intelligence, and to further his education he took evening classes in mathematics at the Collège Mazarin under Abbé Marie, who became a friend and mentor to the young watchmaker. Through his role as tutor to the dukes of Angoulême and de Berri, Abbé Marie was able to arrange for Breguet to be introduced to King Louis XVI of France, and the king's interest in mechanics led to many royal commissions for the rising watchmaker, including a perpetuelle (self-winding watch), with which the king was especially pleased. Unfortunately, Marie met a tragic end, either through murder or suicide, and soon after Breguet lost both his mother and his step-father, leaving him to support himself and his younger sister. How he managed this in the period between his parents' deaths and the establishment of his business is unknown.
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Wikipedia