Breguet Acquires An Exceptional Turkish Watch at Auction in Beijing

The Breguet Museum in Genva has gotten its hands on an extremely  rare Turkish-style Breguet watch made in 1808 for a dignitary of the Ottoman Empire, for the sum of aproximately $695,000. This represents a record bid for a Breguet watch as well as a record for a pocket-watch auctioned on the inland China market.

This historical piece was ordered in 1807 by His Excellency Esseid Ali Effendi, former Turkish ambassador to Paris of the nation nicknamed “The Sublime Portal”, and a personal friend of Abraham-Louis Breguet.

The Breguet N 1090 Grande Complication watch is a quarter-repeating model with independent grande and petite sonnerie featuring a case and double-case enamelled in the classic Turkish style, along with a dial graced with ancient Arabic numerals – all in an exceptionally good state of conservation. This piece was the highlight of the sale held by Poly Auction in Beijing and generated intense bidding. It will thus now be joining the other Breguet Museum treasures and will be exhibited in a few weeks’ time in Paris in the Breguet Museum located above the iconic boutique on the Place Vendme.