Breguet (brand)
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Luxury watchmaking |
| Founded | 1775 |
| Founder | Abraham-Louis Breguet |
| Headquarters | , Switzerland |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Nicolas G. Hayek |
| Products | Tourbillon, watches, clocks, jewelry |
| Parent | The Swatch Group |
| Website | breguet |
Breguet is a Swiss luxury watch, clock and jewelry manufacturer founded by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris in 1775. Since 1999, it has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group. Headquartered in L'Abbaye, Switzerland, Breguet is one of the oldest surviving watchmaking brands and a pioneer of numerous watchmaking technologies such as the tourbillon, which was developed into a practical solution by Abraham Breguet in 1801, after having been invented by his friend John Arnold. Abraham Breguet also invented and produced the world's first self-winding watch (the Perpétuelle) in 1780, as well as the world's first wristwatch in 1810 (the Breguet No.2639, for Caroline Bonaparte, Queen of Naples).
Breguet is a highly regarded watch manufacturer. Over the years, notable Breguet patrons and timepiece owners include Emperor of the French Napoléon Bonaparte, King George III, Queen Victoria, Alexandre I of Russia, Ettore Bugatti, Sir Winston Churchill, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Gioachino Rossini, Arthur Rubinstein and so on. The Breguet & Fils, Paris No. 2667 (1814) pocket watch is among the most expensive watches sold at auction, fetching US$4.69 million (CHF 4,339,000) in Geneva in May 2012. The Breguet Sympathique Clock No.128 & 5009 (Duc d'Orléans Breguet Sympathique), is currently the most expensive Breguet timepiece ever sold at auction, fetching US$6.8 million in New York in December 2012.