69,000 CHF
Breguet, No. 1702/407 sold to General Lauriston on 21 March 1811 for 2.400 Francs. Very fine 18K gold, jump-hour quarter-repeating, à tact, "1ère classe" watch with special escapement. Four-body, "Empire", engine-turned, back centered with small coat of arms bearing the motto "Illo per illo", band with small gold block for blocking the repetition, gold hinged cuvette. White enamel, by Droz, with secret signature "No 407 Breguet", radial Roman numerals, outer minute divisions, subsidiary sunk seconds at 8, secured by a single screw. Blued steel Breguet hands. Notes Alexandre Jacques Bernard Law, Marquis de Lauriston. Born in Pondichery in 1768, died in Paris in 1828.French soldier and diplomat, great-nephew of the financier Law, he was born at Pondichery on the 1st of February 1768. In 1800, having been on friendly terms with Napoleon when they were cadets, he was named "aide de camp" to the First Consul in Italy. Having risen to the rank of General of a Division, in 1805 he participated in the war against Austria. He occupied Venice and Ragusa in 1806, he was made Governor-General of Venice in 1807, took part in the Erfurt negotiations of 1808, was made a Count, served with the Emperor in Spain in 1808-1809 and held commands under Viceroy Eugene Beauharnais in the Italian campaign and the advance to Vienna in the same year. At the battle of Wagram he commanded the guard artillery in the famous "artillery preparation" which decided the battle. In 1811 he was
Auctioneer:
Antiquorum
Date:
2003-11-16
