Louvre museum reopens 18th Century art deco galleries with help from antique watch manufacturer


Acting like the wonderful barometers of old to show the warm commitment to promoting European culture and history- it’s the famous Swiss watch manufactureBreguet. The good people at Breguethas made it possible for the most recent display of 18th-century French decorative arts in theLouvre Museum, Paris to see the light of day, with the reopening 33 dedicated galleries, previously closed for nearly a decade.

Breguet No. 2585 half-quarter repeating watch sold in 1811 to Prince Camille Borghèse- Antique Pocket Watch

The association between Breguet and the Louvre are many. The founder of the revered watch company Abraham-Louis Breguet had exhibited his movements at the second Exhibition of Industrial Products held at the Louvre. Additionally Vivant Denon, the Louvre’s first patron, acquired a Breguet minute repeater and a biscuit porcelain clock in 1810 and 1811, respectively.

The museum lays claim to a fine collection of Breguet creations but with no marine watches in sight. One such notable timepiece includes the No. 1391 subscription pocket watch in a 57-mm gold case with an engine-turned dial. Joining this fine creation is the No. 2585 half-quarter repeating watch in a gold hunter case with a silver-plated back engraved with a map of an impressive nine Italian administrative regions featuring a thermometer and three off-centre dials for seconds, day of the week and date. More recently, in 2009, the museum held the exhibitionBreguet at the Louvre: An Apogee of European Watchmaking.

Today, at the Louvre, visitors don’t need to concern themselves any longer over their deprivation of one of the world’s finest collections of 18th-century French decorative furnishings and objets d’art – all thanks to Breguet.