The "Marie Antoinette" . . . Then, Now, and the Story of the Perfect Crime. . .

[Jack Forster]

Greetings, Horomundians!

It is, without doubt, the single most coveted watch in the history of horology- and for decades, one of horology's greatest mysteries. A lost treasure to stand with the Shield of Achilles and the fabled Amber Room of the Tsars, the watch now known as the "Marie Antoinette" -originally simply Breguet No. 160 -was stolen under mysterious circumstances from the collection bequeathed to the Meyer Museum of Islamic art from the David Salomons Collection a quarter century ago.

The watch as any keen horologist knows was recovered at long last, and to the great joy and satisfaction of the museum's director, Ms. Rachel Hasson, last year. By a coincidence. . . or is it. . .? this is also the year that Montres Breguet, that most historically revered of all haut horlogerie houses, has created a reincarnation of the watch originally made for, but never received by, a Queen. . . by a lover whose name has been lost (as was the watch itself for many years) to history.

And now it gives me great pride, and tremendous personal satisfaction, to bring you the official images and announcement from Montres Breguet and from a man as legendary as the Marie Antoinette itself, M. Nicolas G. Hayek, who granted Revolution Magazine an exclusive interview on the extremely mysterious circumstances surrounding the recovery of the watch, as did Ms. Hasson of the Meyer Museum.

For some fortunate collector the day may come when he or she may stand in the Meyer Museum, with both the original and its reincarnation in hand, staring across two centuries and more of history. . .

MARIE-ANTOINETTE Grande Complication pocket-watch ~ N°1160

Marie-Antoinette was driven by a truly passionate desire for Breguet watches. Keen to possess any auspicious novelty, she had acquired a number of timepieces, including a perpétuel watch embellished with a self-winding device developed by Breguet. In 1783, one of her admirers ordered from the workshops in the Quai de l’Horloge, the most spectacular watch possible, incorporating the entire body of horological science of the time, as a gift to the queen. The order specified that gold should, wherever possible, be used instead of other metals, and that the complications should be both multiple and varied. Unconstrained by limitations of cost or time, Breguet had a free hand.



The queen never had the opportunity to admire the timepiece. It was not completed until 1827, 34 years after her death, 44 years after it was ordered and four years after the death of the founder. Breguet n°160, known as the “Marie-Antoinette”, entered into watchmaking legend from 1783. Its extreme complexity, its roots and its story, as fabulous as it is epic, have haunted the watchmaking landscape and the minds of collectors for more than two centuries. More recently, its destiny shrouded in mystery – stolen from a Jerusalem museum and lost for decades – has written a new page in the saga.

In 2005, Nicolas G. Hayek set himself the challenge of reproducing it identically. He then heard about the fate of the oak of the palace of Versailles, the queen’s favourite tree, which had to be felled, and decided to give it a second life by fashioning from its wood the presentation case of the watch. Versailles offered the tree to Montres Breguet which, as a token of its gratitude committed itself to the restoration of the Marie-Antoinette domain. Just when the manufacture of the watch reached its end in 2007, the spoils of the 1983 robbery suddenly appeared as if by magic in Jerusalem. The saga continues. Montres Breguet has to date not yet had the opportunity to inspect them.



Today presented in Basel, the queen of watches reveals a host of complications. Research among the archives and original drawings from the Breguet Museum and from other high institutions of culture like the Musée des Arts et Métiers (arts and crafts museum) in Paris, are the only available sources of information. Comparative examinations of contemporary antique watches, notably the Duc de Praslin watch, have revealed new factors concerning the styling and watchmaking techniques of the period.



The research has brought to light skills that have today vanished and has enabled the manufacturing company to produce a timepiece that is in every respect faithful to its predecessor.



Reproducing and designing such a large number of complications on the sole basis of documents is against the odds and reveals the talent of the watchmakers at Montres Breguet. Each function and every decorative feature was minutely analysed. In the coachwork of the watch for example, the yellow gold of the 63mm-diameter case was cast in a special, more coppery alloy in order to match the period hue. The glasses for the dial and the case, made of rock crystal, allow the movement to display its finery and the marvels of its finish. The research has moreover brought to light a complication of the original watch: jumping hours.

As a self-winding watch with a minute-repeater striking the hours, quarters and minutes on demand, the new Marie-Antoinette has all the makings of a work of art. A full perpetual calendar displays the dates, the day and the months respectively at 2 o'clock, 6 o'clock and 8 o'clock. The equation of time at 10 o'clock proclaims the daily difference between solar time and the mean time told by watches. In the centre, the jumping hours – invented by Breguet – and the minutes are joined by a long independent seconds hand, while the small seconds are shown at 6 o'clock. The 48-hour power-reserve indicator 10:30 balances a bimetallic thermometer at 01:30.



The self-winding, “perpétuel” movement comprises 823 outstandingly finished components. The baseplates and bridges, the smallest gear-wheels in the trains for the underdial work, the dates and the repeater are fashioned in pink gold polished with wood. The screws are in polished blued steel; the points of friction, holes and bearings, set with sapphires. The smallest details demonstrate perfect execution and have been finished by hand. This masterly and unprecedented mechanism is furthermore fitted with a particular type of natural-lift escapement, a helical balance-spring in gold and a bimetallic balance-wheel. The anti-shock device – a double pare chute, another Breguet invention – gives protection against blows and shocks to the balance staff and to the shafts of the winding weights.



This masterpiece fit for a queen rests in a precious presentation box made of more than 3,500 pieces sculpted from the wood of the royal oak. It encloses a lavishly crafted inlay work of more than a thousand pieces of wood depicting the hand of Marie-Antoinette holding her rose – a detail inspired by the famous portrait of the queen. The outside of the box faithfully reproduces the parquet flooring of the Petit Trianon.
In as much as in those days Breguet intended to make this watch into a monument to the glory of 18th century horology, the brand has in 2008 performed a feat of prowess by bringing a legend to life and anchoring it in the 20th century.

And, some excerpts from the story of the recovery of no. 160, as it appears in the current issue No. 6 USA edition of Revolution Magazine. . .

"Horologically speaking, it was the crime of the century. On an April night in 1983, a thief, or thieves, broke into the L. A. Mayer Museum of Islamic Art in Jerusalem, and made off with a number of irreplaceable clocks and watches bequeathed to the Museum by Vera Salomons, the daughter of Sir David Salomons, who at the time of his death in 1925 was arguably the greatest collector of Breguet watches of all time. Among the watches stolen was one known best to connoisseurs, collectors, and art historians as the “Marie Antoinette” –an ironic name, as the Queen never had an opportunity to wear the watch which now has her name. It was the crown jewel of the Salomons collection –commissioned, according to legend, by an anonymous officer in the Queen’s guard who may in turn have been acting as an intermediary for a lover, or would-be lover, the watch was to be built with no consideration for expense, and was and is an enormous and fantastic tour de force of watchmaking. With an historical provenance of irresistible fascination, the Marie Antoinette –more properly known by its drably generic production designation, simply Breguet no. 160 –became, as the years after its disappearance lengthened, a Moby Dick of horology. Rumors of its appearance occasionally arose; some plausible and some outlandish. It was in the Middle East, in the vault of some head of state; it had disappeared into one of the former Soviet republics . . . but no matter where it was conjectured to be, one thing seemed certain: it was gone for good. . ."

"For a watch designed to stir even the jaded tastes of the French court of Louis XVI the road from the workshop of Breguet to a museum dedicated to the presentation and study of Islamic art was a strange one. The watch’s first known owner was a Marquis de La Groye, who brought it in for repair in 1838, but in one of the many mysteries surrounding the watch, he never returned to pick it up again. Instead, it remained with the Breguet family for nearly half a century, until, reasonably concluding that possession was nine tenths of the law, they resold it, to Sir Spencer Brunton. Eventually the watch passed into the hands of Sir David Lionel Salomons. . ."

"Then, on November 21st, 2007, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz wrote that the watches had been returned. According to the story, Rachel Hasson, the 40 year veteran director of the Mayer Museum, had been contacted in August of 2006 by a Tel Aviv watchmaker who claimed to have been asked to appraise, by a young female lawyer, 40 clocks and watches in the lawyer’s office which were the property of a foreign client who had inherited them upon the decease of her longtime companion. “I requested from the watchmaker that the lawyer phone me and officially inform me that she is in possession of the watches,” Hasson says. “Even on the way to the lawyer, I still had my doubts. As soon as I unwrapped them,” –according to Haaretz, the watches were shown to Hasson the next day, in the presence of members of the museum’s board of directors –'I knew immediately that they were our watches. I identified them according to the numbers they bore with our catalogue and with our index cards and they all matched. . . the Marie Antoinette was in perfect condition. I’ve worked at the Museum for forty years, and the minute I saw the watch, I recognized it.' "

. . .however. . . . . .

"The announcement that Montres Breguet would forge ahead with its summoning to life the miraculously complex no. 160 was announced and advertised worldwide in 2004 –and, says Hayek, with a most curious consequence. “In January of 2007,” he says, “I was contacted by a man in Israel, near Jerusalem, by email, who wrote in French –and I think he was actually French as his writing style, grammar, were all characteristically French, you understand?” This enigmatic correspondent, who identified himself only as “Mr. C,” . .

As they say, the plot thickens. The return of no. 160 has only deepened the mystery as to where it has been, its current condition, and under what circumstances it was returned. Experts including Antiquorum's resident historical expert and director Julien Schaerer find the official accounts at best bland whitewashes of what might have really happened. . .

Hope you all enjoyed the coverage. May I say that it was the dream of a lifetime, as a journalist, to cover the return of the Marie Antoinette No. 160, and the article as it appears in full in Revolution Magazine would have been impossible without the unprecedented candor and gracious cooperation of both Ms. Hasson of the Meyer Museum, and M. Nicolas G. Hayek, the guardian and genius behind the rebirth of this, the most remarkable, unique, desirable and spectacular watch of all time.

[premvic21]

Jack,
That is an unbelievable story, reportage de classe!
I am indeed honored to have been at the receipt of this privileged information! The Marie-Antoinette to be re-created from just drawings is also the unbelievable part. Finally for his part in the histrionics of the watch industry, Mr.Hayek should indeed be knighted!! Sir Nicolas Hayek, I salute you- for having the vision and continuing despite adversity in the 80's, and now despite it all, giving a little back to the industry by way of re-creating history's holy grail, 'The Marie Antoinette' watch.
I cannot tell you enough, superlatives are not enough to describe the feeling....
Cheers matey,
Prem

[Jack Forster]

. . . in all sincerity, there are aspects of horological history which transcend the usual considerations. To paraphrase one of my favorite movies, "the Marie Antoinette is history." As is the reincarnation.

There is no single watch in the world which I desire more, and with a desire that transcends the pleasure of ownership as such. To have participated in the history of Breguet no. 160 and Breguet no. 1160 is a privilege which will not come again.

There are certain experiences which are unique, and to M. Hayek, to Mr. Ned Kane at Swatch Group who arranged our personal discussion (may I say that one's eyebrows go right up to one's hairline when the phone rings on a weekday morning and it's "Papa" Hayek on the other line!!!) I am eternally indebted for having been able to touch true history.

I must also add that Ms. Hasson and the Meyer Museum were incredibly accomodating and forthright, as much as the arrangements which had led to the return of the Salomons Collection allowed. There were clearly understandings which could not be transgressed, and one must respect such things, but as a journalist one wishes to be in the Middle East, sitting over lunch with the mysterious Jerusalem watchmaker who is supposed to have brokered this deal of deals, and saying, "C'mon. . . off the record. . . what the hell???"

Cheers,

Jack

[aptronym]

Thank you so much for this tantalising look into the story, and the amazing photos of the 1160 - the care and affection that went into its (and the box's) creation are amazing.....I can't wait to read the full story!

When you were speaking to M.Hayek, did you wonder what watches he was wearing during the conversation......

[Quarks]

Really. Thanks for the article. An excellent read and the pics speak for themselves. WOW.

[pj.m]

Thank you Jack for the wonderful post and pictures. The watch is surprisingly legible being that it has a display front. What I find interesting, is how does the thermometer work. If the watch is in the pocket or in hand when reading the temperature, doesn't ambient heat interfere.
Regardless, it is a spectacular piece that must have been a joy and honor to make for the lucky watchmakers at Breguet.

Thanks again,

Phil

[aptronym]

If you want to find out what happened to the Marie Antoinette, obviously, you must read Allen Kurzeil's "The Grand Complication".......

http://www.allenkurzweil.net/index.php?id=complication

[IanS]

The watch really does look fantastic and the mystery surrounding it only adds to its allure.

I am puzzled though how Breguet can claim that their new watch is virtually an exact replica of the "Marie Antoinette" when they have not been able to examine the real thing and the records were incomplete.

I will be interested to learn just how close the two watches are and am extremely curious to learn more about what actually happened.

[Jack Forster]

Originally Posted by pj.m

Thank you Jack for the wonderful post and pictures. The watch is surprisingly legible being that it has a display front. What I find interesting, is how does the thermometer work. If the watch is in the pocket or in hand when reading the temperature, doesn't ambient heat interfere.
Regardless, it is a spectacular piece that must have been a joy and honor to make for the lucky watchmakers at Breguet.

Thanks again,

Phil

. . . even modern sport LCD watches that read the temp, like the Casios, have to be off the wrist in order to get an accurate read of the temperature. Otherwise, you are exactly right, of course, body heat will interfere with the thermometer. With a mechanical watch that has a mechanical thermometer I'd guess you would have to give it a few minutes if it had been close to the body to allow the case to cool off enough to give an accurate temperature reading.

Jack

[Jack Forster]

Originally Posted by aptronym

If you want to find out what happened to the Marie Antoinette, obviously, you must read Allen Kurzeil's "The Grand Complication".......

http://www.allenkurzweil.net/index.php?id=complication

. . . though certain facts have emerged since it was written, which I have covered in the article excerpted from above, which appears in an upcoming issue of Revolution Magazine .

Incidentally I'm looking into making the article available online as well if there's enough interest in it.

Jack

[Jack Forster]

Originally Posted by IanS

The watch really does look fantastic and the mystery surrounding it only adds to its allure.

I am puzzled though how Breguet can claim that their new watch is virtually an exact replica of the "Marie Antoinette" when they have not been able to examine the real thing and the records were incomplete.

I will be interested to learn just how close the two watches are and am extremely curious to learn more about what actually happened.

. . . is an interesting question. The original is actually very well documented relatively speaking, mind you- the plans in Montres Breguet's archives are AFAIK as complete as any from the era, bearing in mind that watchmaking plans for such a unique piece probably don't bear an absolutely exact correspondence to the finished product. Nonetheless, while it may be that here and there there are construction discrepancies I believe one would have to look quite hard to find them; Breguet has expended (clearly) enormous effort in uncovering every possible detail not only of the planning but also the craft techniques used to create the original, several of which were resurrected for the express purpose of ensuring to as high a degree as possible fidelity between no. 160 and no. 1160.

Cheers,

Jack

[pj.m]

maybe that was how it was stolen in the first place, someone wanted to see the temp, left the watch on a cafe table, and in the delay forgot all about it
its a possibility

[Jack Forster]

Originally Posted by pj.m

maybe that was how it was stolen in the first place, someone wanted to see the temp, left the watch on a cafe table, and in the delay forgot all about it
its a possibility

. . . both at the same time.

The security system was apparently disconnected- it is still not clear whether or not the theft was or was not at least in part an inside job- and the thief or thieves apparently backed a truck into an alley behind the museum, forced open a window, pushed a mattress in to cushion their fall, and made off with the Salomons Collection, including the Marie Antoinette. One of the odder details of the theft is that they left behind a half eaten ham sandwich.

Over the years, the individuals behind the theft have been speculated to be everyone from Russian oil barons to Middle Eastern heads of state to (get this) George Daniels, the watchmaker who created the co-axial escapement and who is an authority on, and a great admirer of, A. L. Breguet.

Needless to say, the circumstances surrounding the return of the collection were equally mysterious, involving semi-anonymous emails to Mr. Hayek, an unnamed Jerusalem watchmaker, a mysterious female British lawyer, and the reported demise of a wealthy but equally nameless British collector. Whatever happened, somewhere there is someone who went to a great effort to stay a Mr. Who, not a Mr. Name, to steal a phrase from watch enthusiast William Gibson's Neuromancer.

None of the various stories add up entirely and the return of the Salomons collection has merely cast a further shadow onto the question of where the watches have been all these years and what circumstances led to their return. . .