History: From a small series of 4 luxurious souscriptions a diamants, of which Nos. 693 and 695 were sold to Lucien Bonaparte, King of Spain, the forth, No. 696, was sold to General Berthier. Note: Gold and enamel decorative watches made by Breguet are relatively rare and were essentially made in only two forms. One type, often large repeating watches or clock-watches with pair-cases, enamelled with flowers, coastal scenes or paillonne decoration, was destined to the Islamic Market, and usually sold through Breguet's agent, Le Roy in Constantinople. The others were practically all montres medallion a tact (such as this lot), with pique enamel covers and the "touch pieces" and a tact arrow in pearls or diamonds; the decorative elements remained largely functional, the only concession being an applied motif on the back of symbolic or heraldic significance, such as a crown or monogram. Such watches, less austere in appearance than Breguet's usual production, enjoyed a certain success despite their high price, and virtually every member of the Bonapanc family owned at least one example. Only very few examples of this kind, with extra large diamond touch pieces, were produces by Breguet, mainly for the Bonaparte family. They were among the most expensive watches produced by that time in the Breguet workshop. Literatur e: This watch is illustrated by Emanuel Breguet in his book: Breguet - Horloger depuis 1775 (Alain de Gourcuff Editeur - Paris 1997), pp. 162-163.