Leroy in Constantinople In his quest for new outlets, to compensate for the economic recession, Breguet was reminded in 1811 of the advice that Ali Effendi (refer to his biography, lots 11 and 23), had given him nine years earlier: "Send one of your most highly skilled watchmakers to set up a business in Constantinople... and you will become even more famous than the English " . Breguet found the man he was looking for in the person of Leroy, a gifted craftsman with a sound instinct for business, scrupulously honest, loyal, and, above all, prepared to go and live in Turkey. If Moreau had let Breguet clown in Russia, Leroy was not to be a si milar disappointment in Turkey. By the end of 1811, he had set up his business as Breguet' s agent in Constantinople, receiving an average of six to eight items annually from the Quai de l ' Horloge until 1820, after which sales tailed off somewhat. Expensive pieces, made in Paris, were supplemented, however, by more moderately priced commercial items, made for Breguet in Geneva and sold either under the Breguet signature or under that of "Leroy, pupil of Breguet" . In order to meet the demand for Turkish-style watches, Breguet had no choice but to commission simple dials with Turkish numerals without mistakes creeping in. With the view to launching Leroy and making his task easier, Breguet succeeded in pulling off something of a coup. Learning that the French government wished to present a gift to the new Sultan, Mahmud II, he managed to persuade Maret, Talleyrand ' s successor as Minister for Foreign Affairs, that the gift should be made by his firm, thus securing a commission for a syupathique clock to the value of 35.000 Francs. The clock was delivered to the Sultan at the beginning of 1813. The following month, the Sultan summoned Leroy in his capacity as Breguet 's representative, offered him a gift and entrusted him with the maintenance of all the palace clocks. Following this highly satisfactory introduction, Leroy was to count among his clients some of the most distinguished dignitaries of the Ottoman empire, including the Grand Douanier Ameda, Amil Bey, Lya Bey and Beykan Sultan. Information drawn from: Breguet - Watchmaker since 1775, by Emmanuel Breguet, Alain de Gourcuff Editcur, Paris, 1997.