Breguet

Rare Early 19th century Breguet jump-hour mantel clock.

The simple Breguet style rectangular mahogany case has a slide out back door, a decorative ormolu bezel and silk covered holes in the base.

The white porcelain dial is signed by the maker, Breguet, has indecipherable marks on the reverse, has Arabic numbers for the hours and has finely steel-cut Breguet-style hands. The winding arbor is located under the bezel and below the 6.

The eight-day time and strike movement has a single spring that drives both trains, rectilinear plates with a D-shape at the bottom where it is engraved ‘Breguet et Fils, No 1903’ and long screws that secure the movement to brackets mounted to the front of the case. It has a repeat lever out the bottom of the case and strikes the hours and half-hour on a bell. The silk thread suspension is adjusted for fast/slow out the dial and has a pendulum with a blued steel rod and a brass bob. There are two hold-downs for the pendulum. One spring loaded and one that clamps the pendulum between two shaped caliper arms that are locked together by a knurled knob. The time is adjusted by a knurled knob off the backplate. The normal motion work has been replaced by an ingenious system designed by Breguet that incorporates fewer moving parts and also allows the hands to be adjusted forwards or backwards without going out of synch.

Monsieur l’Abbé Rouchon refers to Alexis‑Marie de Rochon (1741–1817) — a French astronomer, physicist, traveler, and optical inventor who was commonly called l’abbé Rochon even though he never actually took holy orders. His accomplishments left a lasting mark on physics and navigation.

The hour hand in this system remains on the current hour and does not creep forward like normal. The hour hand jumps forward to the next hour as the minute hand hits 12 and the clock strikes the next hour.