A superior example of Breguet’s creative ability, the Reine de Naples model, with its characteristic egg-shaped case, is the subject of an exquisite collection, whose models are dressed in different outfits in an elegant symbiosis between watch and jewelry.
The iconic Breguet Reine de Naples is one of the historic models of Breguet House, whose history began more than two centuries ago. It all started when, in 1810, the Queen of Naples and Napoleon Bonaparte’s sister, Carolina Murat, placed Abraham-Louis Breguet in an order for a wristwatch. The piece, identified with the number 2639, took two years to complete and delivered to its illustrious recipient.
Thus was born the Breguet Reine of Naples, the first wristwatch for a queen (and the first wristwatch in history) to honor Breguet’s historic gallery, alongside other orders addressed to the prestigious watchmaker by distinguished personalities such as Queen Marie Antoinette or Empress Josephine.
Unfortunately, the trail of this Reine of Naples has been lost and there is no reference to date in private or public collections. The last known record is from 1855, when the watch was admitted to Breguet workshops for repair. However, thanks to the brand’s archives, it was possible to recover this valuable heritage memory, based on the registration of all the pieces that Abraham-Louis Breguet took care of to bequeath to posterity.
Luckily, Breguet’s watchmakers discovered the technical description of a thin, oblong watch, equipped with a repetition-minute complication, with a thermometer, and adorned with a bracelet made of hair and gold threads to be placed around the wrist. It was from the notes of the famous watchmaker that Breguet House reinterpreted the historic watch to give rise to a collection exclusively for women, enriched with mechanical complications.
THE REINE DE NAPLES MODEL IS A SUPERIOR EXAMPLE OF BREGUET’S CREATIVE CAPACITY
Thus began the Queen of Naples collection, launched in 2002 and with developments to this day. It is an autonomous collection, as it does not correspond to a version of a male model, but because it has its own concept and development. It is, therefore, a collection full of the past, exclusive to a female clientele that appreciates watchmaking pieces.
