Editing Abraham-Louis Breguet (section)

== 2011 ''montre à tact'' discovery ==
In 2011 a member of the public brought in a pocket watch to be assessed by the experts of the BBC TV series ''[[Antiques Roadshow]]'' at [[Blair Castle]] in Perthshire, Scotland. ''Roadshow'' expert Richard Price stated that the timepiece was an early Breguet ''montre à tact'' ("tactile watch"), dating from 1801.

The watch was enclosed on both sides by discs covered with a blue translucent enamel over a [[Guilloché]] base machined in a chevron pattern. The front face was fitted with a single arrow-shaped hand in silver, encrusted with small diamonds, and the case was surrounded by twelve large diamonds enclosed by a wavy gold band, which was faced with lighter blue enamel. The enamelled back hinged open to reveal a gold cover plate and a smaller two-handed watch face. The mechanism cover bore the engraved signature of Breguet and also bore the mark of Recordon, his London agent at the time (suggesting that it was originally made for an English client). The gold cover plate protected the mechanism, which bore another signature by Breguet, and the watch number.

Price then revealed that a similar watch, in much worse condition and with all the gems stripped from it, had recently sold for over UK£20,000. He declared the newly discovered Breguet to be the greatest watch he had ever seen in his 28 years with the programme, and assessed its value as at least UK£50,000, although it may be worth considerably more – another example sold for US$288,000, while a ''montre à tact'' of very similar design, commissioned by [[Napoleon]]'s wife [[Joséphine de Beauharnais]] for her sister [[Hortense de Beauharnais|Hortense]], was sold by [[Christie's]] in [[Geneva]] for US$1.3&nbsp;million in 2007.

Breguet invented the ''montre à tact'' in 1799. Although these single-hand "tact" watches are sometimes called "blind man's watches", few blind people of that era could have afforded such luxury items, and these timepieces were designed for Breguet's wealthiest clients. The ''montre à tact'' (touch watch) enabled them to tell the time without removing the watch from their pocket because, in that period, it was considered highly impolite to consult one's watch during a social gathering.

The device also enabled owners to tell the time in the dark. This was done by turning the front disc clockwise until it went no further (because of the cam inside) and then feeling at which hour marker (indicated by the surrounding circle of jewels) the watch hand was positioned. In the case of the 2011 discovery, the 12 o'clock position was marked by the chain attachment. The watch was also fitted with a small internal dial with two normal hands so that the exact time could be read when the case was opened.<ref>[http://blog.lumbers.co.uk/2011/06/29/the-timeless-beauty-of-breguet/ "The Timeless Beauty of Breguet"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150704023014/http://blog.lumbers.co.uk/2011/06/29/the-timeless-beauty-of-breguet/ |date=4 July 2015 }}, Lumbers Jewellers</ref>