How Brands Like Ferdinand Berthoud, Jaquet Droz, and Breguet Fared During the French Revolution
Marie-Antoinette on the executioner’s scaffold
“Let them eat cake” or “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”, the famous phrase attributed to French queen Marie-Antoinette during the French Revolution, in response to news of the starvation that French peasants faced. Often cited as evidence of how oblivious the elites in France were to the despair the lower classes lived in at the time, even though she never actually said it.
The French Revolution is remembered as one of the most significant occurrences of the 18th century. Its impact was far-reaching: Bourbon rule ended in France as a result, it’s considered the inspiration for the Haitian Revolution against the French Empire itself, it led to a significant loss of power for the Catholic Church in the country, and to important changes in land ownership, among many others. But what does it have to do with horology? Well for one, like the emigration of French Huguenots to Switzerland due to their persecution in France, it helped spread horology around Europe…or did it?
More Background the French Revolution
The French Revolution lasted 12 years from 1787 to 1799, as we alluded to the causes were many, but generally revolutions happen when the citizenry is greatly displeased with the management of their state – otherwise it would be called a coup. The climax of the revolution occurred in 1789 when French commoners stormed Paris and took the Bastille on July 14th.
Louis XVI facing execution
The impetus for the French revolution came when new taxes were imposed amidst harsh austerity in 1787. In response to the uprising the King, Louis XVI, convened the Estates-General and the famous Tennis Court Oath was sworn, in which the participants swore to remain until a new constitution was formed and sufficient reforms were passed. A National Assembly was formed but this was obviously not enough and Parisians took up arms. A constitutional monarchy was briefly declared in 1791, but when the King attempted to flee, he was imprisoned along with his wife, with both of them guillotined in 1793. Marie-Antoinette, famous (in the watch world) for the Breguet No. 160 pocket watch she ordered from Breguet & Co. in the 1780s, was dead. The First French Republic was declared in 1792, along with the start of the Revolutionary Wars via declaration of war against Austria and Prussia that same year. Ultimately, Napoleon took power and declared himself France’s ruler in 1799 – ending the revolution. The Napoleonic period is a different story, but in terms of horology, the effects were already to be had. Amidst the executions of nobles and thousands of others by the shifting powers in the country during the revolution, many fled to neighbouring countries – including watchmakers.
The Breguet No. 160 pocket watch, ordered by Marie-Antoinette
French Watchmakers Under Fire
Ferdinand Berthoud was one French watchmaker who was close to the French court before the revolution. In 1787, on the eve of the Revolution, he completed his ‘Longitude clock with mainspring, No. XXX’ pocket watch that was taken by second lieutenant Jean-Louis Delmotte aboard a crossing to the Americas. Luckily, he remained close to power after the Revolution, continuing his business and publishing several seminal works in horology, on the history and science of time. He was also appointed a first-class resident member of the Institut de France and a Knight of the Legion of Honour by then-emperor Napoleon in 1804. While childless, his nephew Pierre-Louis and his sons took up the trade and continued his legacy.
Ferdinand Berthoud showcasing his works
Others were not so lucky, however… Pierre Jaquet Droz, who had originally started his business in London in 1774, with great demand from Chinese customers for his pocket watches and automata, passed on the reins to his son, Henri-Louis, who moved to Geneva a decade later. Henri-Louis partnered with Jean-Frédéric Leschot, who managed the business at the time of the Revolution, and was faced with increasing financial stress as the Revolution and subsequent wars depleted his market of clients, who were either killed, fled, or lost their fortunes. The company was forced to only accept cash payments and stop selling to distant markets for risk of non-payment. And the deaths of father-son duo Pierre and Henri-Louis Jaquet Droz in the early 1790s only exacerbated the situation for the company. Ultimately, the company closed in the early 19th century, after having peaked with workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Geneva, and London prior to the Revolution. (Jaquet Droz was relaunched about 200 years later and focuses on wristwatches today.)
Another, minor case of a French watchmaker facing persecution as a result of the Revolution was Jean-Antoine Lépine. Lépine reportedly stopped using his signature as Louis XVI’s watchmaker at the time of the Revolution, and also had the sides of the original fleur-de-lis pointer on the hour hand of his Louis XVI mantel clock, from the late 1770s, cut off for their association to the French monarch. Luckily, Lépine’s firm continued making clocks for the likes of Napoleon, Spanish, and English monarchs after the Revolution.
Breguet and the Revolution
Abraham-Louis Breguet and the Breguet No. 265 pocket watch, circa 1792
Abraham-Louis Breguet, famed French watchmaker, had a high standing in France as a horologist at the time of the Revolution, and lived in the heart of Paris’ watchmaking district, in Quai de l’Horloge, during the years of turmoil that came. His business was in a precarious position, with decreasing revenues, and he was at risk of violence as the instability in the country increased. Breguet tried playing both sides, being acquainted with revolutionaries while still maintaining his political connections. One of such connections was Jean-Paul Marat, a leader of the radical Montagnard faction who Breguet once helped escape a violent mob by disguising him as a woman. As Breguet’s political predilections shifted more to the right and he fell in with the Girondins, he was forced to flee France when the Girondins were rounded up by the authorities, and reached out to his old friend Marat for help acquiring a passport to leave.
Breguet finally was able to flee France and moved to Switzerland in 1793, there he eventually settled in Le Locle, but still faced great financial difficulties as his company, Breguet & Co., was in shambles. His house in Quai de l’Horloge in Paris was declared state property, and he had a falling out with his old business partner Xavier Gide. It was only a year later, after the downfall of revolutionary leader Maximilien Robespierre, that he was able to return to Paris and restart his business, under the reign of Napoleon.
And so, while some French watchmakers were seemingly successful throughout the revolution, like Ferdinand Berthoud, other firms like Jaquet Droz were forced to close as a result. Ultimately, it's hard to say if the Revolution really did help expand the watch industry in Europe, as I previously alluded to. In reality, most moves by French watchmakers to other countries were just temporary, and the stigma they faced in France for their previous royal associations were also temporary, as they were welcomed by the new power figures in the country relatively warmly – continuing to produce magnificent works of horological art. If anything, the Revolution was a blow to the watch sector on the continent as many a French firm went under as a result of the chaos. Nonetheless, watchmakers were once again, maybe not in the middle, but on the sidelines of an important event in world history.
By: Andres Ibarguen
Read more:
Cunningham, John M. “Did Marie-Antoinette Really Say ‘Let Them Eat Cake’?” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/story/did-marie-antoinette-really-say-let-them-eat-cake.
“French Revolution summary.” Encyclopedia Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/summary/French-Revolution.
“‘Grande Complication’ pocket watch number 1160.” Breguet, https://www.breguet.com/en/house-breguet/manufacture/marie-antoinette-pocket-watch.
“Marine chronometer by Ferdinand Berthoud.” FHS, February 27th, 2020, https://www.fhs.swiss/eng/2020_02_27_01_Chronometrie_Ferdinand_Berthoud.html.
“Ferdinand Berthoud History.” Ferdinand Berthoud, http://objects.ferdinandberthoud.ch/en/chronometrie/ferdinand-berthoud-history.
“The Extraordinary History of Jaquet Droz.” Jaquet Droz, https://www.jaquet-droz.com/en/the-extraordinary-history-jaquet-droz.
Buchanan, Norma. “The Man Behind the Brand: Pierre Jaquet-Droz.” WatchTime, August 22nd, 2010, https://www.watchtime.com/featured/the-man-behind-the-brand-pierre-jaquet-droz/.
“Watch ca. 1766.” MET Museum, https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/187188.
“Jean-Antoine Lépine.” Richard Redding Antiques, https://www.richardreddingantiques.com/artists/57-jean-antoine-lepine/works/9410/.
Ibarguen, Andres F. “Breguet and the Revolution.” Montres Publiques, July 12th, 2020, https://montrespubliques.com/1minute-reads/breguet-and-the-revolution.