Invented back in 1795, the rare Sympathique clock which was a master carriage clock which rewinds and sets to time detachable pocket watch, actually helped cement name of Abraham-Louis Breguet as a noted French horologist. In his lifetime, this founder of the Swiss luxury watch company Bréguet was considered the leading watchmaker of his day with clientele including European nobility. Notably, the Sympathique clocks were variously commissioned by the Spanish and Russian crown, Napoleon and by Britain’s King George IV. Now, one of only about a dozen Sympathiques known to exist, the Duc d’Orléans Breguet Sympathique developed by horologist Abraham-Louis Breguet back in 1835 got sold for whopping $6.8 million, to become the world’s most expensive clock. Originally estimated auctioneer Sotheby’s to sell for $5 million, this particular clock was last auctioned back in year 1999 by the Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois, U.S., for a record price of $5,777,500.
French clock by Abraham-Louis Bréguet is the world’s most expensive clock at $6.8M
This gold and red tortoiseshell quarter-striking clock reportedly bought by a private museum was the highlight of Sotheby’s watches and clocks sale which totaled $11.7 million.
Standing two feet high, the French clock Duc d’Orléans is the only Sympathique known to wind, set to time and regulate its watch via an integrated cradle mounted on the clock’s pediment.
Also, we have earlier seen the sale offering of an extraordinary bejeweled elephant clock which is the most complicated musical clock with mechanical movements.
Via: Sothebys
