Breguet Presents Souscription And Tact Watches
Breguet just launched a temporary exhibition at the Cité du Temps in Geneva showing “souscription” and tact watches. These two types of timepiece are special because they were developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet to offer more affordable timepieces to his customers. Indeed, the souscription watch is a very simplified timepiece with one single hand, and it came with a new commercial approach from the inventor: the customer had to pay one-quarter of the price in advance so that Breguet’s workshop would start manufacturing the watch. The souscription watch is still impressive thanks to the purity and the minimalism of its design. Watch N° 960, present in the video, is a good example. Three years later, in 1799, Breguet introduced the “tact” watch, which was also a simplified watch with a single, external, arrow-shaped indicator. This watch allowed the owner to read the time by touching the indicator, which revolved like a hand. Twelve raised markers on the side of the case indicated the hours. The watch could stay in the pocket and was accessible by fingers to read the time. It was a good and much more accessible option to the expensive, delicate minute repeater. Watches N° 1009 and N° 1576 constitute two versions of this principle. The exhibition also presents models from the Tradition collection which is now 10 years old.
