Wristwatches · Bracelet watch
Wristwatch by Broillat, Henry, Switzerland, 1795-1805
- Maker / attribution
- Broillat, Henry (maker)
- Date
- 1795-1805
- Historical period
- Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
- Country of origin
- Switzerland
- Place
- Switzerland, Switzerland
- Object type
- Bracelet watch
- Dimensions
- overall: 12 mm x 33 mm x 310 mm,
- Holding institution
- Science Museum Group, London
- Accession / object no.
- L2015-4097
- Credit line
- Lent by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers
- Catalogue title (original)
- Bracelet watch by Broillal
Record summary
Held and catalogued by Science Museum Group, London (object number L2015-4097), this is a bracelet watch by Broillat, Henry, made in Switzerland, Switzerland, dated 1795-1805. The Atlas places it in the Precision & Scientific Horology period (1750 – 1850) of its Wristwatches collection. Recorded dimensions: overall: 12 mm x 33 mm x 310 mm. The record is illustrated with 3 photographs.
Assembled from the source record's structured fields. Dates and attributions are given as the source states them; where a field is missing the Atlas leaves it blank rather than estimating.
Catalogue description
Science Museum Group description
Clockmakers' Museum No. 1187
Historical context
Precision & Scientific Horology (1750 – 1850)
Harrison solves longitude; Mudge invents the lever; Breguet's Paris workshop defines the modern watch.
Bracelet watches existed as jewellery for women in the early nineteenth century, but they were rare and individually made.
Read the period in the timelineMore wristwatches from this periodEarlier: Early Modern Horology
Atlas type guide
Wristwatches
Bracelet watches were worn by women from the early nineteenth century — Breguet made one for Caroline Murat, Queen of Naples, in 1810–12 — but the wristwatch only became a man's instrument with military use and aviation in the early twentieth century. Between the World Wars it overtook the pocket watch; the 1920s and 1930s brought rectangular Art Deco cases, water-resistant cases and the first automatic winding systems.
After 1945 the wristwatch became a carrier of identity — dress watches, sports and dive watches, chronographs, calendars — produced by Swiss, American, Japanese, German, Soviet and Chinese industries. The quartz revolution after 1969 and the mechanical renaissance since the 1990s, including the rise of independent watchmakers, complete the story.
What to look for
- The reference number (between the lugs or inside the case back) and serial number, the starting point for dating.
- The calibre: its maker and number are often stamped under the dial or on the bridge.
- Originality of dial, hands and crown — refinished ('redial') dials are common.
- Case material marks: 18K/750, 14K/585, stainless steel, gold-filled, plated.
Dating clues
- Wire-lug cases: before c. 1925.
- Water-resistant screw-down cases: from 1926.
- Quartz movements: from 1969; sapphire crystals widespread after c. 1980.
General guidance written by the Atlas editors about this kind of object. It is not a statement about this particular piece; for that, rely on the source record above and on physical examination.
