BREGUET ET FILS [寶璣] | A FINE AND UNUSUAL GOLD RUBY CYLINDER WATCH WITH DATE AND SHORT CHAIN NO. 2348, 'MONTRE SIMPLE' SOLD TO SON ALTESSE ROYALE LE DUC DE CAMBRIDGE ON 10 APRIL 1818 FOR 1172 FRANCS [罕有黃金懷錶備紅寶石工字輪擒縱機芯、日期及短錶鍊，編號2348，1818年4月10日以1,172法郎售予劍橋公爵殿下]

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge

Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge (1774-1850) was the youngest son of King George III to survive childhood. 

The present lot contains one of Breguet’s celebrated inventions, the pare-chute (parachute) suspension. When creating his pieces, Breguet observed that the pivots in the balance wheel were extremely fragile and in danger of breaking if the watch were dropped or received any physical trauma. In 1790 he set about creating a shock protection system to help prevent future breakages. He designed the pivots in a cone-shaped form held in place by smaller, cone-shaped dishes and mounted on a strip spring. This design allowed the stronger pivot shoulders of the balance staff to absorb any shock, thereby making his piece infinitely more durable.

Famously, he gave a public demonstration of this new shock-absorption system at a gathering at the house of his friend, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Charles Maurice de Talleyrand. Breguet threw his watch to the ground and had a guest pick it up and examine that it had not sustained any damage, and continued to work properly. He finalized the design by 1806 and fitted many of his watches with this system. The design served as a forerunner to the Incabloc and other contemporary forms of shock absorption. Also known as the suspension élastique, a full description of this invention can be found in George Daniels, The Art of Breguet, 1975, pp. 331-332, figs. 407a-b, 408 & 409a-b.