From left to right : LADOIRE Genève Chairman Founder, Lionel Ladoire, Laurent Picciotto, Chronopassion Paris-based boutique owner and LADOIRE exclusive distributor in France and Richard Piras, Managing Director of LADOIRE Genève

Lionel Ladoire and Richard Piras, LADOIRE Genève’s Chairman Founder and Managing Director hosted over 200 guests to unveil Swiss watchmaker first collection, Roller Guardian Time. A thrilling event organized in partnership with Sotheby’s the oldest fine art auctioneers in the world and the leader in this domain in Paris.

Paris, September 22th, 2009 – Roller Guardian Time, the first LADOIRE collection was for the first time showcased in France on September 21st.

Available since August at famous and renowned Parisian watch boutique Chronopassion, Swiss watch brand, LADOIRE organized a VIP and press event in close partnership with Sotheby’s, the oldest fine art auctioneers in the world, to showcase the full Roller Guardian Time range. As largest and leader in this domain in Paris and Reference in horology, Sotheby’s was the perfect partner for LADOIRE.

LADOIRE’s presentation took place during the exhibition cocktail of Photography, Fine Art and Furniture Sotheby’s upcoming auction.

Over 200 guests gathered at famous Charpentier Gallery for first LADOIRE’s event held in Paris, emphasizing the importance of French market for the Swiss watchmaking Brand. Amongst the guests who took part were many clients, VIPS, collectors, watch aficionados and connoisseurs.

The 6 exceptional models of RGT collection attracted a lot of guests’ attention. Highlight of the presentation, the Sur-Mesure line made of 3 exclusive and totally customized pieces Black & Black, Haute Couture and Hot Snow watches were particularly appreciated.

Ladoire RGT Titanium, Front

About Ladoire

Founded in 2007 by Lionel Ladoire and Richard Piras, the eponymous company has positioned itself in the luxury sector, on the market of high-end Swiss watches with complications.

Lionel Ladoire, passionate in micromechanics and after 20 years in the sector of fine jewelry, is at the heart of Ladoire products. He designs and develops timepieces that are full-blooded and exclusive.

Richard Piras, 15 years of experience in financing technology and innovation management, engineer by training, organizes the industrial and marketing development of the company.

Frédéric Esnoult, watchmaking expert in the creation of exceptional complications and in the art of “tourbilllon”-making, brings to the young brand his knowhow and expertise.

Under the label “Helvet Mechanic”, Swiss watch brand expands its distribution network to a total of 13 countries on 4 continents:

• Asia: Singapore, Hong Kong
• Europe: France, Italy
• Middle East: Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Dubai, Qatar
• Russia / emerging countries: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Ukraine

Ladoire RGT Red Gold, Back

Roller Guardian Time : First LADOIRE’s creation:

First timepiece created by LADOIRE, RGT – Roller Guardian Time – has a mechanical movement with automatic winding mechanism, totally exclusive and features a neo-classical design of the most daring. Result of a cutting-edge technology, this innovative timepiece is already hailed by specialized watch Medias.

Fully tailor customizable, RGT is available in 3 basic versions: red gold, white gold and titanium, globally named the Regular line. In 2009, the exclusive production of LADOIRE timepieces will reach a total of 60 pieces.

Métiers d'Art Les Masques

September 11 – 20, 2009 at the Grand Palais, Paris
Vacheron Constantin the oldest watch manufacturer in the World, will display its Metiers d’Art collection within a space featuring exceptional timepieces and craftsmen at work.

The oldest watch manufacturer in the world whose uninterrupted business and transfer of know-how since its founding in 1755, Vacheron Constantin continues for over 250 years of excellence in the creation and production of its time pieces. Meanwhile, true to the three fundamentals of its mark: mastered technique, harmonious aesthetics and exceptional finishes.

Thus, throughout its history, year after year, generation after generation, Vacheron Constantin has continued to deepen his art through dazzling creations, drawing on his experience, mastery of certain know-how and sense of creation and technological innovation and aesthetics.

Among his collections – Patrimony, Malta, Quai de l’Ile, Overseas … – it is one that represents the essence of the know-how cultivated and controlled by Vacheron Constantin in the very particular domain of crafts of decorative arts applied at the watchmaking creation: The time-”Métiers d’Art”, which will be exhibited next to “Les Historiques” time pieces in the space dedicated to Vacheron Constantin at the Salon du Collectionneur in Paris.

Also in this space, Vacheron Constantin will provide an opportunity for visitors to admire the craft of his “Métiers d’Art” department at work, in particular – among the master-watchmakers, Master-sertisseurs, Master-guillocheurs who express their artistic talent on a daily basis in Geneva … – that of Master engraver and Master enameler who will come especially from Geneva to Paris to share their passion and expertise.

Métiers d’Art Hommage aux Grands Explorateurs

Miguel Novillo Astrada

Paris, 18 June 2009 – This is the very first time that an “80 Goals” match has been held in Europe. Eleven of the world’s best polo players are competing at Polo de Paris, in a unique event known as “The Perfect Match”.

In 2008, to announce its partnership with Gstaad Polo Club and to present its new Argentinian ambassador Miguel Novillo Astrada, Hublot had selected Argentina. A few weeks after these fruitful and cordial meetings, the famous “Perfect Match” was organised in Buenos Aires, bringing together the world’s best players. Hublot immediately made a commitment with them (and with Miguel) in the venture: which was to recreate a legendary match that had been held just once in the history of polo, in 1975, in which 8 players with a handicap of 10 (the highest qualification in this discipline) took part. The match, dubbed “80 Goals”, was held at the Centauros Club in Buenos Aires, with Hublot once again reaching the peak of the art of this sport.

In 2009, the “Perfect Match” is to be held for the first time outside Argentina, at Polo de Paris. Indeed, the Argentinian Polo Players’ Association wanted to export this extraordinary event. “Bagatelle” now offers a spectacle that is now to bear the name “Hublot, the Perfect Polo Match”. The Swiss watchmaker is delighted to associate its name with this prestigious match, which promises to live long in the memory… To mark this big premiere on European soil, Hublot has created a Big Bang with the effigy of the Paris Club, bearing the Polo de Paris logo on its dial, and with a “Hublot, the Perfect Polo Match” transfer on the back. The series comprises 50 numbered pieces.

Miguel Novillo Astrada

The Hublot watches ambassador is a polo personality well-known for his extraordinary playing career, and who at 29 years old earned the privilege of becoming one of the few players in the world to have a handicap of 10. Coming from a family which had carried on the polo tradition for generations, along with his four brothers he is a member of one of the most successful teams in the history of polo, “Aguada Polo Club”, which embodies consistency in sporting excellence.

Players participating in “Hublot, The Perfect Polo Match”

Adolfo Cambiaso (Jr.), Gonzalo Pieres (Jr.), Marcos Heguy, Agustín Merlos, Mariano Aguerre, Pablo Mac Donough, Bartolomé Castagnola, Facundo Pieres, Miguel Novillo Astrada, Lucas Monteverde (Jr.) and Juan Martín Nero.

Hublot Big Bang Polo de Paris

Technical Specifications

Case “Big Bang” diameter 44.5 mm, in micro-blasted black ceramic
Bezel Micro-blasted tantalum with 6 H-shaped titanium screws; embedded, polished & locked
Crystal Sapphire with interior/exterior anti-reflective treatment
Bezel lug Black composite resin
Lateral inserts Black composite resin
Case-back Titanium with sapphire crystal, “HUBLOT THE PERFECT POLO MATCH PARIS 2009″ logo transfer
Crown Black PVD titanium with black rubber insert
Push-pieces Black PVD titanium, rectangular, with black rubber insert
Water resistance 100 m or 10 ATM
Dial Matt black with ruthenium coloured satin-finished numerals and applique indexes, grey “POLO DE PARIS” logo, at 9 o’clock
Hands Sand-blasted, ruthenium, black Super Luminova, chronograph hand with H counterweight
Movement Mechanical chronograph with automatic winding Hublot calibre HUB44 developed with La Joux-Perret
No. of components 252
Jewels 27
Bridges Satin-finished, bevelled & polished
Screws Black PVD
Date Trapezoid window at 4.30
Oscillating weight Tungsten carbide with black PVD treated dimpled surface
Main plate Sand-blasted & rhodium-plated
Barrel With reinforced spring
Escapement Glucydur hairspring
Power Reserve 42 hours
Strap Black Alligator Gummy outer surface, rubber inner
Clasp Black PVD steel deployant
Series Limited, 50 numbered pieces from 01/50 to 50/50

Breguet No. 5 Quarter-repeating, self-winding watch. 1789-94. Sold to Count Journiac Saint-Méard in March 1794. Collection Montres Breguet S.A. © Montres Breguet S.A.

Through this retrospective of the works of Abraham-Louis Breguet (1747-1823), visitors to the Louvre will discover the art of watchmaking at its apogee, evidenced by these unique precision timepieces, combining genius, virtuoso techniques and avant-garde aesthetics. Assembled in the exhibition are exceptional loans – watches, clocks and measuring instruments – alongside portraits, archival documents and patents that span Abraham-Louis Breguet’s entire career.

Abraham-Louis Breguet an inventor at the court of Louis XVI

Born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Breguet completed his apprenticeship and studies in France from 1762 onwards. In 1775, at the age of 28, he married and managed to establish his own business on the Quai de l’Horloge, Paris. Watchmakers of the French capital then competed with Geneva and London in the field of scientific and artistic innovation. Breguet explored and perfected these inventions and complications. But he was not recognized as a Master Watchmaker until 1784.

These intervening years saw the gradual development of the automatic (or self-winding) watch and a timepiece with a repeater (or chiming mechanism). The first self-winding watches were purchased by Louis XVI, Marie-Antoinette and several high ranking personalities at the court of Versailles. This led, in 1783, to Breguet receiving a commission for an extraordinary watch incorporating all the innovations and complications known at the time. The end result would be one of the most famous of all Breguet watches, No. 160, also called the “Marie-Antoinette”, which, after several lengthy interruptions, was eventually finished in 1827, i.e. four years after Abraham-Louis Breguet’s death.

These watches immediately reveal the originality of his style, characterized by functional simplicity, technical mastery and flawless craftsmanship. His flat watch cases, easily legible numerals, rectilinear hands and guilloched dials made Breguet watches both unique works of art and discreet, practical, everyday objects, unlike the ornate, ostentatious timepieces made in the last quarter of the 18th century.

The Revolutionary interlude

During the Revolutionary period, Breguet made regular trips to England, where he shared the fruit of his research with the watchmaker John Arnold, while enlarging his clientele, which already included the Prince of Wales. In 1793, fearing the consequences of his former relationship with members of the Court and his moderate ideas, Breguet returned to Switzerland. He pursued his research, while striving to run what was left of his Parisian workshops from across the Alps.

On his return to Paris in May 1795, Breguet started up business again with new models, notably a simple watch with one hand, known as the “subscription watch” (an advance deposit of a quarter of the price was paid when the order was placed), launched with the aid of an advertising leaflet. This revealed the subtle balance between the researcher and the entrepreneur, who combined constantly updated unique models with functional timepieces. In 1796, Breguet invented a new type of travel clock that went on functioning during transportion. General Bonaparte purchased the first one to take on his Egyptian campaign.

Breguet No. 4009 Observation chronometer Forerunner of the modern chronograph. Sold in 1825 to Mr Whaley Collection Montres Breguet S.A. © Montres Breguet S.A.

A European reputation under the Consulate and Empire

Thus began a thriving period for the House of Breguet, in terms of both sales and inventions, which seemed to spur one another on. Pure research and applied art always fused in Breguet’s work. The first patent he registered for one of his inventions was in 1798 for constant force escapement (the mechanism of the watch is driven by a rigorous constant force). Shown at France’s First Exhibition of Industrial Products (1798), in a travel clock and a metronome, it won Breguet a gold medal. The following year his “tact watch”, which enabled the wearer to tell the time by touching the watch face, was launched on the market. At France’s Third Exhibition (1802), the House of Breguet attracted a military clientele on presenting its “deck watch” and “Longitude watch”, while in 1806, the public were introduced to the “tourbillon regulator” (device that neutralizes the effects of gravity on the workings of watch movements).

Although kept in the background by Napoleon I, Breguet received orders from the imperial court and his entourage. Always ahead of its time, the company also exported its timepieces through a network in and outside of Europe, having understood at an early date that its survival depended on becoming international. England, Spain and Russia were its principal foreign markets, but the political situation at the end of the Empire slowed down Breguet’s activity considerably. To compensate for the markets it lost, the company developed its sales in the Ottoman Empire by adapting its models to Turkish tastes.

Ultimate recognition during the Restoration

When the Bourbons returned to power, the House of Breguet saw a spectacular turnaround in its activity. Its European clientele reburgeoned and included loyal customers such as Tsar Alexander I of Russia and King George IV of England. Prestigious timepieces once owned by them will be on display in this exhibition. In France, Louis XVIII publicly displayed his respect for Breguet by appointing him Watchmaker to the Royal Navy in 1815 and awarding him a seat in the Academy of Sciences in 1816. At the Exhibition of 1819, as member of the jury, Breguet presented a retrospective of his clockmaking career, during which he had raised this precision craft to a degree of unprecedented excellence. The reliability and streamlined designs of his timepieces were far ahead of his era and already belonged to modernity.

This tradition lives on at Breguet today in innovative timepieces, thus confirming their precursory status that bears witness to European culture and history.

Visitors information

Opening times : daily except Tuesdays, 9am-6pm. Late-night opening until 10 pm on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Admission : access to the exhibition is included in the admission to the permanent collections of the museum: €9; €6 after 6pm on Wednesdays and Fridays. Free admission for under-26s from the European Union, under-18s, the unemployed, card-holders (Louvre jeunes, Louvre professionnels, Louvre enseignants and Louvre étudiants partenaires) and Friends of the Louvre. Free admission for everybody on the first Sunday of the month.
Further information
01 40 20 53 17 / www.louvre.fr