Reine de Naples 8938: Breguet's Jewel-Encrusted Legend

The Reine de Naples watch has a special place in the Breguet collections.

Reine de Naples is the descendant of the first wristwatch, which was commissioned to be created for Napoleon's younger sister Caroline Murat. The Queen of Naples built up a collection of over thirty Breguet clocks and watches, but this piece certainly stood out.

Thanks to Abraham-Louis Breguet's diligent record-keeping, we even know the exact date when the watch was commissioned. He documented a watch with a bracelet commissioned for 5000 francs on June 8, 1810. The client received her watch just over two years later on December 21, 1812.

The watch was recreated 200 years after the revolutionary elegant model first appeared in 2002, which is when the first watch in the modern Reine de Naples collection was introduced. Not only were these models historically significant, their oblong oval case shape immediately made them stand out from the rest of the watchmaker's collections.

The more recent novelties have preserved this silhouette. The collection is constantly being updated but the shape remains unchanged. The dial has been through the most changes. It's been coated in blue lacquer, decorated with cameo work featuring three ballerinas, and the hands were replaced with a shape-shifting heart indication for this year's Valentine's Day.

Precious stones have now been used give the familiar watch a new look. This was the decoration of choice for the new Reine de Naples 8938. Diamonds weighing a total of over three karats blanket the entire surface of the dial. The winding crown is set with a diamond that has a rare briolette cut.

The dial is covered with snow-set stones, and the watch's bezel, inner flange and sole lug are dotted with brilliant-cut stones. If we look at the figures for the Reine de Naples 8938, its bezel, dial flange and lug are encrusted with 161 diamonds weighing approximately 1.82 karats, the diamond set in the winding crown weighs 0.26 karats, and there are another 384 diamonds weighing 0.89 karats on the dial.

The use of different techniques accentuates each of their special qualities. The multifaceted briolette-cut diamond reminiscent of a drop of water looks very different from the canvas of stones scattered across the dial.

They may be small in size, but they demonstrate the jewelers' mastery in selecting stones of various different sizes in order to cover as much of the dial's surface as possible. The oval case made of 18-karat white gold encloses the self-winding Caliber 537/3 adjusted in 6 positions.

The movement's Swiss straight-line lever escapement and balance spring are made of silicon, while platinum has been used for the oscillating weight. It provides a power reserve of 45 hours.