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Breguet No. 160

Breguet’s science gathered in one object: the pocket watch with every complication then known, ordered from Breguet in 1783 for or in the name of Marie-Antoinette and finished after his death; stolen from a Jerusalem museum in 1983 and recovered more than twenty years later.

Made Ordered 1783; finished 1820 (museum) or 1827 (Breguet), By Abraham-Louis Breguet's workshop, Paris; finished after his death, Now at Museum for Islamic Art (L.A. Mayer), Jerusalem, inv. WA 69

Companies Breguet

In the history France and the science of horology

A gold pocket watch hanging on a chain in a dark display case, its clear dial showing the wheels, levers and gilt parts of the movement behind Roman numerals.
Breguet No. 160, the 'Marie-Antoinette', on display in Jerusalem, photographed in September 2018.4 Photograph: Michael Vainshtein, CC BY-SA 4.0. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 2,721 × 4,081 px; CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Adapted; shared alike.

The commission

In 1783 an officer of Queen Marie-Antoinette's guard, whose name is not known, ordered a watch with every complication then known, with no limit on time or cost.1, 2, 5

The queen never saw it: she was executed in October 1793, and work stopped during Breguet's exile.1, 6

Its completion date differs by source: the Jerusalem museum says 1820, Breguet's own history 1827, four years after his death, and Wikipedia about 1802.2, 6, 7

The museum describes it as a gold watch with rock crystal covers and dial, showing calendar, thermometer and the equation of time; Breguet calls it a self-winding perpétuelle with a minute repeater.2, 7

Wikipedia, citing company records, gives its factory cost as 30,000 francs and says the firm kept it until it was sold to Sir Spencer Brunton in 1887.6

Salomons and Jerusalem

It entered the collection of Sir David Lionel Salomons (1851-1925), who wrote a major book on Breguet in 1921 and gathered the largest private Breguet collection.1, 2, 6

His daughter Vera Bryce Salomons founded the museum in Jerusalem in memory of the scholar Leo Aryeh Mayer, and gave it her father's watches and clocks, 55 or 57 of them by Breguet; the museum opened in 1974.2, 3, 8

A gold pocket watch hanging in a tall red display niche, with an illuminated text panel and a screen showing a painted portrait of a woman above it.
The Marie-Antoinette watch in its display case at the Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, March 2018.9 Photograph: Atzatz, CC BY-SA 4.0. View full original at Wikimedia Commons (opens in a new tab) · 1,755 × 3,120 px; CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab). Adapted; shared alike.

Theft and return

On the night of 15-16 April 1983 the museum was burgled and 106 clocks and watches were taken, No. 160 among them.3, 6, 8

In August 2006 a Tel Aviv appraiser told the museum that a lawyer's client, who had inherited stolen pieces from her late husband, wished to sell them back; the asking price of $2 million was negotiated down to $35,000, and No. 160 was among the pieces returned.3, 6, 8

Breguet dates the recovery to December 2007; the museum's Wikipedia article and the Quill & Pad report put the return in August 2006.3, 7, 8

The thief was identified as Na'aman Diller, who had died in 2004; further pieces were traced to safes and storage in France, the Netherlands and Israel, and by 2008 all but about ten had been recovered.3, 6

The Jerusalem Post reports that the restored collection went back on show in Jerusalem in July 2009.10

The new No. 160

Breguet says that in 2004 Nicolas G. Hayek, head of the Swatch Group, which by then owned the house, set its watchmakers the task of rebuilding No. 160 from archives and drawings; the new watch was shown in April 2008 in a case made from a Versailles oak.1, 7

Key dates

  1. 1783

    Ordered by an officer of the Queen's guard.1, 2

  2. 1827

    Finished, by Breguet's account (1820 per the museum).2, 7

  3. 1974

    The Jerusalem museum founded by Vera Salomons opens.3, 8

  4. 1983

    Stolen with 105 other pieces, 15-16 April.3, 6

  5. 2006

    Returned to the museum (December 2007 per Breguet).3, 7, 8

  6. 2008

    Breguet presents its new No. 160.1, 7

Where Breguet No. 160 leads

Facts and sources

Maker
Abraham-Louis Breguet's workshop, Paris; finished after his death2, 7
Made
Ordered 1783; finished 1820 (museum) or 1827 (Breguet)2, 7
Held by
Museum for Islamic Art (L.A. Mayer), Jerusalem, inv. WA 692, 3

Sources

  1. 1

    Order for watch N°160, known as the "Marie-Antoinette" watch (opens in a new tab), Breguet, official

  2. 2

    Watches collection: In Search of Lost Time (opens in a new tab), Museum for Islamic Art (L.A. Mayer), Jerusalem, public record

  3. 3

    Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia, independent

  4. 4

    Breguet No. 160, the 'Marie-Antoinette', on display in Jerusalem, photographed in September 2018. (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  5. 5

    The House of Breguet (opens in a new tab), Breguet, official

  6. 6

    Abraham-Louis Breguet (opens in a new tab), Wikipedia, independent

  7. 7

    Presentation of the "Marie-Antoinette" watch in a re-edition version (opens in a new tab), Breguet, official

  8. 8

    You are there: visiting the L.A. Mayer Museum for Islamic Art in Jerusalem (opens in a new tab), Quill & Pad (Bhanu Chopra), 30 May 2020, independent

  9. 9

    The Marie-Antoinette watch in its display case at the Museum for Islamic Art, Jerusalem, March 2018. (opens in a new tab), Wikimedia Commons, public record

  10. 10

    Making up for lost time (opens in a new tab), The Jerusalem Post (David Brinn), 19 July 2009, independent

Sources read November 11, 2026.