The watch has a gold case with a silver dial. In the centre is the circle of the hours, in Roman numbers, while the circle of the minutes runs around the border. At the top there are the two circles for the seconds and at the bottom the indicator of the state of the winding.
This chronometer was built by the Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet (Neuchâtel 1747- Paris 1823), perhaps the greatest figure in modern clock-making for the brilliance of his inventions and the elegance of his designs. This example incorporates the “tourbillon”, a refined device which Breguet patented in 1801. It prevents inaccuracies due to changes in the position of the chronometer. The clock could be used during navigation, housed in its ebony box fitted with screws, which enabled it to be fixed in position aboard a ship.