The posterity of Abraham-Louis Breguet loses more and more of its interest in watchmaking in favor of other sectors like electricity or, later on, aviation. Louis-Clément, representing the third generation, sells the watchmaking branch in 1870 to the head of the workshop, Edward Brown. The Brown family, aware of the historical importance of Breguet and of the patrimony it is representing, will lead the House for the next century.
“At times the heart plays tricks and lets us down. The vigilant are right. For God (the mighty Breguet) gave us faith, and seeing it was good, improved it with a watchful eye."Victor Hugo Les Chansons des rues et des bois, 1865
Author, playwright, poet, political figure, member of the Academy and committed intellectual, Victor Hugo (1802-1885) is regarded as the leading French writer of the Romantic era. His Les Chansons des rues et des bois, written among other works on the Anglo-Norman island of Guernesey in 1865, includes an homage to Breguet.