Abraham-Louis Breguet leaves his home in Neuchâtel as a teenager, and heads for Versailles and Paris for a watchmaking apprenticeship. In 1775, he opens his workshop in the Ile de la Cité in Paris, with the help of Abbot Joseph-François Marie, who takes him under his wings and introduces young Breguet to the French Court. French aristocracy quickly become Breguet’s clientele. Forced to leave France during the dark hours of the Revolution, he returns in 1795 to rebuild his business.
