Platinum

From obscurity to the limelight

Originally derived from the Spanish word plata and its derivative platina, which translate to ‘silver’ and ‘little silver’, the masculine noun platinum takes its name from these origins. The suffixes -ina or -ita carrying affectionate and even familiar connotations refer to a smaller size and lower value. This term describes a white metal discovered by the Conquistadors shortly after their arrival in Central America between the 15th and 17th centuries, yet dismissed by the military explorers from the Iberian Peninsula and their scientific contemporaries, all of whom were obsessed with the quest for gold embodied by the famous El Dorado.

Nonetheless, several millennia before the Hispanic invasion, many ancestral cultures – from ancient Egypt to the pre-Columbian era – had grasped the advantages of platinum, which is easily workable as well as unalterable. Miners extracted the metal in the form of heavy nuggets and then artisans used it in either its pure form or combined with other, often ferrous, materials to make jewellery, ornaments and decorative inlays on certain sarcophagi and various utensils.

It was not until the 1740s that European scientists such as Sevilla-based astronomer Antonio de Ulloa, English blacksmith Charles Wood and his fellow countryman and chemist William Brownrigg became interested in the physical properties of what would later be called the ‘metal of kings’ – and platinum finally moved from obscurity to the limelight.
 

The physicist of time

From the very first years of his training as a watchmaker in Paris, surrounded by experts such as Ferdinand Berthoud and Jean-Antoine Lépine, Abraham-Louis Breguet expressed a keen interest in mathematics and notably physics, which he nurtured thanks to the lessons given by Abbé Joseph-François Marie, who shared his Cartesian spirit.  Combined with his insatiable curiosity, this passion led him to explore new avenues, try new approaches and devise new techniques in his workshop on the Quai de l’Horloge, all intended to advance the science of time.

During his initial research in 1775, the talented Neuchâtel mechanical expert turned his attention to this ‘unknown’ metal from the American continent, whose composition was still being examined. It was rarely used – almost exclusively in jewellery – and above all proved very complex to machine. Platinum’s melting point of around 1,800 degrees Celsius meant that few manufacturers had furnaces robust enough to withstand such temperatures.

For Breguet, this ancient yet modern material possessed the ideal qualities for the oscillating weight of its self-winding pocket watches, known as perpétuelles. These watches operated by simple everyday movements, since platinum’s density and weight were greater than those of gold. He studied platinum, designed oscillating weights shaped like rounded hammers, consulted scientists to validate his own calculations and contacted his usual suppliers to source and cast the metal.

 

An innovative metal

Among the carefully preserved archives in the vaults of the Breguet Museum on Place Vendôme, one of the oldest registers tracing the production from 1787 onwards of a new series of perpétuelle watches reveals its secrets. These models were produced in small quantities and made a major contribution to Abraham-Louis Breguet’s success at the French court, notably with Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette as his customers. The ingenious watchmaker’s name inscribed in this ledger confirms that he personally crafted a few platinum oscillating weights at the time, while the rest of the series was made by his favourite manufacturers.

Abraham-Louis Breguet’s desire to innovate in the realm of new materials was not confined to these oscillating weights, as he decided to extend his exploration of platinum – which was rare, expensive and heavier than other metals – by including it in case production. However, such examples remained limited according to the voluminous sales records, which mention one timepiece sold in 1806, followed by a souscription watch (a single-hand model) in 1807 and then six other timepieces of which three were of the souscription type. 
 

For Abraham-Louis Breguet, this material offered the ideal qualities for driving the oscillating weight of his perpétuelle watches.

Later, in the early days of the fashion for two-tone creations, the Quai de l’Horloge workshop offered watches featuring gold cases fitted with platinum bezels. After the death of Abraham-Louis Breguet, when his son Antoine-Louis inherited the company, small chains combining metals of varying origins were also produced.

Abraham-Louis Breguet’s introduction of platinum into watchmaking was a pioneering act that propelled the metal out of the shadows and into the spotlight, before it gradually receded. As the records show, no watches were produced in this metal during the second half of the  19th century. Moreover, the 1920s and the fashion for osmior – a grey-coloured gold alloy now considered the ancestor of white gold – contributed to this unfortunate yet temporary disappearance.
 

More precious than gold

Thanks to technical progress in the field of chemistry that helped identify it, as well as experience serving to better master it, platinum managed to establish itself in a multitude of industries around five decades ago. It is classified in the group of strategic materials that includes natural resources regarded as limited, being present only in certain regions of the globe, with South Africa alone accounting for 70% of worldwide platinum mining production. Its extraction is moreover both difficult and expensive. More broadly, it plays a vital role from economic – and by extension geopolitical – standpoints.
 

This new attitude towards this metal – often considered more precious than gold even though its value is subject to fluctuations – corresponded to its big comeback in the Breguet collections and notably the first generation of Marine watches, from the 1990s onwards. In both jewellery and watchmaking, 950 platinum (the 95% composition guaranteed by the legal title) became a must-have. It is a symbol of eternity, reflected in the exchange of wedding rings, because its exceptional luminous ‘armour’ is more solid, more scratchproof and more resistant to the passage of time, as well as to adversity. Its strength is associated with the beauty of Haute Horlogerie and the mechanical magic of Grand Complications. What’s more, its silvery colour – that is more discreet than the flamboyance of 
yellow and rose gold – is attracting a growing number of prestigious customers, while its greater weight compared to steel makes an elegant statement on the wrist.

Platinum finds its way into various lines, on the cases or oscillating weights, to accompany complex mechanisms such as the running equation of time, perpetual calendar, moon phase, ultra-thin tourbillon or double tourbillon, as well as in timepieces designed to celebrate an anniversary or special event.
 

Contemporary radiance

There is no need to be a metal specialist to distinguish platinum from any other similar-looking material. One need only be guided by the senses, allowing the gaze to take in its ashen white shimmer evoking the lunar surface, while the hand caresses the object and feels its weight in the palm. While watchmaking provides the essential function of tracking time, timepieces themselves offer something more, an intimate connection. Time is worn against the skin and platinum’s presence is thus felt, both physically and symbolically.

Above and beyond the personal, sentimental value attributed to a model, the refined aspect of this material, with its two-fold ancestral and modern personality, magnifies the technical or artistic work undertaken by the watchmakers and artisans exercising their craft in the Manufacture’s Vallée de Joux workshops. This is admirably showcased in the new models presented during the autumn of 2024.

Providing a touch of beauty that demonstrates unadulterated virtuosity, it highlights the intense depth of the black Grand Feu enamel on the Classique 5177 and 7787 duo; underpins the mechanical power of the Marine Tourbillon Equation Marchante 5887; highlights the intricate workmanship on the face of the Classique Double Tourbillon Quai de l’Horloge 5345; as well as  bringing to life the distinctive dial architecture of the Marine Tourbillon 5577.