Breguet

justpen
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Even the Kings Master Gunmakers sourced components.

Thanks for your congrats., SJX. I am delighted with both of them.

Your question as to the Master Gun Maker’s engraving being done in house is very relevant to modern watch talk today about "In House Movements" etc.

The Master Gun Makers during  the peak of their art in the early 1800,s like Gastinne Renette, Le Page, C.D. Tanner etc, are the equivalent to today’s top 5 watch houses, and even back then they very rarely completely built a total 'In House' gun. Well that is the wrong wording; they built them in house .....out of parts from other specialists.

Barrels, Locks (trigger mechanisms) stocks and engraving were almost always by specialists houses and then finished shaped and polished, engraved, or not, to the design and standards of the particular gun house.

Rarely did a particular maker have enough output to employ a master engraver full time and  it was not until mass production started in America in the late 1800 that engravers became ‘In House”  so to speak, or barrels and trigger systems were made in house and by then it was mass production.

I am sure that many watch houses followed simular practices with everything from cases, dials, hands, winders etc.....were made by goldsmiths etc.

The interesting thing today, is that the collectors of works, by these Master Gunsmiths, never ever question if the barrel or lock was an in house movement.  It was a Le page or a Tanner and that is all that matters.

The acceptance is more the overall result of the end product that that gun maker did output.

It would be interesting to know if the gun purists of the early 1800s had simular discussions as we do about where their favourite manufacturer obtained his parts from, and if they gave any credit for in house production.

For reliability it might have been better to have a barrel or trigger mechanisms built by the barrel maker or locksmith etc, and know it would not blow up in your face or fail....... and then have the overall gun assembled by the gun maker who knew how to make it all run like clockwork.

Reliability and accuracy was the key to having a  “piece” that worked correctly.

Could be that maybe it is the same with watches, and  we are overlooking something when we look for “in House”?

Kindest regards,

Jack