Patek Philippe

williebegoode
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Part of the Huguenot Cross

Geneva came under the rule of Jean Calvin during the French Wars of Religion when Huguenots fled France to  Protestant regions in Germany and Switzerland. The Huguenot Cross was made up of a Maltese cross with four fleur-de-lis at the cross intersections. Take out the Maltese cross (adopted by Vacheron-Constantin) and the four fleur-de-lis come together to make up the Calatrava Cross. The term 'Calatrava' was from the name of a fortress and battle between the Spanish Christians and the Moors (the Christians won the battle) who occupied the Iberian peninsula until 1492. It seems almost impossible today to understand the animosity between the Catholics and Protestants during that period, but it was stronger than most given it credit. (One Swiss canton would not allow Jesuit priests until 1971!)  The schisms were deep and long as during that period religion ruled the mindsets in Europe as well as in the Muslim world. When Breguet fled France during the Terrors following the French Revolution, he went to stay with his grandparents in Switzerland  who had been Huguenots who had fled persecutions France themselves during the War of Religion in France. In any event, the Huguenot Cross and its symbols have been redefined over and over, and the watch companies that have incorporated them in their logos have no intention of reminding anyone that their symbols may have resulted from religious strife that excludes one religion or another from buying their timepieces.

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