Communication - A Novel Device
WORLDTEMPUS - 23 August 2012
I sometimes wonder about the unusual details that appear in novels I read: the random items that are mentioned; the minutiae that are meaningful for some authors, but for others merely form part of the broader tapestry of their books and have no actual importance in themselves.
Horological mentions have a long literary history, but the interesting part is perhaps to understand why an author has mentioned a particular brand or even model. How do we know whether it's a product placement, a device used as a signifier of a character's interests or personality, a sign that the author is a watch enthusiast, or a nudge-nudge form of private watch code to those in the know since the likelihood is that 99 percent of readers won't even notice?
Breguet's literary tradition
Any discussion about timepieces in novels must begin with Breguet. Not only are this brand's literary mentions the most well-known, but the marque is proud of them and has used them in advertising. Here are some notable ones.
"Breguet makes a watch which for twenty years never goes wrong, while the pitiful machine by which we live runs amiss and produces pain at least once a week." Stendhal, a nineteenth-century French writer, made this flattering allusion to Breguet in his travel piece, "Rome, Naples et Florence," providing a nice bit of publicity for the firm.
"A dandy on the boulevards…Strolling at leisure until his Breuget, ever vigilant, reminds him it is midday," wrote Alexander Pushkin in his 1829 novel "Eugene Onegin." This is perhaps one of the most well-known literary Breguet mentions. Pushkin's family was, in fact, a long-time client of Abraham-Louis Breguet, having patronized him since the early nineteenth century.
Similarly, French dramatist Prosper Merimee constituted the second generation of his family to be a client (and friend) of Abraham Louis Breguet. "The traveler regrets taking so much money with him. He looks at his Breguet watch - perhaps it's for the last time. He would have been happier if it were hanging safely from his mantelpiece in Paris." ("Lettre d'Espagne," 1830)
Along with Pushkin, Honore de Balzac's Breguet mentions are amongst the most well-known. De Balzac used the timepiece as a symbol to imply a certain wealth and standing: "He turned towards the mantelpiece, noticed a little square box on it, opened it and found inside it a piece of paper covering a Breguet watch," one passage within "Le Pere Goriot," written in 1834, states.
Alexandre Dumas the elder (1802-1870) made more than one reference to Breguet watches in his 1845 novel "The Count of Monte Cristo," and even included a useful price reference for future generations. "Mattre Pastrini drew from his fob a magnificent Breguet watch, bearing the name of its maker, the Paris stamp and a count's coronet. "There," he said. "Dear me," said Albert, "I congratulate you upon it; I have one almost the same." He took his watch out of his waistcoat, "And it cost me three thousand francs."
The literary elite's fascination with Breguet continued beyond the 1800s. In a short story called "The Missing Watch," Alexander Ivanovich Kuprin (1870 - 1938) describes a drinking party held one evening by a group of cavalry officers. One of the officers, Count Olkhovsky, boasts of his rare Breguet watch, only to discover that it is not in his pocket. All the officers agree to submit to a search, with the exception of one Lieutenant Chekmarev, who finds himself having to leave the party in disgrace.
A few minutes later, Count Olkhovsky's Breguet is found where it had slipped beneath the punch bowl. Chekmarev meanwhile, has returned to his quarters, where he is eventually found with a bullet through his head. A suicide note on his writing table reads, "Farewell, dear comrades. I swear before God....that I am innocent of this theft. I could not allow myself to be searched for the sole reason that I had in my pocket a Breguet precisely similar to that of Count Olkhovsky, left to me by my grandfather."
Historical novels
However, is not just literature written in the nineteenth century that lent itself to Breguet appearing in novels; it has also been used in twentieth century fiction set during that period. The historical allure of Breguet in France was picked up by Patrick O'Brian (1914-2000), whose many books contain detailed descriptions of the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. O'Brian - whose perhaps most famous legacy was the 2003 film "Master and Commander" starring Russell Crowe, which was loosely based on a number of elements from his Aubrey-Maturin series - was an amateur horologist. He also paid tribute to Breguet in 1999's "Blue at the Mizzen": "They were both indeed Breguet watches, wonderfully accurate, wonderfully resistant."
Similarly, John Fowles mentions the grand watchmaker in 1967's "The French Lieutenant's Woman," whose story commences in 1867. "He takes out his watch, a Breguet…an instrument from the bench of the greatest of watchmakers."
"Watch" for part two on Monday!
WATCH SPOTTING - A Novel Device (2)
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