A.-L. Breguet, born in Neuchâtel in 1747, set up his own business on the Quai de l'Horloge, Île de la Cité in Paris. He had recently married and moved into a building overlooking Quai de l'Horloge on one side and Place Dauphine on the other. He became the owner at the end of the Revolution and passed it on to his heirs.