Be assured that that whole series would definitely be on my favorite books list, but I just can't get over the fact that my Jack wasn't played by an Englishman, and my Stephen was played by a tall, dashing and handsome actor. Still a good movie, however.
Oh, well. I did not mind the Kiwi/Aussie too much and quite enjoyed him. Have you received the mail with pics of two very dashing looking bears? *huggles, squeezes and smooches*
You got me: I had to look up what your reference to "Breguet repeater (no. 365)" was about, and found Aubrey's line from Post Captain: "Please remember the watch they took from me. A Breguet repeater, number 365, with a centre second hand."
I was motivated by the realization that you must have had something very specific in mind to mention a Breguet explicitly by serial number, let alone a repeater - which likely would have been worth more than the ship. Indeed, repeaters were popular primarily with the highest aristocracy, where looking at one's watch in society would have been considered the epitome of rudeness. The most famous of Breguet's repeaters, for example, was commissioned in 1783 by Marie Antoinette, and it took so long to complete that both she and A.L. Breguet were dead when it was finally delivered in 1827
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Good research, but it was Maturin's line, not Aubrey's.Aubrey certainly would never have worn a French watch, but Maturin, being against Napoleon's tyranny, not the French themselves, would certainly have worn one. Since Maturin was working as a spy against Napoleon, he spent plenty of time in France, and, being neither English nor a poor French speaker, could easily have gone there conspicuously without rousing much suspicion. As for the centre seconds hand, I'm not an expert, but I do know that the book takes place in 1804, and that same year Breguet made a watch for the czar that did have a second hand, although it was on a separate axis from the minute and hour hands. Perhaps this is what he meant?
My source was simply wrong on the speaker, apparently. Perhaps Maturin would have had a French watch, but certainly not a Breguet: that sort of display of wealth would attract considerable attention, a bad thing for a spy.
No one aboard a ship would have "worn" any kind of watch. Since waterproofing was not ivented until the 20th Century, anyone at sea would keep their watch locked up in a wooden box with rubber seals.
Second hands were quite common on Breguet and other watches, but a center-second hand - that is, a second hand that pivots at the same axis point as the minute hand - is quite another matter. Commonly, the second hand would pivot on an axis about halfway between the center of the dial (the minute hand's pivor axis) and the numeral 6 position.
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No Master and Commander? Shame ;D
Have a lovely weekend and do not work too much.
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Have you received the mail with pics of two very dashing looking bears?
*huggles, squeezes and smooches*
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I was motivated by the realization that you must have had something very specific in mind to mention a Breguet explicitly by serial number, let alone a repeater - which likely would have been worth more than the ship. Indeed, repeaters were popular primarily with the highest aristocracy, where looking at one's watch in society would have been considered the epitome of rudeness. The most famous of Breguet's repeaters, for example, was commissioned in 1783 by Marie Antoinette, and it took so long to complete that both she and A.L. Breguet were dead when it was finally delivered in 1827 ( ... )
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No one aboard a ship would have "worn" any kind of watch. Since waterproofing was not ivented until the 20th Century, anyone at sea would keep their watch locked up in a wooden box with rubber seals.
Second hands were quite common on Breguet and other watches, but a center-second hand - that is, a second hand that pivots at the same axis point as the minute hand - is quite another matter. Commonly, the second hand would pivot on an axis about halfway between the center of the dial (the minute hand's pivor axis) and the numeral 6 position.
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