The Breguet watch company was founded in 1775 by Abraham-Louis Breguet in Paris, France. The founder married the daughter of a prosperous French bourgeois and her dowry helped finance his first workshop. Firstly manufacturing pocket watches the watchmaker coined many world firsts before 1800 including the first self winding watch, invention of the gong spring and the anti shock device. In 1801 they celebrated the patent of the tourbillon regulator and in 1810 manufactured their first wristwatch commissioned by the Queen of Naples. A. L Breguet died in 1823 but his company continued to develop lasting high quality timepieces. In 1838 Queen Victoria purchased a Breguet watch, followed by other famous names such as Winston Churchill and Arthur Rubenstein. The number of references to Breguet watches in French and foreign literature is an indication of the remarkable reputation enjoyed by both the firm and its founder. The company was purchased in 1999 by the Swatch Group, one year before the 225th anniversary of the house of Breguet. Breguet watches are distinctive in their elegance and are often associated with the 'Breguet Numerals' the elegant penmanship with which the numerals are crafted. To ensure authenticity Breguet and engraver Jean Pierre Droz invented the "secret signature" on the dial. This marking can only be seen by looking through a loupe in special lighting. Modern Breguet watches, which are built by hand by the most talented Swiss watchmakers and feature hand-engraved ("guilloche") silver dials, delicately finished cases with reeded edges and the famed Breguet signature.