Marie-Antoinette of Austria, Louis XVI’s wife and Queen of France, was a passionate admirer of both the watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet and dressmaker Rose Bertin who made her sometimes ostentatious outfits in the 1780s. Les Volants de la Reine watch embodies the expert union between mechanical genius and luxury couture. The oval white gold case looks like it’s swathed in glittering garb; approximately 466 brilliant-cut diamonds, 11 baguette-cut diamonds and 2 cushion-cut sapphires adorn the bezel, case, chapter ring and lugs tied in a bow. Two blue-toned “open tipped” hands tell the hours and minutes off-centre in the lower half whilst the Breguet medallion is showcased in the upper half of the opaline mother-of-pearl dial. The time functions are powered by the self-winding 586 calibre designed by the L’Abbaye factory in the heart of the Vallée de Joux. Price: 125,000 CHF