There still are some clock sellers and buyers who mistakenly believe that "Breveté" is a French clock brand name.
It isn't.
Breveté (or brevete without the accent as most sellers write it) means patented in French and most clocks produced between about 1850 and 1950 have that word stamped on the back....It is the legal registration of some element of the clock or all of it.
Along with breveté, SGDG is usually also stamped on the back case of a French clock produced during that period.
SGDG is not a brand.
It means 'Without any guarantee from the Government' (Sans Garantie Du Governement) and was by law required to be stamped on ALL objects with a legal patent from 1844 until 1968, especially those manufactured for export.
Some French manufacturers produced clocks for high-end jewellers (such as Tiffany's, Mappin Webb and private names) without stamping their own brand name on them, BUT they did have to stamp "Breveté" and SGDG somewhere on the movement and usually on the back case.
Some manufacturers also made their export clocks easier to identify by stamping "Made in France" or simply "France" rather than Fabriqué en France on them. It is not that unusual to find two identical models of a clock, one with Fabriqué en France on it which means it was made for the French market and the other with Made in France which was exported.
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ReplyDeleteI have a Cartier desk alarm clock that has a dark enameled front. It works great and is in excellent condition. Every clock I see like it however says Swiss Made at the bottom. Mine says Made In France. Not one person shows the inside of the clock movement. Mine says this on movement:
ReplyDelete8. A. 250
BREVETE FRANCE
ET ETRANGER
DESARMAGE
UNADJUSTED
FIFTEEN 15 JEWELS
CARTIER PARIS
I do not see SGDG anywhere on the clock. I would appreciate any info as I cannot find anything like it.
Hi there. I would love to see some photographs of your Cartier clock, both the case and the movement and back plate. You could send them to sushi134713@gmail.com.
DeleteCartier began as a jeweler and watchmaker and I know from research that they created several models of small clocks in their shop in Paris before turning over the creation to a Swiss clockmaker.
Best regards
Please help me identify the maker of this clock?It's a key wind, pink with black-streaks marble, mantle, clock, 6" wide X 4"high X 1.5"thick, with silver face. A lion is under the "12" with its front inner paw lifted and "Made in France" is at the bottom of its face. That's the only possible maker's mark I could find. A clock face to set the alarm is 0.5" high, in the "6" position on main clock face, with heavy black slash for hours, light slash for 1/4 & 3/4 hour marks and elongated slash for half hours. On the back:"Silence"has arrow beneath pointing toward the "S" end of "Silence", "Breveté, S.G.D.G., Reveil, Sonnerie". I wound it up and is ticking. Hasn't been wound since my husband died-HE's the collector, of ALL kinds of clocks-mantle, carriage, & anniversary clocks-19 total+ 2 from my mother and some my son took and his family took when we moved all the stuff to my apartment. I'd like any help you can give me in identifying this marble French clock, please?I've checked through so many "Made in France" clocks online (amazon,ebay, Google,Bing,... and none have a lion on them. Thank you for your time and help in this.
DeleteThe backlight LCD shows both the time and alarm time. Programmable snooze control. Leather Travel Clock
ReplyDeleteI have a clock that has brevet S.C.D.G. Paris. It also has an emblem of a backwards R a V between, and a forward facing R. Do you know what that means? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI believe it is an "R" and an "A",which stands for "R"= Retarder (French)which means to retard or to slow down, and "A"= Avancer (French) which means to advance, to speed up, and are used to regulate the clock, depending on how it's running. If it seems to be losing time then you need to speed it up/advance it-"A", and if it's gaining time every day then you need to slow it down-"R". I'm sure someone's already told you this. Have a great weekend!
DeleteI have recently acquired a French clock stamped Brevet. It has a putto (cherub) on a swing. It is encased in a glass domed/wooden base outer enclosure. I'm interested in when it was made and who the clockmaker actually was...any information
ReplyDeleteat all would be interesting.
I have a sopranino saxophone, written Breveté S.G.D.G Paris, what does it mean? it's totally old and rusty, could you help me know if it's valuable or something of the kind
ReplyDeleteProbably cost more to refurbish than it would then be worth collectors for vintage saxophones that musicians would not are very few. this one is probably high pitch as well mod=ern instruments being low pitch
DeleteHi Sushi, nice blog you have! I hope there is still some activity on this blog, I just bought a very nice French art deco clock and I was wondering if you can tell me more about this clock? Can I send you some pictures of it? Hope to hear from you! Best regards, Menno (The Netherlands)
ReplyDeleteMam zegar Vedette z lat 190-1930.Czy posiada ktoś informację na temat firmy Vedette?
ReplyDeleteI have a Brevete alarm clock .on the face is a lion, nothing else. Can you tell me the makers name?
ReplyDeleteHI There. We have a marble/slate mantle clock. Can't find a name but it has S.G.D.G On the pendulum. It along has a marking that I think is the letter B. Then TE underscored. And numbers 55460 centre of pendulum. We have no idea. And would like to know if it can be identified? ??.
ReplyDeleteTIA.
Hi Sushi
ReplyDeleteIt looks like there has not been replies to some questions here. Do you still maintain this site? I have a Brevete clock. It says Depose on it and has lion heads and winding keys. I'm wanting to find out its value and possibly sell it.
Thank you,
L. LITTEKEN
TEXAS, U.S.A.
Hi There, this blog has given me really useful information, but I wonder if you could provide me or point me in the direction of more. I have 2 French Mantle Clocks one in an Oak Surround and was made for Mappin & Webb, the other which has the Brevete SGDG stamp on the rear of the movement but there is also on the rear of the brass face mount an Intertwined RA inscribed in lovely scrolling letters, when I say intertwined, its one letter over the other, i did read earlier in replies hear about the Retarder and Advancer, but this "monogram" is on the back of the face mount where no adjustments exist, however this does have a small rear pendulum movement.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally on the Brevete SGDG stamp there is also what looks like V.A.P above all in a single Oval shape, so would be interested to know any information about these
Following some more research I was able to determin that the V.A.P is the Maker Victor-Athanase Pierret 1806-1893 and quite a reputable one by all acounts. This still leaves the mystery of the intertwined RA
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