The Mystery of Breguet No. 2226 and Captain Denny’s New Zealand Connection
Breguet No. 2226 is a 47mm 18K gold hunter pocket watch sold in Paris in 1853 to a buyer recorded as “Capitaine Denny.” Its archive entry describes an enamel dial, small seconds, lever escapement, and compensated balance, while an engraved wheat-ear crest and the motto “æt mea messis erit” provide clues to its provenance. The crest matches one on a snuff mull belonging to Captain Richard Denny, who served in New Zealand during the Northern War, though he died before the watch was sold. Records also place a Captain Denny at Versailles in 1855–56, where he employed William Mathew Hodgkins. Anthony Cuthbert Collingwood Denny is a possible connection, but the evidence does not establish the buyer’s identity or the watch’s later journey to New Zealand.
Buying Time Analysis: This story matters because it connects a Breguet watch’s unresolved provenance to the Denny family, New Zealand’s colonial history, and the early life of artist Frances Hodgkins, while showing why the buyer’s identity remains uncertain.
