Abraham-Louis Breguet, founder of Breguet, is regarded as one of the greatest geniuses in watchmaking history. In 1815, King Louis XVIII of France appointed him "Horloger de la Marine," watchmaker to the Royal Navy, making precise marine timepieces for navigation. Breguet's Marine collection pays homage to that proud lineage.

Why did the navy prize an accurate clock so highly? Because in an age without satellite positioning, the only reliable way for a ship to fix its longitude on the open sea was an extremely precise marine chronometer. Let the clock err a little more each day, and the position on the chart drifts by tens of kilometres, enough, at sea, to run a ship onto hidden rocks, or to never find its destination. An accurate clock bore directly on the lives of everyone aboard and the safety of the cargo. Precision was not a finishing touch, but the very condition of arriving safely.

The same principle holds in managing money. Handling finances is like sailing the open sea: you need to know precisely where you are now, how much comes in, how much goes out, what share is assets and what is debt, before you can plot a safe course to your goal. If even your own financial position is a fog, then however grand the goal, you are groping blindly, and will strike the rocks sooner or later.

Only by seeing your bearings clearly can you speak of arriving. In navigation as in finance, the first step is always to know, honestly and precisely, where you stand.

What The Money Thing believes in is that same "precision as precondition": sound financial planning begins with a clear, accurate grasp of your own financial position. Like the Marine, the clock that guided navigators, first know where you are, and only then can you sail safely toward where you want to go.

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