Jaquet Droz’s breath-taking new creations

Preserving the creative and progressive spirit of its founder, Pierre Jaquet-Droz, who’s calculated application of mechanical principles and artistic daring set his instruments of time apart from any others over centuries, Jaquet Droz has developed into an exceptional contemporary brand thanks to the distinguished Swatch Group, which has owned and operated the Manufacture since 2000

From its considerably-sized atelier in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the brand continues to develop outstanding timepieces. The incredible 2015 novelties are a further testament to Jaquet Droz’s distinction.

Bird Repeater Geneva
An ode to the city of Geneva, the astounding talent at Jaquet Droz’s Ateliers d’Art is laid bare in this inventive automation watch. Engravers, painters and enamellers achieved the feat of reproducing symbols of Geneva on the white mother-of-pearl facade. A brightly-coloured pair of goldfinches nest with their offspring beneath the off-centre hours and minutes. The whole scene comes to life in 8 animations.

Éclipse
The Éclipse is a tribute to the stars and the passage of time. Either in an aventurine face for the 39mm format or grey opaline for the 43mm version, the two distinctive styles feature moon phase, day, month and date indications. Both variations of the Éclipse have opted for a stainless steel case, with a bezel set with 176 brilliant-cut diamonds in the 39mm version.

Lady 8 Flower
Automaton and the mastery of the Jaquet Droz Ateliers d’Art enliven this timepiece composed of two superimposed circles creating a figure eight. The lower circle features a butterfly, with the hour and minute hands expanding from its core; two versions are available: one with the butterfly’s wings painted and engraved in translucent red enamel on a guilloché background; the other features a butterfly set with blue sapphires against a background of snow-set diamonds. The upper circle reveals a mechanical animation lotus flower under a sapphire crystal dome.

Grande Seconde Deadbeat
The Grande Seconde Deadbeat boasts a mesmerizing succession of “jumping” hands and numerals, and a retrograde date indication in the space usually reserved for the seconds hand in this model, while the seconds hand occupies a central position. The need to combine Independent Seconds, Calendar and Hour and Minute functions led to the creation of an entirely new calibre for which a patent has been applied for.

Petite Heure Minute Relief Goats
Marking the Year of the Goat in the Chinese Zodiac calendar, Jaquet Droz employed the expertise of its Ateliers d’Art to reproduce the pastoral animal on the dial of a Petite Heure Minute model. The result is an image of three goats springing from the summit of an imaginary mountain, with the dial evoking a plum blossom motif through champlevé enamelling. The background dial options include white mother-of-pearl with blue enamelling, a white gold case, blued steel hands, and grey leather strap, or black onyx with burgundy enamelling, a red gold case and hands, and a black leather strap.

The Butterfly Journey
Two series of eight timepieces comprise these Atelier d’Art’s twin sets of Petite Heure Minute models. A narrative thread displaying a butterfly’s flight flows through each of the eight timepieces in the two series – one in white gold with diamonds and a blue leather strap, and the other in red gold with a brown leather strap. The engraved butterflies stand out with their champlevé enamelled wings and fine patina on their slender bodies.

Petite Heure Minute Relief Carps
Engraving and enamelling are employed to pay homage to the koi carp. The Ateliers d’Arts drew on motifs from traditional Asian iconography for their interpretation of a subtle carp gliding along under a watery veil, dotted with lotus blooms and rushes. For the first time, Jaquet Droz presents an enamelled balance weight decorated with a carp hand-engraved in bas-relief. There are two variations: white gold case with diamonds and a grey leather strap, or red gold case with a black leather strap.

Sunstone
Flecks of warm gold scintillate make sunstone a captivating new material that is added to Jaquet Droz’s glorious range of mineral dial timepieces. This new material graces three fascinating models, the Grande Seconde Cerclée, the Petite Heure Minute 35mm and the Lady 8.