We really consider ourselves some of the few that still love two-tone watches just as if we were living in the late 70s or the early 80s. The Jaquet Droz Urban London Grande Seconde SW in Titanium and Red Gold ref. J029037440 is a very modern interpretation of the now less common two-tone watches. Fitted with a raw carbon dial, a satin-brushed finished titanium middle case with teethed bezel —measuring 45 mm in diameter— and satin-brushed finished 18K red gold claws and horns, this watch is not only ultra cool but also very sporty looking. This is the type of timepiece that you typically wouldn't expect when hearing the Jaquet Droz name. The Urban London collection pays homage to Pierre Jaquet-Droz's second watchmaking workshop opened in London in 1774. By opening a workshop outside of Switzerland, not only Pierre Jaquet-Droz provided a striking demonstration of his audacity but also of his vision.
This watch is fitted with a raw carbon dial with figure eight configuration featuring off-centered hours/minutes with white Roman numerals —the 7, 6 and 5 are Arabic numerals— on the top part and big seconds indicator on the bottom. The dial is fitted with 18K red gold applied ring plates with rhodium treatment. The 18K skeletonized hour/minute red gold hands feature superluminova on the tips and the seconds hand is almost fully coated with the luminescent material. The dial is really nice and the applied rings provide the perfect amount of contrast.
The screw-down crown is rubberized and features the two traditional Jaquet Droz stars. The crown is very solid and easy to use. The black rubber on the crown accentuates the red gold claws and horns and the titanium case making this timepiece extremely sporty and somewhat rugged —two words that hardly come to mind when talking about this manufacture.
The beating heart powering this sporty timepiece is the automatic Jaquet Droz calibre 2663A-S with ruthenium treatment, double barrel, 18K white gold oscillating weight and 30 jewels. This beautifully decorated calibre beats at a frequency of 28,800 vph providing a power reserve of almost three full days —68 hours. The calibre can be fully appreciated via the sapphire crystal display case back.
To round out the sporty look of this Jaquet Droz and in order to take advantage of its water resistance —50 meters— by taking it on a swim without feeling guilty for getting a nice alligator strap wet, the watch is fitted with a very nice black rubber strap with deployant buckle with apparent pin buckle look. The buckle features titanium and red gold and is fitted with a flip-lock mechanism to ease the adjustment of the strap length. The sharp angles on the buckle are very nicely finished and the perfect finishing touch to this sporty watch.
On the wrist, the watch wears true to its size and very comfortably. The weight of the watch can be felt on the wrist unlike most Jaquet Droz watches. The watch is somewhat thick and hard to fit under the cuff of a shirt but with great wrist presence. If you are ready to think about Jaquet Droz in a different way, perhaps is time for you to give this sporty JD a try. The only downside to this watch is the lack of a date function. This watch is also available in full red gold, stainless steel with black ceramic, stainless steel with black rubber, full stainless steel, titanium with black rubber and also in a chronograph version.
For those of you that don't fancy the two-tone look, here's a wrist shot of the full stainless steel one and a group shot of three of the available models.
Sticker Price $19,800 USD. For more info on Jaquet Droz click here.
