Posts tagged #La Chaux-de-Fonds

Macros: Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Réserve de Marche. Fascinating Like the History of the Manufacture.

In 2013, Jaquet Droz celebrates its 275th anniversary, maintaining the avant-garde spirit and refined taste of its founder, Pierre Jaquet Droz.

Pierre Jaquet Droz was born in 1721 in La Chaux-de-Fonds. At age seventeen in 1738, Pierre opened his first workshop for clock making and produced a series of grandfather clocks with very sophisticated movements beyond anything that had been produced earlier. A decade later, after losing his wife and daughter, Pierre built a special carriage to take six clocks to be sold in Spain. Upon his return to La Chaux-de-Fonds in 1759 and after his successful sales in Spain, he focused exclusively on making watches, clocks and automatons —a moving mechanical device imitating a human being that was a precursor to robots. In 1774, he successfully completed three humanoid automatons —The Writer, The Draughtsman and The Musician— that were presented in La Chaux-de-Fonds and a year later in France to Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette.

Photo: Jaquet Droz website. 

Years later, the Jaquet Droz fame and success reached the confines of Asia, to the point where the fifth emperor of the Qing Dynasty started collecting some of his masterpieces including clocks and automatons. 

Acquired in 2000 by the Swatch Group, the brand returned exclusively to La Chaux-de-Fonds —after closing former operations in London and Geneva— and moved into its new 'Atelier de Haute Horlogerie' in the summer of 2010. Great timepieces have been presented since then including the Grande Seconde in 2002, the Eclipse in 2010 and the Bird Repeater in 2012.   

The Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Réserve de Marche ref. J028033201 launched a few years ago —as part of the Complication La Chaux-de-Fonds collection— is one of the first Jaquet Droz watches to slightly move away from the utilization of the figure 8 on the dial configuration. Well, perhaps if we look at the dial upside-down, the figure 8 is still there. 

The watch is fitted with a beautiful cutout and sectioned black Opaline dial with an off-centered hours and minutes sub-dial with roman numerals, a power reserve indicator at 10, a retrograde date indicator at 2 and a tourbillon with vertically aligned bridge at 6 o'clock. The indicators are beautifully done in red gold and fitted with hands with red contrasting tips.

 

Featuring a massive 18K red gold case measuring 47mm in diameter, this watch is very large, yet extremely elegant. To complete the beautiful design of this timepiece, this watch is fitted with a very nice crown with the traditional Jaquet Droz stars. From the beginning, Pierre Jaquet Droz used two stars to authenticate his watches and they are now a focal point of the Jaquet Droz logo. If you were to draw a circle around each of the stars, you would create a figure eight.

The beating heart inside this watch is the manual-wound Jaquet Droz JD3 Tourbillon calibre with a power reserve of 88 hours when fully wound. The calibre is nicely finished with black 'Côtes de Genève' and the unmistakeable clover engraving.

The Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Réserve de Marche is fitted with a hand-stitched alligator strap that is very comfortable and flawlessly finished. This watch is a true example of 'haute horlogerie' and worth every penny of its sticker price. 

Sticker Price $190,300 USD. For more info on Jaquet Droz click here.  

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under Jaquet Droz and tagged Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Reserve de Marche Pierre Jaquet Droz 18th Century Beijing Qing Dinasty Atelier de Haute Horlogerie Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Jaquet Droz Eclipse Jaquet Droz Bird Repeater Swatch Group Automata by Pierre Jaquet Droz Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Réserve de Marche ref. J028033201 Complication La-Chaux-de-Fonds Collection La Chaux-de-Fonds Posts 2013 2013.

News: Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons. Now Available in Stores.

In an expert blend of mastered skill by the Jaquet Droz craftsmen, the Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons offers a new aesthetically-pleasing performance while reinventing tradition.
 
The magnificence of birds, and especially the blue songbirds of his native Swiss Jura, has always captivated Pierre Jaquet-Droz. From the beginning, the watchmaker from La Chaux-de-Fonds has paid tribute to the fascinating and graceful crystalline song of these creatures using the most advanced techniques of the age to render the beauty of the plumage, the density of the colors, and the mysterious depth of their gaze.
 
For over 3 centuries, artistic crafts have been central to Jaquet Droz’s creative magic. Far from being merely ornamental, they personify the very spirit of the brand.  More faithful than ever to this artistic world, the craftsmen of the Jaquet Droz Ateliers d’Art have once more surpassed themselves to create the Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons, a timepiece that celebrates the enchantment of birds.

Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons ref. J005023270

Delicately positioned on either side of the dial, two blue songbirds spread their wings. Are they about to land? Or take to the air? All the mystery of this scene resides in meticulously ordered craftsmanship: a dial is fashioned in hand-engraved mother-of-pearl, the birds are sculpted and engraved in gold before being applied to the dial and finally, the birds and the dial are painted– a miniature 'trompe-l’œil' which comes to life in the hands of the brand’s craftsmen.

From the curve of the wings to the size of the bodies, from the swell of the throat to the subtle association of the yellow and blue feathers, nothing has been omitted to make this truly three-dimensional masterpiece, saluting the beauty of nature and the freedom of these fascinating birds. The domed sapphire glass reinforces the optical illusion of the scene. When worn, it’s as if the whole of Nature is about to come to life, a reminder that the finest expression of life can be read in the passing of time.

Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons ref. J005024575

 

A fusion of the most talented craftsmanship on a background of mother-of-pearl and gold, the model comes in two versions: one version for fall in red gold enhanced by warm colors and a winter version in diamond-set white gold dominated by colder tones, each available in a limited edition of 88. And for the brand’s admirers, spring and summer will not be far behind to wrap up this magnificent opus.

Both watches are fitted with  the automatic calibre Jaquet   Droz 2653 with 28 jewels that provides a power-reserve of 68 hours when fully wound.

The Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons Ref. J005023270 comes with a 41mm case in 18K red gold and its calibre is fitted with an 18K red gold   oscillating weight with white mother-of-pearl and hand engraved and patinated   22K red gold bird applique. The watch comes on a handmade brown alligator strap. 

The Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons ref. J005024575 comes with a 41 mm case in 18K white gold set with 272 diamonds —totaling 1.04 carats— and its calibre is fitted with an 18K white   gold oscillating weight with white mother-of-pearl and hand engraved and   rhodium-plated 22K red gold bird applique.

For more info click here.  

Posted on July 24, 2013 by Editor & Publisher and filed under News, Jaquet Droz and tagged Jaquet Droz ref. J005024575 Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Relief Seasons ref. J005023270 Jaquet Droz Limited Edition of 88 pieces Calibre Jaquet Droz 2653 Les Ateliers D'Art trompe-l’œil Pierre Jaquet-Droz La Chaux-de-Fonds Swiss Jura Posts 2013 2013.