When historians, journalists, and informed clients think of Pierre Jaquet-Droz, thoughts soon automatically turn to the songbird. Adding the songbird to a modern Jaquet Droz timepiece celebrates the brand’s past and pays homage to its founder by reviving this ultra-rare miniaturized technology. The Charming Bird wristwatch is now in production. And all I can say is, “Wow!”
Auction house Sotheby’s will stage an auction in New York on June 11, 2015 featuring items from a private collection of musical automata within its sale of important watches. The auction pieces, mainly made for export to royalty throughout Europe, Turkey, India, and China, are headed up by a singing bird scent flask made by Pierre Jaquet-Droz in 1785.
The dead beat seconds complication was developed so that the second hand on the wristwatch would move in the same way as a high-end, precious clock might. Dead beat seconds is a fairly rare addition to a watch movement in the modern age. In fact, it is almost never seen. Nevertheless, we found five watches outfitted with dead beat seconds at Baselworld 2015.
The Jaquet Droz Lady 8 Flower incorporates a rare mechanical element that the brand is famous for: the automat. The astonishing automat is a surprising touch that delights and entices, once again reinforcing the original thoughts of the very creative Pierre Jaquet Droz. Prepare to be amazed.
Jaquet Droz’s dials are some of the most beautiful in the world of watches due to their timeless simplicity. To me, it makes perfect sense to translate this beautiful, minimistically inclined design to other lifestyle objects, in this case a high-quality writing instrument and matching cufflinks. As I don’t wear French cuff shirts, I opted to give the pen a try for a few weeks and test out Jaquet Droz’s first foray into this area.
Here we present four quite different styles commemorating the 2015 Chinese Year of the Goat with beautifully decorated dials by Jaquet Droz, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, and Arnold & Son. Shhhh…if you listen carefully you might even hear them bleat!
One of the first things that anyone sees when looking at a wristwatch made by Jaquet Droz for the first time is its design. The Grande Séconde Quantième is Jaquet Droz’s entry-level timepiece, housed in a stainless steel case and outfitted with the brand’s exceptional design visuals. What is it like to wear this watch for a while? Elizabeth Doerr answers this question by taking you through some of this timepiece’s outstanding qualities.
You may be familiar with the old Christmas diddy “The Twelve Days Of Christmas.” Let me sing you the final verse of this song, including what my true love gave to me on the twelfth and final day, in horological terms…
We keep making the moon phase complication because we love to look at the moon. One timepiece that keeps that romance alive, not to mention beauty, is the Jaquet Droz Perpetual Calendar Éclipse. This watch captured my heart when I first saw it, and it continues to hold sway over me.
Earlier in 2014, Jaquet Droz announced a partnership with Lausanne’s Béjart Ballet. A ballet dancer perfectly masters the movements of his or her body, which makes for perfect allegory to Pierre Jaquet Droz’s lifelike mechanical androids using flow, flux, movement, and human expression through motion. Meet The Vulture and The Chief, two extraordinarily artistic Jaquet Droz timepieces paying homage to the dance.