Alvin Wong 17 May 2019

Poetry and exuberance.

Grande Seconde Skelet-One  
 
Jaquet Droz stands peerless in the field of wristwatch automatons and 2019 sees the brand striding further afield with the Magic Lotus, a magical and meditative work of art that builds on the success of the Charming Bird and Tropical Bird Repeater from 2015 and 2017, respectively.  

A refreshing break from the bird-themed automatons, the Magic Lotus (above) invites one to contemplate the circle of life and rebirth, expressed via an animated dial that shows a running river with a carp swimming languidly in it, and a gem-set lotus flower that flows with the tide, its precious stone changing colour at each quarter. Like its predecessors, the Magic Lotus combines miniature art, micro-engineering and story-telling to brilliant effect, amalgamating all of Jaquet Droz’s strongest suits inside a 43mm case and is easily one of the talking pieces of 2019.  

 
Away from precious automatons, Jaquet Droz’s new releases - especially those from the Grande Seconde collection - exude a feeling of exuberance even as they retain a familiar dressy regality. The Grande Seconde Skelet-One, a range of skeletonised watches introduced in 2018, makes a welcome return in a black ceramic case with new blued hands and indexes (above). Like before, the watch is a lovely mix of the old and new - the traditional art of skeleton dials given a contemporary makeover with multi-layered dial construction and sculptural design.  

 
Another new creation that’s clearly after the hearts of younger moneyed watch lovers is the Grande Seconde Off-Centered Chronograph in steel (above). There’s a more conventional version in red gold with enamel dial, but the off-centered version, with a slightly skewed dial interface showing a slanted figure of ‘8’ - time at the top, and integrated chronograph and retrograde date sub-dial at the bottom - offers a cheeky and contemporary take on the typical Grande Seconde look. 

Time To Move updates from Breguet here.

Time To Move updates from Blancpain here.

Time To Move updates from Glashütte Original here.

Time To Move updates from Harry Winston here.

Time To Move updates from Omega here.