Jaquet Droz’s “Story of the Unique” exhibition which was held at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands in Singapore from 28 September to 14 October 2018 was part of the 280th anniversary celebration of the brand’s founding (1738 to 2018).
Many of the brand’s ambassadors welcomed visitors and these included the Grande Seconde Tribute, the Grande Seconde Skelet-One, the Lady 8 Petite and the Tropical Bird minute repeater automaton wristwatch. “Our products are our ambassadors,” highlights Jaquet Droz CEO Christian Lattmann, CEO.
Even the brand’s star ambassador for 2018, the one-of-a-kind Parrot Repeater Pocket Watch, made an appearance, albeit only for the official cocktail reception. This is the horological work of art that commemorates the brand’s 280th anniversary and the only one made, hence the “story of the unique”.
In addition to the rubies, pink and blue sapphires, diamonds and emeralds, there are engravings, the Grand Feu enamel painting of the macaw on the case back and the use of the paillonné enamel technique.
Then there is the waterfall and macaw family animation that operates in tandem with the striking of the minute repeater mechanism. Each of the five macaws on the dial will move. “We wanted something warm in terms of style and a landscape like a ‘secret garden’,” Lattmann explains.
“At Jaquet Droz, our motto is some watches tell time, some tell a story,” he continues. “The Parrot Repeater tells the story of our eight artists. We asked them to work together to create something very incredible, to push the boundaries of their creativity and their know-how. We had the enamel painter, engraver and diamond setter to work together to create this amazing piece.
“We use all the know-how we have in craftsmanship such as paillonné which is quite rare. This was actually a human project. At the end of the day, we want to be the experts in craftsmanship and we want to show it. It therefore had to be an automaton. This is the first time we have introduced a bird repeater in a pocket watch and that is why we had to invent a mechanism to have the crown at 12 o’clock in a pocket watch in addition to the minute repeating system.”
Parrots are popular human companions throughout history because they are known to be intelligent, colourful and even musical, states a National Geographic article on this bird.
