Some coincidences are too special to ignore, as Jaquet Droz has just experienced to the full. The brand was present in Tokyo last week to unveil the first models resulting from its collaboration with the Béjart Ballet Lausanne. The splendid launch coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Tokyo Ballet, the 50th anniversary of Swiss-Japanese relations, the 190th anniversary of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony – as well as the 50th anniversary of its first performance by Maurice Béjart in 1964. The planets had therefore well and truly aligned for a landmark launch.
Capturing movements free-hand
There is admittedly nothing fundamentally new for Jaquet Droz about producing painted watches. In particular, a number of Petite Heure Minute models in Asia feature depictions of the brand’s famous automata or other distinctive motifs. But the Béjart Ballet Lausanne creations are different.
First and foremost, because they stem from a partnership, a sponsoring agreement. While that might seem commonplace in other circumstances, it certainly isn’t as far as Jaquet Droz as concerned. Not once since its creation and its revival in 2000 had the brand from La Chaux-de-Fonds ever taken part in any patronage or partnership, and in this respect was indeed a notable exception on the watch market.
They are also different in that these creations involved a decisive contribution from an external artist, since it was Stéphanie Barba’s drawings that were chosen to adorn two Petite Heure Minute models. The 83 year-old is the only artist to have shared through her vivid pencil strokes intimate insights into Maurice Béjart’s classes, rehearsals and performances over a full 20 years. Her expertise is unique: in darkened opera halls, Stéphanie Barba creates free-hand sketches of what she sees. She never retouches her works, since “that would mean freezing them in time and finishing them, the very opposite of what I seek to do”.
Two exceptional creations
These drawings were brought to life in two 28-piece limited-edition watches. The first is named “The Chief”, in reference to a specific position in Béjart’s choreographic arrangements. This 43 mm gold timepiece features a Grand Feu enamel dial bearing a reddish-hued sketch at 7 o’clock. The drawing is signed by the artist on the dial side, making it a truly unique phenomenon in the Jaquet Droz collections. This watch is endowed with Jaquet Droz’s appreciable customary 68-hour power reserve.
The second is named “The Vulture” – an equally unusual name that also refers to a specific posture in Béjart ballets. This model appears in a 39 mm case clothed in blue and diamonds, including the buckle.
Coherent actions
For Jaquet Droz, the Béjart Ballet entirely meets the objectives the brand was seeking to achieve. A well-known company performing worldwide, it embodies a comprehensive medium of communication capable of channelling the Jaquet Droz image directly to its end customers. The thematic coherence between the two partners is immediately perceptible, since the two worlds share the semantics of movement and precision.
“The movement of time” is the spirit that connects the two institutions. Nonetheless, there are doubtless still other avenues that could be explored by Jaquet Droz. For while the Béjart Ballet Lausanne is currently depicted through drawings, automata remains one of the Jaquet Droz’s great strengths. And a dancing, moving automaton would be a supremely coherent way for the brand to develop this partnership. Maybe one day…
