Every year Jaquet Droz observes the change in the Chinese zodiac cycle with a model celebrating a rare technique or new craft skill practiced in its Ateliers d'Art. It is a way for the brand known by its twin stars to pay tribute to its ties with China since the 18th century.
At the beginning of the Year of the Goat, the watchmaking firm will launch two new models in honor of this animal - symbol of imagination, creativity, and a world of pastoral riches.
The artisans of the Jaquet Droz Ateliers d'Art have decided to represent not just one goat, but three. Springing from the summit of an imaginary mountain, like an allegory of achievement and the hope of success for the year ahead, the three animals astonish with their striking realism. Each element of the body, each minute detail, is thrown into relief in three dimensions. They animals emerge against the backdrop of a stylized dial evoking a motif of plum blossom (one of the four noble flowers that featured in Chinese iconography) standing out against a background of white mother-of-pearl or black onyx. These two materials reappear on the underside of the oscillating weight surmounted by a ram's head of the Jaquet Droz 2653 automatic movement.
To create the stylized plum blossom, "meihua" in Chinese, the Ateliers d'Art used champlevé enameling. The finished dial is reminiscent of the exquisitely fragile masterpieces of "Jianzhi," the Chinese art of paper cutting that dates from the middle of the first millennium.
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Limited to just 28 pieces each, these two models come either in white gold and Jaquet Droz blue (and grey alligator strap) or in red gold paired wine burgundy color (and black strap).
