The new Grande Seconde Off-Centered Chronograph is no exception. Created in 2019, the piece is now offered with an onyx dial for the very first time. It joins the long tradition of mineral dials—a Jaquet Droz signature. Through its intensity—its absolute blackness—onyx grants the piece unprecedented depth. The black color of this precious mineral allows Jaquet Droz to design a composition from which the smallest detail and slightest reflection can be admired. Such is the case with the hour markers, off-center at 1 o'clock, whose fine white gold appliqué features a circular satin finish. The hands are mirror polished, while those of the chronograph and date are polished. The large central seconds is equipped with an openwork counterweight, and the date with a solid counterweight, evoking a full moon or new moon against a black backdrop like the vastness of space itself.
This mechanical ballet is arranged to the "off-center" choreography so dear to Jaquet Droz, according to which the retrograde date is located at 7 o’clock. At its heart is nestled the chronograph’s 30minute counter. The Jaquet Droz 26M5R caliber, an automatic monopusher chronograph with column wheel, is the driving force—revealed through a sapphire crystal case back. The discerning gaze won’t miss the openwork oscillating weight in red gold, which unmasks the Cotes de Genève applied to each bridge. These traditional Fine Watchmaking finishes, which today combine with advanced technologies such as the silicon escapement, guarantee increased precision, unaffected by magnetism and temperature variations.
The Grande Seconde Off-Centered Chronograph is a modern interpretation of the famous “8” traced out by its ancestor, the Grande Seconde, almost three centuries ago. Nocturnal magic, the Greeks saw in onyx the imprint of the body of Venus and considered it the symbol of love. Twenty centuries later, Jaquet Droz offers a unique interpretation over which time glides—and out of which each of us tell a story.
