This extraordinary task required close coordination between the various Ateliers in La Chaux-de-Fonds, fostering a sense of devotion and pride, not to mention a great deal of emotion. For Jaquet Droz, the piece represents the peak of its expertise. Once finished, it immediately joined the collection of a private customer.
With its skeleton tourbillon in a sapphire case, this pocket watch, a unique piece, epitomises the master crafts and the Artisans at Jaquet Droz who embody the brand's philosophy of Disruptive Legacy each and every day. It straddles the centuries, either uniting or breaking with tradition and modernity through creations designed to echo the passions of their collectors. The new Pocket Watch Automaton - Parrot Repeater takes these talents and condenses them into a dazzling creation, a contemporary homage to the naturalistic heritage of Jaquet Droz.
Within its 56 mm red gold case, the movement features a Minute Repeater coupled with an automaton boasting eight animations, activated in concert by a single bolt mechanism at 9 o'clock. The scene comes to life as the waterfall in the background flows, the two parent parrots move, their egg hatches and their chicks shuffle. The scene, created entirely by hand by the Artisans at Jaquet Droz, called for the very highest levels of craftsmanship: micro-painting, engraving, Grand Feu enamel. The case has been entirely hand-set and hand-painted, both on the dial side and the back, and features a secret mechanism (for which two patents were filed) in an opening hidden within the bow. The part has 1240 hand-set jewels, including 486 emeralds, 727 sapphires and 16 rubies.
Alongside the talent of the watchmakers in developing and assembling this Automaton Minute Repeater, ten artisans spent an entire year bringing the aesthetic choices made by the future owner of the piece to life: three gem-setters, three engravers, two enamellers, an expert in miniature painting and an escapement fitter responsible for adjusting the secret case opening mechanism. Expert eyes will note the curved and ribbed Grand Feu enamel on the leaf covering it, at 12 o'clock; the angled enamelled surface of this cover is considerably harder to create than a flat surface. The scene is framed by a luxurious jungle expressed in rubies, sapphires and emeralds set in golden vines. The case back features a parrot painted on an enamel background, set in a tropical forest accentuated with paillons in gold leaf.
