When can we consider having fully covered a topic? “Never!” responds Jaquet Droz, with 287 years of watchmaking and never short of ideas. The brand, led by Alain Delamuraz since 2021, constantly regenerates itself. And when a theme has been thoroughly explored by almost the entire market, Jaquet Droz changes course and directly addresses its collectors. Who delight in creating their own unique piece, with the attentive care of the artists at the La Chaux-de-Fonds workshop.
Beautiful End
“Catrina” is an illustration of this. Her full name is Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold - Catrina Skull. She is one of the lesser-known protagonists of the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, renowned - unlike most Western traditions - for its festive nature. This Dia de los Muertos has been addressed countless times by the watchmaking industry. Most often, in the form of a skull, that famous skull, somewhat menacing, and always with a masculine spirit.
With its Catrina, Jaquet Droz does not deny this graphic heritage but interprets it in an unexpected way. For once, death is depicted as a woman. Floral, radiant. Almost friendly and smiling, even though she still embodies the Grim Reaper. Jaquet Droz thus cultivates its impertinence, its ambivalence. Alain Delamuraz likes to speak of a decidedly disruptive house. With Catrina, one could go a step further: subversive.
Abundance of Artistic Crafts
Death has never been so seductive. Its dominant color is a shimmering green. Its multiple shades are the work of Jaquet Droz's artists. To make it at times attractive, at times threatening, they employed several artistic crafts. Each gives Catrina distinctive accents. On the left of the dial, it's the grand feu enamel that has been chosen. It provides depth and relief. Within it, gold spangles are trapped. This is a centuries-old technique that involves including hand-carved gold chips within a translucent enamel to form various patterns. Jaquet Droz already used it 250 years ago on its pocket watches and snuff boxes.
But to bring out the figure of Catrina from this grand feu enamel base sculpted on a gold dial, on the right side of the dial, Jaquet Droz chose micro-painting. The science of powder yields to the dexterity of the brush. Jaquet Droz artists depict a female skull with various shades of white, black, purple, and pink. The design is deliberately in a "freehand" style, distinctly breaking with the use of cold laser-machined dials.
Balancing Act
It is the same contrast expressed with the mechanics of the piece. To the naive and artisanal dial, an ultra-precision and rigorous watchmaking science is opposed. Evidence of this can be seen at noon. There, in the orbit of Catrina, a demonstrative flying tourbillon with an 8-day power reserve unfolds. The precious escapement seems dedicated to a second-by-second measurement of time, facing a figure of death who, by definition, no longer counts it. The race against time, or the race against death. The precision of watchmaking, or the intimate expressiveness of the artists. The emptiness of the suspended tourbillon, or the floral abundance of Catrina. Everywhere one would see opposition, Jaquet Droz instead finds balance, a narrow ridge yet very real. A unique piece, already on the wrist of a fortunate collector.
