The new Tropical Bird Repeater reveals a tone-on-tone nature scene with an animated hummingbird in motion against an entirely hand-crafted tropical backdrop. The hand-engraved mother-of-pearl dial is used as a canvas to depict a lush wilderness with frolicking peacock, toucan, dragonfly, and hummingbird. In a first for watchmaking, the exclusive animation of the hummingbird flutters its wings 40 times per second. It's a surprisingly rapid pace, not to mention a serious challenge for the Jaquet Droz watchmakers, who were determined to replicate the hummingbird’s distinctive high-speed wing movements as faithfully as possible.
The peacock to its right fans out then folds up its tail and at 3:00 the toucan pops out from behind the leaves of a Monstera deliciosa plant and opens its beak. At 9:00, three graceful dragonflies dance through the air only adding to the magic at all hours of the day — their tiny wings are painted with Super-LumiNova that glows in the dark. There is a total of seven animations that can last over 12 seconds and are capable of up to four different scenarios.
The hummingbird and foliage elements are applied to the dial. This placement puts them in relief for an incredibly realistic effect as if they were actually coming out of the dial. The Jaquet Droz Ateliers d’Art individually engraved and painted each of these elements by hand. They make a background fresco come alive with a river flowing beneath a waterfall sustaining the lush tropical flora.
This is also the first Tropical Bird Repeater designed with a dial featuring 180 baguette-cut diamonds (total 1.8 carats) that are invisibly set in the center. The red gold minute and hour hands orbiting the sun tie in perfectly with the 47 mm case that is also made of red gold. The horns side, the case middle as well as the lugs have been hand-engraved in the Ateliers d’Art.
The only one of its kind in Fine Watchmaking, this animated composition includes a minute repeater complication. It can be set to mark the hour, quarter hour and minute with vibrating chimes set off by hammers inside the case. There are only a handful of brands fortunate enough to use this complex mechanism, which is triggered by a lock on the side of the case. Its Jaquet Droz RMA89 movement is equipped with a virtually silent wheeled regulator and offers a 50-hour power reserve. The speed of the minute repeater is regulated by strokes of small leaf springs on the outside. Some of the other innovations in the complication include new rack springs, an extended pause between the quarter-hours and minutes, and a major third to ring on the quarter hour.
The new one-of-a-king Tropical Bird Repeater is accompanied by a rolled-edge, hand-made dark green alligator strap, which is equipped with a 18-karat red gold folding clasp.
