The Rolling Stones Automaton

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The Rolling Stones Automaton - Jaquet Droz
The Rolling Stones Automaton celebrates the union of the greatest rock band and the art of watchmaking

In a 43mm red gold case, Jaquet Droz artisans work by hand to reproduce the Stones’ "stage set". It features Ron Wood's guitar in front of his amp, Charlie Watts' drums, as well as Ron Wood’s and Keith Richards’ other guitars. The mythical grooves of the vinyl disks are depicted, complete with their original cover and other possible elements (concert tickets, signatures, etc.), in the form of six of the group’s most emblematic albums released from 1971 to the present day. Each collector can choose his own, as here with "Exile on Main Street". They are reproduced by hand on a disk that can be rotated on demand around the stage. The rotation lasts about 30 seconds and can be activated eight times in a row by means of the 3 o'clock crown-inserted pusher.

The Rolling Stones Automaton

The power reserve is indicated at 8 o'clock by a cam resembling the articulated arm and diamond tip of a turntable. Below, the cult Stones logo rises and falls, while the tongue moves simultaneously from left to right. Guitars and amps are carved from a block of etched and painted red gold. The cymbals are made of a gold disk slightly cambered to reproduce the curvature. Their stand is represented by a white gold wire. The different drum toms, also made of gold wire, white or red, are between 1.2 and 2.3 mm in diameter. The exact tones of each instrument, the tweed finish of the amps, the pickguard of the guitars, the tolex of the speakers: every detail is hand painted. Even Mick Jagger's harmonica is reproduced, next to his microphone, in a gold block measuring just a few tenths of a millimeter. 

Visible through the sapphire crystal caseback, the red gold oscillating weight is engraved with the name of one of the albums chosen by the collector to illustrate the image displayed under the central stage – complete with its release date and the name of the studio where it was recorded, resulting in a one-of-a-kind timepiece duly engraved "1/1".

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