Petite Heure Minute Platinum - Camels
Oriental magic
Jaquet Droz has delivered a unique piece of a rare subtlety to a private collector. It reproduces, in the most minute detail, a lavender field where two white dromedaries walk, at night, against a desert backdrop. Set on a mineral dial, the creation uses light and shade to highlight the engraving and painting talents of Jaquet Droz artists, creating an authentic work of art.
Art never expresses itself so powerfully as when it completely disappears behind its subject. By associating each client's imagination and vision of a theme dear to them with the virtuosity of its artists, Jaquet Droz breathes life into an original and disruptive approach to Haute Horlogerie. Each timepiece becomes a work of art in itself, with the company's craftspeople combining their efforts to create something unique. As unique as each collector.
The man who contacted Jaquet Droz over a year ago had a precise image of the piece he wanted to entrust to the company. A confirmed aesthete and owner of the most beautiful white dromedaries in the Arab world, he is a regular participant in prestigious beauty contests dedicated to the animal, of which he has developed a dreamlike vision. All restraint and delicacy, the model features a 41 mm platinum case. It is a bespoke creation in itself: the Petite Heure Minute has before never been conceived as such. Jaquet Droz therefore designed a unique case for the sole attention of its collector client.
The decoration is nocturnal. The setting is serene. It's all about light and shade. A pitch-black onyx hour dial with two white gold hands is set against a starry aventurine sky. At 10 o'clock, we see the hemispherical Moon, engraved in relief by Jaquet Droz artists and alternating polished and delicately grained surfaces. It is anchored to the heart of the Milky Way by an invisible foot that passes through the aventurine – with all the risks that this operation entails for this mineral base, which is just 0.55 mm thick.
The lower part of the dial is made up of two elements. The backdrop is a single 0.85 mm thick white gold base. The Jaquet Droz artists have engraved them, one by one, with the many lavender plants that dot some of the deserts of Saudi Arabia – a local speciality known as “desert lavender” that lends a floral relief to these sandy expanses. At 9 o’clock, a micro-painted travellers' tent. The details are created using a brush with just a single bristle, making it possible to clearly distinguish the benches, the guests and the crackling fire – a finesse of execution rarely seen at this level of precision.
In the foreground are two camels. These are not simply illustrative: these are the two animals chosen by their owner, selected for their individual physiognomy, their eyes, the specific shape of their lips, their proud gait. To capture the true personality of these two special dromedaries, the Jaquet Droz designers made numerous sketches of them in profile, standing, stationary and walking, all of which they shared with their owner.
Connected to Jaquet Droz’s Studio 8, he was able to personally validate each stage. Using immersive 4K cameras, he was able to remotely follow the process used to create the applique and its decoration. Once finished, the Jaquet Droz artists accentuated the shades with light touches of paint to highlight the light, dark, contrast and relief. This unique work is the fruit of a collective effort led by Jaquet Droz. Based on a collector's narrative, it was offered to him after a year of genuine artistic co-construction.
