Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold - Catrina Skull
The hours and flowers of La Catrina
Her name is Catrina. She is one of the very few female incarnations of death in the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). Jaquet Droz has adopted this unusual, exuberant and disruptive character in line with its own approach to master craftsmanship. The result is a unique piece in red gold that exhibits a mastery of micro-painting, paillonné and grand feu enamel, for the benefit of a single collector.
A web of mythology surrounds it. It is not known precisely what year she was born. 1912? 1913? This calavera, the emblematic figure of the Mexican Day of the Dead, seems to have sprung from the imagination of an illustrator. And while the first female calaveras appeared in 1889, it was not until 1930 that this one was given her official name – Catrina. The great lady has spanned the decades with consummate ease. Now, a century later, she has crossed continents to appear at the Jaquet Droz workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
With this unique piece, Jaquet Droz is demonstrating its independence. Not to mention its audacity. By moving away from the masculine clichés of the skull, Catrina offers a neo-romantic vision of the Mexican calavera. Contrary to custom, here we see a richly coloured figure surrounded by a wreath of flowers. In keeping with the naturalist spirit that has inspired it for nearly three centuries, Jaquet Droz has appropriated this dazzling floral myth of Mexican culture.
The figure of Catrina occupies the right two thirds of the dial. It's all about the details: the two whites divided between the face and the smile, with two different levels of contrast, the minute variations in pink and violet, the shades of the gold dots with the two hands in red gold, and the green, sometimes bright and clear, sometimes dark and threatening.
This contrast is underscored by the diversity of craftsmanship on display. Catrina's head is in micro-paint, but the floral base on the left of the dial is in grand feu enamel. The foliage is hand-engraved on a 1.1 mm thick gold dial. Each leaf has a different depth, and is filled with enamel powder and fired several times.
In this case, the gold dots are not hand-painted, but rather paillons. The technique, which Jaquet Droz has been using for nearly three centuries, consists of capturing tiny hand-chiselled motifs in gold leaf under a thin layer of invisible varnish. In the same spirit, the lightness of the freehand micro-painting contrasts with the watchmaking rigour of the tourbillon visible at 12 o’clock. Within its ocular orbit, it features a high-precision mechanism with an 8-day power reserve. The choice of a flying tourbillon, with no upper bridge, offers a bird's-eye view of the watch’s regulating organ. This ballet, orchestrated to the micron, offers a precise measurement of time in defiance of Catrina – herself unconcerned with the whole concept – and with a rigour to which she seems oblivious.
On the back, this great lady of Dia de los Muertos asserts her femininity with a final flourish that is only visible to collectors. Its mother-of-pearl oscillating weight is decorated with two gold star appliques edged with multicoloured foliage. Created entirely by hand by Jaquet Droz artists, the Catrina Skull in a 39 mm red gold is a model for a unique collector.
