JAQUET DROZ AT WATCHTIME SHOW IN NEW YORK

Among the most exclusive and complicated timepieces exhibited at last weekend’s WatchTime New York event at Gotham Hall were two Jaquet Droz chiming automatons: The Charming Bird and the Loving Butterfly, introduced this year. A masterpiece of watchmaking and craftsmanship, the new automaton from Jaquet Droz features an exquisite animated tableau, depicting an allegory of love and nature. This new creation tells a story, that of genius watchmaker, Henri-Louis Jaquet-Droz, who, 242 years ago, created an android automaton delivering breathtaking sketches – including a cherub seated on a chariot pulled by a butterfly, celebrating love and passion. The same emotion is sparked today when, with just one push on the crown button, a world of poetry comes to life under the crystal. With grace and refinement, the butterfly comes to life, pulling a cherub in an animated chariot.

The brand also showcased Baselworld 2017 novelties such as the Grande Seconde Moon equipped with a new movement, called an astronomical moonphase. Requiring adjustment only once every 122 years and 46 days, the specially developed “mechanism 135” for the moon-phase has a carefully studied gear ratio that makes it much more precise than the 59-toothed mechanism in a traditional moon-phase, which accumulates an error of one day in approximately two years, seven months, and 20 days. The upper sub-dial discreetly displays the hours and minutes.

“Some watches tell time, some tell a story”