Joyful Birds - Great Wall
Jaquet Droz unveils a unique piece in which watchmaking artistry becomes breath, colour and poetry. Between heritage and contemporary audacity, the Maison elevates an iconic motif into a true artistic statement, venturing for the first time into the territory of Inflatable Art, where form acquires a sense of volume animated by lightness. An art watch conceived as a showcase for emotion, marking the return of Jaquet Droz's iconic birds, destined to reinvent themselves in other decorations.
One look is all it takes to change the mood. On the dial, two blue tits with generous, almost buoyant forms, seemingly puffed up with joy, nestle in the heart of a miniature garden. Around them, softly rounded blossoms burst forth in delicate hues while, in the background, the mineral silhouette of the Great Wall of China stretches across the horizon. With the Joyful Birds “Great Wall”, Jaquet Droz unveils a new, joyful and vibrant art watch, like a smile suspended on the wrist.
Born of a co-creation with a collector, the piece places a bespoke timepiece within an emblematic Chinese setting, evoking a universal symbol of happiness. Jaquet Droz has thus chosen to revive its birds, an enduring and historic signature of the Maison. A subtle nod to the birds that once animated the automata of Pierre Jaquet-Droz during the Age of Enlightenment, these two blue tits now serve as a bridge between heritage and a resolutely contemporary vision of watchmaking artistry.
For with this creation, Jaquet Droz ventures into a hitherto unexplored artistic territory: an aesthetic drawn directly from Inflatable Art, where forms swell with volume, soften into rounded contours and embrace an almost playful dimension. The birds and flowers seem shaped from colour itself, as if the material had been gently inflated to take on a sculptural form. The effect is instant: the dial gains depth, presence and a sense of vitality. It conveys more than just a scene: it breathes life into an entire universe.
This artistic approach opens up an entirely new path: a form of artistic watchmaking that exudes effortless lightness, where apparent simplicity conceals deep sophistication. Assembling the scene requires a delicate balance between depth and finesse to preserve the dial’s readability, while the miniature painting, executed with absolute precision, sculpts shadows and highlights to bring the forms to life. Finally, the colouring demands infinite patience in the face of countless trials and adjustments, until joy is captured perfectly within the 41-mm 18-karat red gold case. On the reverse, the oscillating weight is adorned with a mother-of-pearl applique, like a hidden gleam.
Joyful Birds “Great Wall” is not merely a unique piece: it heralds the beginning of a creative promise. Jaquet Droz’s historic birds rest here as a timeless signature, destined to appear across myriad landscapes, where heritage serves as a starting point and poetry becomes a form of freedom.
