Let There Be Light

Jaquet Droz carves out new territory with its Grande Seconde Skelet-one. Nicolette Wong takes a peek at the skeletonised beauty

J aquet droz is best known for its unparalleled ability to create beautifully ornate automatons and minute repeaters, but also for its classic contemporary daily-wear watches—a unique juxtaposition for any brand, let alone one that turned 280 last year. This established mix was playfully disrupted by the release of the Grande Seconde Skelet-one, the skeletonised version of its Grande Seconde timepiece, which despite its modern sensibility, had been designed over 250 years ago. The new Grande Seconde Skelet-one looks like nothing else in Jaquet Droz’s repertoire, and marks a stylistic turning point in the brand’s history. So will this gamble for new territory pay off ? Skeletonised watches can be spectacular, but are tricky to execute well. On the positive side, everything extraneous is stripped away so that you can look straight into the beating heart of the movement, which lends the watch a high degree of poetic appeal. Plus, the technical difficulty of skeletonising successfully increases the watch’s appeal to the hardcore horophiles. Jaquet Droz certainly did well with the Grande Seconde Skelet-one in this aspect. The calibre 2663 SQ features only the barest structure of the bridges, which adds a graphic architectural frame to the movement’s moving parts. Even the rotor has been pleasingly skeletonised for maximal effect. The openworked effect is further emphasised by the minimal hours and seconds dial at 12 o’clock, which has a vertical brushed finish, and the replacement of the large seconds subdial at 6 o’clock with one made of transparent sapphire glass. These modifications allow for maximum light to illuminate the watch and penetrate the inner workings of the movement. These touches also add an impressive level of depth to the construction of the watch. On the other hand, the one weakness of skeletonised watches is that while they look beautiful in the window display, they are often less so when worn on the wrist. The wrist impedes full penetration of light into the movement, diminishing the impact of the skeletonisation. The Grande Seconde Skelet-one somehow minimises this effect. When worn, the timepiece still boasts an impressive level of depth and illumination—not as much as when it is displayed in a case, but significant nonetheless. It is likely that the boxed sapphire crystal glass aids in this aspect, but it could also be some other form of horological magic inherent in the design of the watch. The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-one is equipped with a silicon double barrel that contributes to its generous 68 hour power reserve, and is available in red gold, white gold and two different ceramic versions. The ceramic one with blued screws and hands is a 2019 novelty launched just before last month’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie. All versions are equally beautiful when seen in person, but the ceramic iterations are especially lightweight. No matter which version we are looking at, we have to admit that we are impressed by Jaquet Droz’s new creation.