Jaquet Droz releases a new watch, the Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold with a métiers d’art dial featuring a motif of Catrina, a female incarnation of death as told by the Mexican Day of the Dead.
Press Release information with commentary in italics.
New: Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold – Catrina Skull
The Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold – Catrina Skull has a POA, and is a piece unique.
Commentary
Jaquet Droz continues its journey of reducing its visibility as a brand and shrinks the maison to a bespoke house making piece uniques. The watches still have the superb artistic flair that it always had. Using métiers d’art techniques, and artistic interpretation of imagery on the dials.
This novelty is no different. Developed as a unique piece to mark one of the few feminine incarnations of death in the Mexican Day of the Dead, the maison has chosen a mix of micro-painting, paillonné, grand feu enamel to create a visual spectacle on the dial. The fascination with death appeals to a mostly western audience. The Día de los Muertos focus on the joyful approach to death as a celebration of life and connection rather than mourning, and contrasts to the sombre, sad association that is common in Eastern cultures.
Also continuing is their use of Manufacture Blancpain movements which are nothing to be sneezed at. Designated as Cal Jaquet Droz 25JD.Si, the movement features a flying tourbillon which is displayed on the dial side at 12 o’clock.
Release details
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.
“Create your own. As unique as you are”
Jaquet Droz Tourbillon Skelet Red Gold – Catrina Skull Specifications
| TOURBILLON SKELET RED GOLD – CATRINA SKULL |
| NUMERUS CLAUSUS |
| Unique piece |
| REFERENCE |
| J0130130021 |
| DESCRIPTION |
| 18-karat white gold dial with hand-engraving, enamel and miniature painting18-karat red gold oscillating weight with 18-karat red gold applique and hand-painted white mother-of-pearlCase and buckle in 18-karat red goldHours and minutes at 6 o’clock, tourbillon frame and seconds at 12 o’clock.Self-winding mechanical tourbillon movement.Power reserve of 7 days.Diameter 39 mm.Unique piece |
| MOVEMENT |
| Jaquet Droz 25JD.Si, self-winding tourbillon movement, silicon balance spring and pallet horns, 18-karat red gold oscillating weight with white mother-of-pearl applique |
| INDICATIONS |
| Hours and minutes at 6 o’clock |
| Tourbillon frame and seconds at 12 o’clock |
| JEWELING |
| 31 jewels |
| POWER RESERVE |
| 7 days |
| FREQUENCY |
| 21,600 v.p.h. |
| CASE |
| 18-karat red gold |
| Diameter 39 mm |
| Height 13.20 mm |
| “Pièce unique” (unique piece) engraved on the case-back |
| WATER RESISTANCE |
| Up to 3 bar (30 metres) |
| DIAL |
| 18-karat white gold |
| Hand-engraving, enamel and miniature painting |
| HANDS |
| 18-karat red gold and blued steel |
| STRAP |
| Turquoise rubber |
| CLASP |
| 18-karat red gold folding clasp |
