It’s amazing how Jaquet Droz has managed to create so many variations of its flagship timepiece, the Grande Seconde, in 16 years. Whether played down with classical styles or played up with exquisite grande complication movements, this elegant dress watch never loses its most distinctive hallmark.
Indeed, the Grande Seconde’s most unique feature is its figure-eight dial that presents the hours and minutes on top and an oversized running seconds sub-dial at the bottom. Not saying that it’s such a big deal having a running seconds sub-dial—a lot of watches today come with this feature which is often also called the small seconds display—but the Grande Seconde is the only one that embraces it so completely. And that’s also why the watch was named not the small but the large seconds.
Just A Seconde
Watches that give pride of place to the seconds serve an important function especially in the 18th century when they were all the tools we had to measure time. They functioned as precision instruments. In addition, they also acted as operating indicators.
According to some accounts, the running seconds hand gradually became more widespread as a result of the Chinese market. It was said that so fascinated was the Imperial court with Swiss watch- and clock-making that the officials and emperors of the time were utterly transfixed, and stared at them for long hours each day. Yet because the hands for the hours and minutes move at a decidedly slower pace, they’ve requested for some form of animation on the dial just to keep entertained.
Jaquet Droz had been a purveyor of timepieces for the Chinese courts since the 18th century. Matter of fact, its watches had been exported as far as China, India and Japan. Jaquet Droz clocks, pocket watches, automata and snuff boxes captivated even the Emperor Qianlong and all the mandarins of his court. Till today, if you visit the Imperial Palace museum in the Forbidden City in Beijing, you’ll get to see antique Jaquet Droz automata and pocket watches still carefully preserved.
Inspired By History
The Grande Seconde’s unique iconography descended from one such timepiece, a gold pocket watch made in 1785. Its purity of design and absolute simplicity stood it apart from other creations perhaps more typical of the time, which tended towards pomp and ostentatiousness. That watch was created with a white grand feu enamel dial and two painted sub-dials, the smaller one of which contained the hours and minutes while the larger one below housed the seconds.
Ornate cathedral style hands in the former contrasted elegantly with the ramrod straight single needle in the latter, while a mix of Roman and Arabic numerals—watches usually selected one or the other, and almost never use both—underscored the Jaquet Droz watchmaking style: traditional with a twist.
First introduced in 2002, the Grande Seconde retained as much as possible the most distinctive features of this historical timepiece. Irrespective of size, function, finish, and material, it always had the figure-eight dial, which presented an added challenge to the watchmakers at Jaquet Droz but a solution was always found.
The Grande Seconde Tourbillon, for instance, opened up the watch’s top dial to showcase the prestigious regulating device in order to preserve the aesthetics. The Grande Seconde Dual Time, as well, used all the space within the lower dial to display the second time zone and threw in a date window as well. The Grande Seconde Moon Black Enamel did the same but replaced the second time zone with a beautiful moon phase indicator.
Jaquet Droz had also attempted to modernise the Grande Seconde by coming up with such sporty versions as the Grande Seconde Power Reserve Ceramic Clous de Paris, the Grande Seconde Off-Centred, and most recently the Grande Seconde Skelet-One. These models stayed true to the Grande Seconde’s design iconography yet proffer a completely new identity that resonates with 21st century style.
Story of the Unique: An Exhibition
As Jaquet Droz celebrates its 280th anniversary this year, the manufacture has also created a tribute piece that’s a throwback to the very first Grande Seconde timepiece released in 2002. Made in 18K yellow gold—a rare treat for yellow gold lovers—with matching hands, this piece comes with an ivory grand feu enamel dial. Limited to just 88 pieces, its traditional exterior is delightfully tensioned against a contemporary interior. The self-winding Calibre 2663 brings two barrels providing 68 hours of power reserve, precision guaranteed by a silicon escapement.
From 28th September to 14th October, Jaquet Droz brings an exclusive selection of fine timepieces from its museum to Singapore. At the Marina Bay Sands atrium right in front of the Jaquet Droz boutique, this travelling exhibition entitled Story of the Unique details the manufacture’s major pillars: Ateliers d’Art, Automatons and the Grande Seconds.
Exhibits include star pieces in the Grande Seconde collection, and one-of-a-kind masterpieces like the Parrot Repeater Pocket Watch, as well as moving creations like the automata-driven Charming Bird and Loving Butterfly watches. Don’t miss the Parrot Repeater Pocket Watch because this ambitious creation contains every watchmaking and decorative craft known and mastered by Jaquet Droz manufacture.
