BY DHANANJAY PATHAK
Earlier this year, Jaquet Droz gave its modern and artistic offering, the Skelet-One, a colorful makeover. Now, the brand has further elevated the Skelet-One experience with the release of the new Grande Seconde Skelet-One Tourbillon. Featuring a tourbillon-driven movement and a smoked sapphire dial, this new watch has been designed to maximize transparency, allowing the wearer to enjoy the minutest of mechanical details.
The Skelet-One Tourbillon adds to the complexity of the Skelet-One by bringing in the Tourbillon mechanism that drives the second’s hand over the transparent sapphire display at 12. In true Jaquet Droz fashion, sitting at 6 is another overlapping large sapphire display that can be utilized to read the time using the combination of beautifully polished real gold alpha-shaped hands and faceted applied hour indices. The use of sapphire leads to unparalleled transparency giving a clear view of the mechanical underpinnings of this watch.
At the helm of the Skelet-One Tourbillon is the Jaquet Droz in-house calibre 2625SQ that operates at 3 Hz and provides a stunning autonomy of around seven days. A self-winding movement, the 2625SQ comes equipped with a tourbillon that features a frame made from titanium. The movement has been thoughtfully and heavily skeletonized focusing on straight lines and angles to achieve symmetry. The hollowed-out bridges have been given a rich black finish to offer a nice contrast to the golden highlights on the dial. The tourbillon cage follows the overall movement architecture and features a triple cross shape that aligns perfectly with the bridges once every minute. It is also worth mentioning that the oscillating weight is made from 18kt gold and has been cleverly skeletonized such that it is only visible from the rear of the watch.
The case on this watch is fashioned from 18k red gold and measures 41mm in diameter with a thickness of around 13.3mm. The use of red gold gives the watch a warm and elegant outlook. Furthermore, the use of precious metal would also provide the watch a reassuring heft, something that is generally associated with a high-quality timepiece. The case is water-resistant to just 30 meters which is certainly on the lower side but would work fine for a dressy watch like this.
The new Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One Tourbillon comes attached to a genuine black alligator strap with a red-gold folding buckle and retails for CHF 156,000.
Visit Jaquet Droz here.
