By Meor Amri Meor Ayob
The most famous charity where a number of major European watch brands participate is Only Watch. This charity organizes an auction to raise money for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Managed by the Monaco Association against Muscular Dystrophy, this year’s event will be held Monaco on 7 November 2015. For this year’s auction, Jaquet Droz will present a unique piece for the charity called the Petite Heure Minute Paillonnée.
For this particular piece, Jaquet Droz is keen to showcase two important elements in its repertoire of skills available in the company. The first is artistic and the second is technological.
Jaquet Droz is well known for its artisans and artistic skill sets available in the company. For this particular watch design, the brand showcases its mastery on the art of Paillonné enameling. This 19th-century decorative technique incorporates a method of applying layers of translucent colored enamel over fine sheets of silver or gold. By combining these elements together, it is possible to create a work of art that has both color and depth since the layering of different elements creates a raised motif, hence a 3-dimentional effect. The outcome of this process is a fiery red Grand Feu enamel dial that is strikingly beautiful to behold.
Jaquet Droz is also keen to show that their in-house movement Jaquet Droz 2653.P is also modern and uses exotic materials to achieve new level of capabilities. The particular movement now incorporates a silicon spiral, which overcomes the effects of shocks, temperature, pressure and magnetic fields. This is a clear message that Jaquet Droz is not a jeweler but a very serious horological brand.
The watch is 43 mm in diameter and made out of 18 carats yellow gold case. The watch case is mounted to an alligator leather strap with the buckle also in 18 carats yellow gold. The dial is protected by sapphire crystal where one can see the off-centered hours and minutes indicator.
The display case-back is also protected by a sapphire crystal and one is able to see the Jaquet Droz 2653.P self-winding mechanical movement that beats at a frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour with approximately 68 hours of power reserve. The commemorative inscription “Unique Piece Only Watch 2015” on the case-back is a statement of exclusivity that would definitely increase its premium value.
The Only Watch charity auction has had great success in inviting major brands to participate in the noble cause. Whereas many other brands tend to just use a simple modification to existing models to justify the “uniqueness”, this particular piece from Jaquet Droz is unique from the sense of its artistic rendering as well as technological innovation. Watch lovers with deep pockets can combine their passion with a charitable outcome by participating in the auction. If I am from that small group of watch enthusiasts, this is one lot in the auction that I would place my bid on. For more info, please visit jaquet-droz.com
MEOR AMRI MEOR AYOB – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
Meor Amri is a passionate watch collector from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Having bitten by the horology bug in 2010, he has written extensively about the watch scene and has assembled a large collection of watches (excessively!!!) on his own free time. His blogs on the same subject are: Eastern Watch & Western Watch Read his articles here
