As the name of this blog spot suggests, there is a certain joie de vivre inherent to exceptional watches. Be it because of historical nostalgia, unadulterated craftsmanship, or the relationship between a certain watch and a special moment in time (or perhaps a personal, sentimental attachment), these objects are often far more than the sum of their finely finished parts. While it doesn’t get a lot of press, the tiny Swiss house of Jaquet Droz produces watches of notable beauty, drawing heavily from rare, and, quite frankly, existentially endangered art forms. You might say that the watches emerging from the lush valleys of La Chaux-de-Fonds have a bit of fairy tale enchantment to their essence, and the Petite Heure Smalta Clara Humming Bird shown here, is another example of why Jaquet Droz deserves discussion. If the vision we have in our minds of watchmaking were to be an actual thing–something like, magical Helvetic elves tirelessly devoting themselves over tool filled workbenches in perfectly attired chalets in the woods–the Jaquet Droz manufacture would be a lot closer to the ideal than most.
Of course, the brand sort of has to. When your namesake was known for his ingenuity in crafting mechanically automated birds, figurines, and some of the finest clocks ever seen in 18th century Europe, certain expectations are somewhat set in place, one might say. And to their credit, the Swatch Group under Marc Hayek’s stewardship has done a fine job with the revived Jaquet Droz brand for some years now, producing classic yet distinctive pieces that offer up beautiful dials (without exception, even in the most “basic” references), increasingly wondrous complications to include tourbillons, minute repeaters, and even amazingly detailed automata, and other daunting summits of both watchmaking and artisan craft. It is the latter which stars in today’s featured beauty, bringing vividly to life the charm of one of nature’s most beloved fauna in a special enameling process that quite literally “lets the light shine through”. They’ve done it before, and with the hummingbird as well as other creatures, so what’s different this time around? This edition is in green vitreous enamel, and seven very lovely shades of it, I’ll hastily add.
But, how is all of that about light shining through, you say? Well, the Petite Heure Smalta Clara Humming Bird watch is all about its dial, and that dial gains its translucency and extraordinary life from a very old and extremely tricky enamel process known as plique-à-jour, a technique dating as far back as the Byzantine Empire. Discussed and explained by such historic masters as Italian goldsmith Benvenuto Cellini during the Renaissance, and employed in some of the finest original Faberge eggs as well as the creations of other great jewelry and luxury houses such as Cartier and Lalique, plique-à-jour is a truly painstaking process. Basically, it involves firing various colors of vitreous enamel in a kiln, and is therefore similar to the celebrated cloisonné technique wherein thin borders of gold wire contain elements of the enamel to create a design or pattern. But, without the backing and consequent support that the latter has, an already exceptionally difficult and easy to ruin process rises to a whole other level! The slightest irregularity in the astonishingly thin and fragile enamel, or a reaction of it during the risky multiple firings at very specific and narrow temperature ranges means the entire work goes up in proverbial smoke, usually in the form of cracking. Back to the drawing board, I suppose?
Needless to say, the patient artists capable of creating these miniature stained glass works are a rare breed, and the handful of masters and would-be apprentices is exceedingly small. These types of “Love Labors” are simply not a common thing in our modern, disposable world, and the wearer of a watch like this clearly gains far more than just an object to tell the time. They get a virtual window (no pun intended) into centuries of human knowledge, culture, and the desire to perfect the aesthetic–something that can be appreciated in full with every glance! Of course, this lovely Jaquet Droz artwork for the wrist also has some more readily accessible glamour too, with a mother of pearl subdial for the time display, and 35mm case of 18K rose gold set with 100 round brilliant cuts on the bezel and case lugs. Picture perfect too, is the green satin strap, which ties everything together in satisfying harmony.
While Jaquet Droz has shown its share of wondrous complications, and the exceptional movements to power them, the Smalta Clara Hummingbird is not so much about that. Here, the wonderful dial is center stage, with that glorious see-through enamel canvas. Still, while no minute repeater, perpetual calendar, or tourbillon, this fairly basic automatic movement still charms us in its own way. An aperture on the reverse side shows the diminutive JD 6150 caliber which has powered some of the smaller Jaquet Droz ladies dress watches; it’s an engine perfectly suited to drive the simple time display this watch has, too. Despite the fact this little movement plays second and third fiddle to the dial, it still manages to be a thing of beauty, showing off classical decoration on the bridges and a gold winding rotor that gets some additional charm with a quaint, engraved hummingbird motif. The little 6150 also gets some of the modern technical innovations many of us now appreciate, such as a balance spring in magnetism-foiling silicon, good to assure precision performance amidst all the electrical interferences that seem so contradictory to this watch’s very being.
There will be just eight of these green Smalta Clara Hummingbirds produced by Jaquet Droz, as is the case with many of the brand’s editions, both within and outside of the plique-à-jour works. From here, I can say nothing more than that I remain impressed by Jaquet Droz and their steadfast commitment to the rare and unusual. A look at their engrossing website, and the many breathaking videos of extraordinary creations sprinkled throughout it, should more than suffice to tell a tale that may well leave you considerably lighter of purse, or wallet.