Horological Meandering

Larry Seiden
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Jaquet Droz Sport Watch. Bad name, but the coolest watch in my collection.

Yes, it’s a non-tool dive watch.

Depth rating of 288ft/88meters with it’s screw-down crown, but OK I don’t dive with it nor sit in the hot tub.

Yet, this is one of my favorite watches. Classic Jaquet Droz look except on first glance it looks like it OD’ed on steroids. The look is as much art deco as it is 2010. I doubt this is a big seller for JD, probably because enough people haven’t seen it. The case is big 45mm, but sculpted in such a way that just oozes uniqueness and casual cool. The details of the cash finishing are amazing the in typical JD fashion, all the elements come harmoniously together. The brushed metal accents tie together the brushed claws that decorate the case at 9 and 3. The dial has depth, multiple layers and even though it looks black, under the scrutiny of a loop looks like the starry Milky Way.

The lugs are hollow and the strap sits perfectly against the case ends. The skeleton hands are painted orange luminova as are the markers at the quarters and the 5,6 and 7 of the seconds dial. You probably already know the story of Jaquet Droz and why the seconds dial is larger than the hours and minutes dial and the elliptical intersection of the two.

The 30-jewel movement is the tried-and-true twin-barrel Piquet 1151 with a PR of 68 hours. And look at the rotor. Pure out-of-the box thinking. The bridges are finished in a wash that gives it the look of titanium.

The supple rubber strap follows the “saw blade cuts” of the polished bezel edges and the push-button, three-dimensional, double deployant clasp is a piece of over-engineering that looks for surfaces to scratch it, but works so well.

What can you say, they got the watch right and blew the marketing by calling it the Sport Utility Watch, but if you can get past that, you’ll find one of the coolest (and under appreciated) watches this side of Panerai.

Thanks to my friend Dale for his amazing photography skills and Anthony for blazing the trail.