Horological Meandering

Dear Friends and fellow Jaquet Droz enthusiasts,  

It is with a heavy heart that I have to make two announcements.   The first is my resignation as the moderator for the Jaquet Droz forum. This has been a very difficult decision but priorities in my professional and personal life required a drastic alteration to my schedule.  As a result of my departure and the J*D's community’s diminished traffic flow, the PPro executive committee has also decided to close the Jaquet Droz forum on the PuristSPro platform.

I want to thank the previous moderators (Dr. Thomas Mao, Peter Conrad, and Max Hellicar) for building such a wonderful community of collectors and for entrusting me with the forum over the past three years.   Obviously our love of Jaquet Droz timepieces would not have been possible without the inspiration and hard work by Mr. Emch and all the artisans under his direction.  I cannot begin to express my appreciation for the time and resources they have spent to share their passion with Jaquet Droz collectors from around the world.   Most importantly, I am grateful for the relationships that have been built over the past few years and the support these friends have provided.  I have and always will “cover your six”.  

Rest assured that any new developments at Montres Jaquet Droz will be released on HoMe and I would encourage Jaquet Droz enthusiasts to continue sharing their passion for the brand on the general forum as well.As always I remain at your service, please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.  

With warmest regards from my J*D family to yours,

 Mike

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2009-08-03 20:06:00

...and thanks for posting this note.  Just allow me a quick expression of gratitude for your work as J*D mod.  I personally learned a heck of a lot about their watches.  Your enthusiasm really helped instill in me some interest in certain models, and the craftsmanship that goes into them (the work on the dials in particular is amazing).  You are largely responsible for my genuine appreciation of J*D.  Thanks for that!  See you on the boards! 

Cheers,

Daos

but by the virtual friendships that I have made over the years on the forum.

Thank you always for your kind words.  Trust me, you'll "see" me around.

 

Best, Mike

Hi Mike, Words fail me after reading your note. I guess it wasn't an easy decision from you and the mgmt. This page has been my bookmark for the longest time. Only recently I have been away due to work commitments....sigh. It seems like just yesterday we were making arrangements for a trip to J*D....... You have and always will be a good friend. Say "hi" to the family ;-) One last time of my favourite

count on your support over the past few years.  Like yourself, work committments have gotten way out of hand and I had to "recalibrate" my priorities.

Don't count out another trip to J*D!  We've got a lot of things to look forward too

 

Best, Mike

 

wow, total shock to see when i visited this bookmark that i was routed to the front page and nothing was there but a resignation letter and forum closure, shocker!

i haven't read all the replies, has anyone talked about starting up a new forum elsewhere? there's so many free forum softwares out there and there's not a ton of J*D traffic, i just wonder if anyone has thought about starting this up and what the thoughts are.

so, thoughts?

the EOT transaction.

What ever you decide I hope to see your new addition on HoME!

 

Best, MIke

We might not have been quite so surprised if it were something like HW, perhaps, where the last on-topic post is a few months old, but the content of the J*D  forum has always reflected the pace of movement in the brand's development, and always included insightful, detailed, informed and balanced reportage from you, Mike, and from other contributors. The J*D watches are also so mesmerisingly appealing from an aesthetic viewpoint that any photo-post of a J*D watch was a post not to be passed up. Perhaps the powers-that-be might at least arrange for the  J*D posts to be tab-accessible for a while?

Well, if that is what it has come to: many, many thanks for the learning and camaraderie available on J*D under your stewardship. We should all send it off with a few photos to remember it by, don't you think? So, from the 'boys' here to your 'family': thanks for everything - see you on HoMe.

 

Cheers,

pplater.

I'll always be at your service even if the J*D tab is not available.  Conside me your J*D concierge

Love your boys!

Cheers, MIke

. . . by this turn of events. Mike is a family man and surgeon, and has tremendous responsibilities outside of our corner of the virtual world. I'm astonished at the level of commitment he's maintained over the years in keeping first Jaquet Droz and now in addition Montblanc as vital ongoing forums. Please join me in saying thanks to Mike . . .

. . . with highest regards, Art

have led to a few extra pounds.  I'll be back in a leaner, meaner form

That is unless you break my diet with beer and guacamole!

Best, Mike

We understand perfectly your decision and it will be always a pleasure to see your posts in the other forums of our community.

Best regards.

Fr.Xavier

.

Dear Mike,

 

Very sad to hear, and I haven’t even got around to purchasing a J*D timepiece yet! You and others did a great job managing the Forum and it was always a pleasure to dip in there as the focus was so different from other horology houses.

 

Can the whole Forum be archived somewhere to allow future searches? Too much important information to be lost or dispersed elsewhere.

 

All the best for your future endeavours...

 

Regards

 

Andrew

I'm not sure about accessibility of the J*D archives.  But like pplater, I remain at service to all my PuristS friends.  Feel free to always ask me privately or post a question on HoME. 

The J*D forum was special from the very start.  IMHO it was the first Purist forum to focus on the inherent values and special features of a company focused on design.  I am sure J*D has a few more suprises lined up for s.

Cheers, Mike

Always sad to close a forum, but hopefully, it will re open in a close future!

Well, you still are a Moderator on the Montblanc forum, aren't you?

Moderation takes a lot of time, indeed, but your work was very appreciated.

I had pleasure to read your threads on the J .D forum, they were always informative, fresh and passionate.

I whish you all the best for your personal matters.

This is not an " au Revoir ", my friend.



Nicolas

An interesting difference, Amanico - in English we might  use the saying:  "This is not goodbye, just au revoir" - the very words that first came to mind when Mike posted his message!

So, do you not have any J*D photos in that vast archive of yours which you might post as a tribute?

 

Cheers,

pplater.

I meant that it wasn't an " Au Revoir " because, to me, Mike doesn't leave the boat...



Best,

borat...

This message has been edited by amanico on 2009-08-01 03:56:46

I certainly am not worthy

In fact you've discovered my secret plan...by shedding J*D I can now post twice as much on Montblanc to match you!

Warmest regards,

Mike

... all ur efforts to help us discover these amazing watches. Good luck for the futur and we surely will keep on following news of J*D on the forum.

Best,

Karim

i'll be honest, the suspension of the forum was unexpected, i was expecting harry winston to disappear soon, but not JD.

moderating 2 forums AND having a private life must be very difficult especially as you also have such a stressful job so you've done a superb job balancing everything. any decision made for the benefit of your family is the correct decision.

best

Graham

And well said.

Mike, thanks for a job well done and best of luck to you.

.

it has always been work and family...in that order.  You've got it figured out that it should be the other way around.

Thanks always,

Mike

.

Good suggestion, as usual, pplater.

 

 

Hey Mike,

You must be one of the 1st few guys whom i knew on this forum...and it was thanks to this Forum that i decided on buying my First TRUE watch, J*D GS. The JD Forum was like my home here in The Purist...cos i don't have the other brand of watches : ). thus i usually log in to see the main page and the JD Page.

Anyway i think u did an excellent job here...Cheers.

Do take care buddy.

Kevin