Horological Meandering

PuristSPro BaselWorld 2011 Live Reporting 

 

- Jon Z. ( Z3)

 

Jaquet Droz

 

A brand with a strong focus on art and aesthetics, it is always a visual treat to wonder into the Jaquet Droz booth. 

 

 

 

 

Pieces in the display

 

 

Although not focusing on technicality of the movement, Jaquet Droz t has produced some of the most inspirational miniature paintings and exotic stone dials in the watch world. 

 

 

An artisan is set up at the booth, performing miniature painting on the dial.

(I asked him how he can concentrate with all the commotions, he told me that the thing that drives him crazy is the repeating theme music every 5 minutes=)

 

 

 

Here are the novelties

 

The new SW line

 

 

The new automatic tourbillon

 

Check out these intricate patterns on the mother of pearl dials!

 

This is the most visually striking piece, in my opinion. Paying homage to Jaquet Droz's singing bird clock (on display at the Patek Museum), this year they introduced a piece with a 3D bird relief sculpture on the dial in 18K white gold.  The crystal is domed to accommodate the height.

 

 

Some wonderful natural stone dials.

 

 

 

Some Pieces Unique that are already sold. A rare treat. 

 

Some of the miniature paitinings.

 

Hope you have enjoyed this visually satisfying journey with me.

 

Yours Truly,

Jon (Z3)

 

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2011-03-29 07:50:00

BRAVO J*D.

and thank you for posting

just wondering.. not complaining ( I know how much work it is to load all of these images )  On my screen your pics always look compressed in width.   It could be a browser issue but was wondering if anyone else was having an issue.  Hate for you to put in all that work and then have folks not read your posts because the images were distorted. 

THANKS again for all your hard work!!!!!!!!!!
Cary

That will solve your picture problem.

Many have complained in the past of the pictures scrolling over to the right side of the screen.  Since many people still post oversized pictures, when you click on "view entire thread", all picture widths get automatically compressed so we don't have picture scrolling over to the right side of your screen.

So to view the pictures in normal layout, you'll need to click on the individual post, not the view entire thread.

- Anthony

This message has been edited by AnthonyTsai on 2011-03-29 08:19:14

My apologies for the thread hijack
Cary

thats the suitable discription in my opinion JD  may not be horology wise the best company but ART wise they ROCK .

 Thanks Z3 .

Faisal

Some nice watches, I like them.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Vte

I didnt' know that JD was known for their painting and art on the dials.  Very cool pieces!

Thank you for your hard work!

Is it just me or did JD borrow the case from the MB Timewalker Chrono for the new SW line?  Very similar lugs.

No message body

JD makes some great watches a lot of the new offerings look really nice. I've really become a big fan of this brand, thanks again for sharing.

Tony

Big fan of JD watches. Especially love the new Grande Seconde. Thanks for the great post!

...there is a lot of what I love about J*D on display in this post.  There is beauty and presence in the simpler Jaquet Droz designs that really sing to me. 

Thanks for all the lovely photos!

Cheers,
Daos

I didn't agree with most of the negative consensus for the offerings. I think most of their offerings this year look really good, I don't fault JD for trying to mix it up a little bit by added a date to their GS line. I think it looks pretty good, not as good as the original but still nice. The tourbillon on the other hand does look similar to one you'd see on a Blancpain but still it looks sharp IMO.

Tony

Jon provided the updated information!

I hope you can see that this collegial difference of opinion is the strong reason why PuristSpro and ThePurists continue to be valuable online resources of the community.

Aesthetics are always a personal thing.

I do like some of the designs of the new MOP PHM models but I will sincerely disagree with everything else, including the 3-D bird relief design.

So to have a difference in opinion about how attractive something looks is only natural and expected....if everyone raved about how good J*D's Basel 2011 novelties are, I'd be suspicious.

But here on the Purists, being a long time fan of J*D, and having been a owner of more that 5 J*D watches

I think it is always important for a brand to "move forward".  Playing with dial materials/designs can only go so far without the brand going "stale".  It is no surprise to me that J*D released a few more GS dials and new Paillonnee PHM.  These are popular and will always be.  Am I disappointed that this happened?  No.  It would be like expecting AP to stop making LEs out of the ROO.

Trying to improve on the ICONIC GS design is a problem for me because it destroys the original design and intent of the namesake of the brand.  That doesnot feel right.  It feels like a "cheap" way to innovate and improve.

 

 But of course that is only my very humble opinion.  Not everyone has to believe it, I don't expect anyone to, and quite honestly it was painful for me to post.

Cheers, Mike

message with the word "some."  By using the word some I was referring only to the stone dials and the mop dials.  The other pieces do not interest me.  So, in that regard, Mike, I share your view.

you and I know who is reponsible for the stone dials so J*D cannot claim all the credit.

The Paillonnee dials are all Anita's (perhaps even her daughter's) handiwork.  So this dial creation is outsourced too.

They (the people in charge at the brand) need to understand the attraction to J*D that started 10 years ago.  This I feel is missing and fear that it may not return.

What happened to the Microrotor movement? Next year perhaps?  It has been delayed by 2-3 years now.

What happened to the thought processes that went into last year's Eclipse and GS repeater designs?

Mike

 

This message has been edited by mkt33 on 2011-03-30 20:13:39