Horological Meandering

J*D has long been the brand of choice for aesthetes, for people driven more by the very clean and distinguished design, rather than by their movements (although those have been of high quality, yet lacked exclusiveness).

The brand also stood out as a guardian of handicraft arts, exemplified by the extensive use of rare and time-honoured enamelling techniques or the use of exotic dial materials.

Jaquet-Droz had a very clear message that appealed to a niche in the high-end watch market. A boutique brand amongst the ‘Big Boys’.

The question for us always was “what is the appeal of such a brand for Swatch Group?” 

Obviously a question that has been asked also within the Group. Between the lines we heard that sales numbers were unsatisfactorily and that those should be doubled, bringing the brand into the realm of Blancpain (well, almost).

Clearly, the days of a niche manufacturer are numbered!

So it comes to no surprise that the brand is forced to broaden its customer base by becoming a bit more ‘conventional’ and offering most of the complications and address those sectors that are considered a must-have: timeless elegant (that they had), complications like Tourbillon, Minute Repeater, sports watches.

Furthermore, a lower entry price was urgently needed.

While some of the above had been tackled under Mr Emch, the inauguration of Marc A. Hayek as CEO really got the things rolling. What strikes us is the kind of ‘synergies’ that are achieved with Blancpain, also in the hands of Mr Hayek. J*D and Blancpain, both in the quest of re-defining themselves, became like twins whereby one increasingly is not clear who’s who. Grand Feu enamel, once the distinctive sign of J*D, is now increasingly being adopted by Blancpain (and likewise Breguet’s art of guillochage). Contrariwise, some of the aspects of Blancpain’s sports watches are now found, with a J*D flavour, in the equivalent offerings from J*D; and vice-versa, some J*D novelties look like they could thrive with a Blancpain label as well without changes. Take for example the Eclipse and compare to a modern Blancpain (case, hands, dial, crown...):

It does not stop there. J*D made always good use of Piguet’s (sorry, Manufacture Blancpain) Cal. 1150 and 1185 family of movements, but never of the more complicated ones. Now, we find the formerlly exclusive Blancpain tourbillion not that exclusive anymore. 

Are these the synergies that come obviously with the joint management (i.e., having the same CEO)? Or is there a greater plan behind?

This we cannot answer right now, only the future will tell.

Magnus

I always admired Swatch Group for having the guts, means and patience to let a small boutique brand like Jaquet Droz flower in their portfolio. 

J*D had a clear message and a clear mission. It was the artsy brand, the brand for connoisseurs, for people passionate about design and crafts. And they played it well with an iconic theme of the ‘8’ shaped subdials.

Of course, as a business case one could do better. Increased volumes would mean less per unit costs of production, distribution and marketing. That might have been the trigger for the recent developments (see above) with the house, furthered by eroding margins thanks to the financial crises worldwide.

The problem for me now is to pick a ‘quintessential J*D’. A few years ago I would have been able to select just about any of the offerings, but things are (for me) not that easy anymore. 

Despite its arguably odd position with a J*D portfolio I like the Sports Watch, particularly with the new bracelet (which incidentally – yet another similarity! – feels much like the fabulous Blancpain cousin). I could see it perfectly as a travel watch (very suitable for the climates of Latin America and Asia, my prime working areas). It’s well designed to match about any occasion you encounter on a business trip, resistant enough to withstand challenging environmental conditions and unobtrusive. 

I view the Petit Heure Minute Relief series as the spiritual successor of the precious stones dials with the third dimension added. We have also been shown a movie that clearly indicates that J*D will further exploit the expertise in heavily doomed sapphire crystals to breathe more life into the watches. Enough of a hint! 

Finally, I’d like to comment that I saw a few imperfections in execution that I did not expect from this brand. I guess (and I hope) that this is not a consequence of the larger production volumes but rather a one-off prototype phenomenon.

Oliver

If someone is in the market for a J*D, it is not because of their striking movements. Beauty and some kind of simplicity is the key, nothing more nothing less. Some of their models get my attention because of those reasons and more than once it was hard to resist – in the past.

My personal favourite and seduction ? from 2012 is the Eclipse Onyx with moon phase complication, in steel. The style of that version fits almost 100% to my taste and even better it is the “most affordable” one of all the versions. The latter doesn’t quite often happen to me ?

Question to myself: Could I stop starring at the moon and how would it affect my daily workload?

Another favourite was the automat which we saw at the show. It shows a lot of J*D DNA and still today it is impressing to see something like this (see video above).

The sports line is something I don’t expect from J*D and to me it feels like a marketing driven addition to the collection. When I look at the bracelets, I have to think about the older ones (Trilogy Collection) from Blancpain. Is it because of the same CEO and his influence? Don’t get me wrong, the products are not bad. Just nothing what I would choose.

What I like in general is the “simple approach with a twist” and the fact that I don’t see them every day on everybody’s wrist, at least in my market.

What I don’t like is the hard to get clarity of the whole J*D collection. Of course most of them share the same DNA, but the names/lines are not that easy to catch. Maybe it is only me, because I am not that familiar with the brand.

Especially interested in the future automaton piece to be coming out soon!  

I liked the previous Sport Grand Seconde watch in steel on the rubber strap.  This new bracelet in my opinion is not as beautiful as the original rubber strap.  

J*D is definitely a beautiful watch.  If it were marketed correctly, I maintain, it could be the next cult phenomenon (a la Panerai).  

It still did not happen - yet.

You reference to Panerai is a most apt one I think. They are (historically) confined to two (or three) different case shapes and to more basic complications. Yet they managed to keep the theme interesting over the years which is no small feat.

The key is here that they restrained (well, more or less) themselves.

Will J*D manage?

Cheers,

Magnus

Thanks much, gentlemen, for the report.  

Cordially,

Art