SimplyAbuDhabi IX

T his year Swiss watchmaker Jaquet Droz celebrates in its 275th anniversary, maintaining the avant-garde spirit and refined taste that distinguished the brand’s eponymous founder. The brand has introduced the Bird Repeater, an exceptional timepiece blending the history, know-how and imaginative power of Jaquet Droz that has set the House apart for nearly 300 years. In a nod to the heritage of the brand, the timepiece presents two Blue Tit birds symbolic of Pierre Jaquet-Droz’s native Jura region. The birds are seen positioned together over the nest containing their fledglings. Similarly recalling the origins of the brand’s manufacture, the Saut du Doubs waterfall is also depicted on the dial of this new horological treasure. Fully animated by a mechanism of unequalled complexity, this three-dimensional depiction makes the watch come to life; while one of the birds gives food to its offspring, the wings of its companion spread to reveal their delicate shades of color. An egg in the middle of the nest opens to reveal a chick, while the water of the stream flows in a continuous cascade – a timeless portrayal of the natural surroundings that influenced the young Droz. The Bird Repeater has an authentic automaton that includes a cam system inherited directly from the century of Enlightenment. Jaquet Droz engravers and painters have worked together to produce the yellow, blue, white and deep black of the birds' plumage, as well as the perfectly balanced volumes and the finely detailed wisps of grass forming the nest. To achieve the realism of this scene, no fewer than eight different animation mechanisms act in synchronism: the movement of the birds' heads and wings, that of the fledglings, the hatching of the egg and the sparkle of the flowing water. In line with the brand's meticulous philosophy, Jaquet Droz has given The Bird Repeater one of haute horlogerie's most virtuoso complications: minute repetition. Simply pressing the pushbutton makes the watch strike the hours, quarters and minutes and sets the wonderfully animated sequences in motion. The resonance and mellow tone of its cathedral gong, generated by two turns around the mechanism, are equaled only by the complexity of the system of chimes incorporated in the gold case – 47 millimetres in diameter and only 18.4 millimetres thick. The timepiece is made up of 508 separate components, has a 48-hour power reserve, and is available in two versions, one in grey gold set with diamonds and the other in red gold. Each one comes in a limited edition of just eight pieces. The outcome of two years of development, this new and dazzling masterpiece is the latest illustration, and doubtless the epitome of, the art of the Jaquet Droz spirit: giving life, like no other, to the poetry of Time. A special edition of The Bird Repeater is being made to be presented this year at Baselworld. The Bird Repeater by Jaquet Droz 8 7 S I M P LY A B U DH A B I