Jaquet Droz – AUTOMATA “La Ronde Des Baisers” Automaton Exclusive Edition Unique Piece 2024
CHANTAL THOMASS & JAQUET DROZ: THE COLLABORATION.jpg)
Jaquet Droz is an almost 300-year-old start-up, founded in 1738 by a visionary: Pierre Jaquet Droz. For their time, the clocks, automata and humanoid automata from Pierre Jaquet Droz were a mechanical and cultural revolution. The family company was a pioneer of watch exporting with items in multiple royal and imperial courts across Europe and Asia.
In 2000, Jaquet Droz was bought by the Swatch Group and incorporated into the prestige and luxury segment of the watchmaking group. Its acquisition by the Group has enabled the brand to enjoy the same heights of success as it did in the Age of Enlightenment, and to build on the exceptional heritage established by its founder.
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With the arrival in 2022 of the new CEO, Alain Delamuraz, the company has refocused on the disruptive character of the brand. Driven by its new strategy "JD 8.0: A Disruptive Legacy" and recognised worldwide for its Ateliers d'Art and automata, the company has enhanced its audacious vision of animated Haute Horlogerie, custom-designed and bringing together exceptional movements and next generation materials, prioritising a unique and personalised experience. Each piece is created by and for a specific collector. These exclusive, unique pieces are delivered in person during an unboxing ceremony in the presence of the CEO.
Classical historical themes are retained while the brand also opens itself up to a new visual approach – provocative, impertinent and audacious.
The 160 points of sale, multi-brand retailers and single-brand boutiques have been replaced by a single sales location at the Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds thereby favouring direct contact between the artists, artisans and collectors. Jaquet Droz has become more agile and has capitalised on their Phygital presence. Studio 8 combines a physical and digital presence so that it is possible to remotely follow the work of the artists and artisans in real time thanks to six cameras. At each step of the process, collectors can virtually lean over the shoulder of the artisan to observe and influence their work. Stronger and more grounded in its identity, Jaquet Droz is venturing into unexpected territory and staying right where it has always been: disruptive and visionary.
Although we immediately associate Chantal Thomass with lingerie, during the 70s she was one of the major figures in the wave of French creators that included Kenzo, Jean Charles de Castelbajac, Thierry Mugler, Claude Montana and Anne Marie Beretta. It was these eclectic creators with their distinctive styles who would go on to shape the woman of the 80s and 90s. Irreverent and eminently creative, this new guard spanned the generations and brought a new energy to Parisian fashion.
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Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
"A collaboration is the pleasure of embracing a profession, plunging yourself into a technique, a special feature, a universe. It is a unique occasion to assimilate into an environment that is not your own and to get a feel for exceptional expertise.
It is also a journey to encounter a place, a history, the artisans... The Jaquet Droz Manufacture was incredible beyond my expectations; I discovered a level of mastery and technical expertise that is so rarely attained, all put to the service of unique objects that are almost magical!
Jaquet Droz is a company that knows how to set itself apart, daring to defy what is expected and leave the beaten track to push the limits of watchmaking.
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To work with Jaquet Droz is to work with excellence sublimated by the soul and talent of the men and women – artisans without equal – these incredible "creators of marvels"!
This creative alchemy has given life to the "Ronde des Baisers" watch whose aura exudes both hypnotism and poetry: It is a rare object that celebrates all kisses – stolen, given, lost, hidden or kept in the heart!
It brings together everything that I love: a subtle game, between poetry and discipline, between romanticism and geometry, marked by a wave of "heart-lips" against the backdrop of an optical grid pattern. The colours that I cherish – black, white and of course, touches of pink and red – while diamonds set into a ribbon shape offer just a hint of delicate lace.
This "Ronde des Baisers" is a precious tourbillon, an intimate creation that reflects my own universe:
audacious, refined and resolutely "me"."
Chantal Thomass.
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The piece, unique and engraved with the written signature of the artist on its oscillating weight will be unveiled at the FAB Paris art fair (Fine Art La Biennale) at the Grand Palais on 22-27 November in the presence of Jaquet Droz and Chantal Thomass.
JAQUET DROZ AND CHANTAL THOMASS COMBINE DISRUPTIVE WATCHMAKING AND IRREVERENT POP ART FASHION
A free figure, explorer of avant-garde trends who breaks taboos and barriers in the name of an art that is in perpetual transformation: that which is true for Chantal Thomass is also true for Jaquet Droz. The watchmaker and fashion icon were destined to meet. The result of this union is a unique piece, an automaton set with diamonds and minerals that is a hypnotic manifestation of master craftsmanship and fashion.
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For Jaquet Droz and Chantal Thomass it was love at first sight. The connection between Paris and La Chaux-de-Fonds was instantaneous.With her mischievous eye for such things, the creator grasped all of the possibilities offered by Jaquet Droz automata and the richness that the master crafts could bring.
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Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
Chantal Thomass wanted a timepiece that was dominated by her colours: black, white, red. But the fashion icon knew that the graphic palette is one thing, the materials are another. To bring these tones to life, Chantal Thomass opted for different materials that would each bring texture and volume. On an onyx watch dial, a perspective image of a chequerboard is created from cubes of black onyx and Cacholong. This first is well known by Jaquet Droz, but the inclusion of Cacholong was a first. The marquetry work in stone is created with 34 individual parts. Each cube measures between 2.25 mm and 0.45 mm in height. They are machined and assembled individually, by hand, in 5 different heights in order to accentuate the 3D perspective of the chequerboard.
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Click, to see the large size. ▶ BIG FOTO 
And the finishing touch added by the artist: In order to break up a composition that plays with the effects of symmetry, Chantal Thomass has taken 11 of the red pairs of lips so dear to her and placed them across the dial. Ten are gold, hand-sculpted appliques that are placed on the moving peripheral (and therefore,
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like the entirety of the disc, pass below the watch dial). The 11th is hand-painted, used as a signature for Chantal Thomass, placed below that of Jaquet Droz, set at midday and with two gold hands passing above.
"Create your own. As unique as you are"
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Unique piece 1/1
Reference: J0328330241
Material: 18-carat red gold
Diameter: 43 mm
Thickness: 16.96 mm
“Pièce Unique” engraved on the back
Water-resistant to 30 meters (3 bar)
Dial and hands
Static dial: hand-painted black onyx hour/minute dial with 18-karat red gold applied ring, 18-karat red gold dial with black onyx and white cacholong semi-precious stone marquetry
Animated dial: 18-karat white gold, snow-set with 💎376 diamonds, black onyx with painted 18-karat white gold appliques
Movement
Caliber Jaquet Droz 2653 AT2
Self-winding mechanical movement
Silicon balance spring and pallet horns, double barrel, flat bridges
Hand-engraved 18-karat red gold oscillating weight. “Chantal Thomass”
Automaton with animated record and logo, hand-wound with crown push-button automaton triggering mechanism, double barrel.
Number of jewels: 56
Frequency: 28'800 vph (4 Hz)
Power reserve of 68 hours
Functions/Indications
Off-centered hours and minutes
Strap
Fabric strap
Buckle 18-carat red gold folding clasp
🔰 Limited Edition to ✅ Unique only ❱❱❱ 1 pieces
🔴 Price: CHF 438'000 (incl. taxes)💰=====================-----
Press Release - 2024
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MONTRES JAQUET DROZ SA
Allée du Tourbillon 2
CH-2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds 2
E· press@jaquet-droz.com
tel +41 32 924 28 72 · fax +41 (0) 32 924 28 82
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