DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles
Jaquet Droz watches have a special place in the world of Métiers d’Art watches. This year, they extended the range further with the beautifully executed Petite Heure Minute Paillonnée. We spent a good week wearing the watch on our daily routine and putting it through its paces to bring you this hands-on review.
The Jaquet Droz Petite Heuer Minute Paillonnée. Limited edition of only 8 pieces in red gold.
The Art Paillonnée
Paillon is the French word used by artisans to mean “thin leaf of metal”. This is the art of making gold ornaments which were once thought to have been lost. Pierre Jaquet Droz was a virtuoso in this art in his day. And today, the house of Jaquet Droz revives the art as one of her main pillars. See our conversation with Christian Lattmann, President of Jaquet Droz where he discusses his priorities for the maison.
The art of paillonnée enameling is rather unique among the decorative arts. The technique is delicate and consists of meticulously positioning tiny paillons of gold, one by one, to create perfectly geometrical patterns on coloured enamel. And then setting the design under a coat of transluscent enamel fondant. The base on which this art is practiced on is the grand feu enamel dial. Jaquet Droz makes these dials themselves. For a look behind the scenes and a glimpse of the secrets of the grand feu, read our article here. Note that although the method of making a grand feu dial is similar, Donzé Cadrans in the link is not related to Jaquet Droz. Donzé is a manufacture which is part of Ulysse Nardin, a member of the Kering Group. And Jaquet Droz is a brand owned by The Swatch Group.
The paillons are applied by hand to the enamel dial, so each is a miniature 3 dimensional sculpture.
Pierre Jaquet-Droz was a virtuoso of these techniques and thanks to him, among others, the art of paillonné enameling was at its zenith in the 18th century. When Jaquet Droz craftsmen resuscitated this process, they first used original paillons from that period. Now they have the expertise to produce their own paillons, adding a new emotional dimension to timepieces by blending the gestures of bygone days and modern times, then crowning this art with the unique coloring of grand feu enamel.
Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Paillonnée
The paillonnée technique has seen its application in Jaquet Droz watches for a few years, but this Baselworld 2017, we saw it in the Petite Heuer Minute range. As the name implies the Petite Heuer features a small hour and minute sub-dial on the top half of the dial. The negative space provided by such an arrangement allows the use for métiers d’art works to be showcased. This space is where the paillonnée is executed.
The Jaquet Droz Petite Heuer Minute Paillonnée. The dial has all the magnificence of royalty.
The case, dial and hands
The case is a rather standard Jaquet Droz case, which in itself means that it is an elegantly designed case, and finished to a […]
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Article from: DEPLOYANT – Luxury watch reviews & horological lifestyles, by Peter Chong
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