Jaquet Droz debuts a pink-dialed timepiece that perfectly embodies the traditional Valentine’s Day color scheme. The Petite Heure Minute features a dial made of polished astorite, a pink-hued gemstone that also glitters with gold and silver inclusions and, unusually, is linked to the Titanic.
It turns out that astorite is a Colorado-mined, rhodonite-rich gem named after John Jacob Astor, the scion of the New York-based family of businessmen and real estate developers, who perished when the Titanic sank in 1912.
Jaquet Droz places astorite within a 35mm red gold case. A mother-of-pearl subdial, also ringed in red gold, displays the time at the top of the dial while 232 diamonds twinkle within the bezel and lugs.
As is typical with this mechanically aware Swiss watchmaker, there’s a nicely finished automatic movement inside, namely Jaquet Droz’s own P.2653, that features a silicon balance spring and pallet fork horns and demonstrates a strong 68-hours of power reserve. A rolled-edge hand-made grey satin strap finishes each watch of this twenty-eight-model limited edition.
Jaquet Droz has long been revered for its use of interesting dial treatments and is especially proficient at creating beautiful precious and semi-precious stone dials. This new Petite Heure Minute reinforces that focus with a feminine watch perfect for Valentine’s Day. Price: $32,600.
About Jaquet Droz
Pierre Jaquet-Droz was born in 1721 on a small farm (La Ferme de Sur le Pont) in La Chaux-de-Fonds. He began to take a serious interest in clockmaking and precision mechanics under the tutelage of older relatives from the Brandt-di-Grieurin, Sandoz and Robert families. It proved to be a true revelation for him.
Today, the brand is still inspired by Droz’s horological masterpieces and automatons. Operating in the Haute Horlogerie segment of the Swatch Group, Montres Jaquet Droz SA is known for limited-edition items and has helped to revive traditional watchmaking crafts.