PRE-BASEL: The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Deadbeat
Felix ScholzThe story in a second:
Jaquet Droz is the new kid on the Australian high-end luxury watch block, and the Grande Seconde Deadbeat is their take on an old-school complication.
Jaquet Droz is a newcomer to the Australian watch scene. Part of the Swatch Group family, they are primarily known here for their impressive automata and refined style. It is also a brand that seems to have played exceptionally well in Asian markets. So it makes sense, given our proximity to Asia, strong dollar and strong tourist sales, that Jaquet Droz makes a push into our markets.
Their latest model, the Grande Seconde Deadbeat, is an exemplary model for the brand (outside of their off-tap ridiculous automated birds). The Grande Seconde line is a pared-back, elegant design, one that speaks to eighteenth-century watchmaking of the sort that Jaquet Droz himself would be familiar with. Besides the offset time and date registers on a very handsome grand feu enamel dial, this watch is all about the seconds.
The Grande Seconde Deadbeat features a very unusual complication. The seconds hand doesn’t move with the continuous sweep you’d expect from a mechanical movement, but rather ‘jumps’ every second. Just like a quartz watch. But don’t be fooled, there’s no battery to change on this guy.
The deadbeat second (AKA true-beat) complication might seem somewhat pointless these days, but in a pre-quartz world it was the height of precision timekeeping, allowing seconds to be measured in regular, precise intervals – very handy for medical and scientific applications.
While it remains to be seen if Jaquet Droz can carve itself out a slice of the very competitive Australian luxury watch pie, they’re certainly in a strong position with watches such as the Grande Seconde Deadbeat, which cleverly combines a niche complication with mainstream appeal.
The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Deadbeat is limited to 88 pieces.
Specifications
Brand
Jaquet Droz
Model
Grande Seconde Deadbeat
Reference No
J008033200
Case Size
43mm
Case Material
18-carat red gold
Dial
Ivory Grand Feu enameled dial
Movement
Self-winding movement, single barrel
Functions
Off-centered hours and minutes, large central independent seconds, off-centered retrograde date hand at 6