The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel – Shatterable. Frangible. Delicate. Breakable.

This is the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel watch.  It features a dial made from shatterable, frangible, delicate, breakable enamel and to state that it’s creation demands the skills of an experienced and patient craftsman would be a vast understatement.

A traditional Grand Feu enamel dial is created using fine glass powders, which are laid onto metal before being oven-fired.  The extreme heat melts the ultra-fine powders.  The result, when successful is loupe-worthy perfection of the utmost purity.  Jaquet Droz are experts in the art of enamel dial-making – even so, I bet that the most experienced Artisans at the La Chaux-de-Fonds workshops have, on occasion had cause to mutter a few curses under their breath as another brittle sliver of enamel proves to be flawed and therefore useless.

The Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel featured here is just about as quirky as a Jaquet Droz timepiece can be.  It’s two interlocking dials which form the fortuitous number 8 are off-set and its winding crown is relocated to the 4 o’clock position.  Of course, the seconds dial still dominates with its wonderfully elongated slender hand, offering the wearer and envious on-looker a superb perspective of time.  The previously released Off-Centred Black Enamel edition had its logo positioned at 10 o’clock, perhaps to add balance to the atypical crown, not so with this model which positions it within the seconds dial leaving empty milky-white enamel aplenty with nothing to obscure it.

The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Off-Centred Ivory Enamel is framed with a 43mm red gold case and is powered by the Jaquet Droz 2663A automatic movement with a double barrel producing 68 hours of power reserve.