Jaquet Droz has created watches displaying multiple time zones in the past — notably the brand’s single-handed Twelve Cities model, along with its Grande Heure GMT and Time Zones — but this year, the brand named for visionary watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz launches the first such model within its flagship Grande Seconde family, which features a cleverly executed dial design and an all-new movement.
At first glance, the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time appears similar to existing models in the Grande Seconde collection, with its two overlapping subdials forming an elegantly symmetrical figure eight, a number that has become deeply associated with the brand. A closer look reveals more complexity, with the upper subdial displaying the local time and the lower, larger subdial doing triple duty as a seconds counter (indicated by the long, slender blue hand), date display (in a recessed, lower subdial within the borders of the larger one, with a red-tipped hand pointing to the 31-day scale) and second-time-zone/GMT indicator (with a small blue hand pointing to blue numerals on a 24-hour scale). The subtle contrast between the two subdials is highlighted by the use of Roman numerals in the upper and Arabic numerals in the lower.
Jaquet Droz developed a new movement for this watch at its atelier in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland, an ancestral crade of Swiss watchmaking and the birthplace of brand namesake Pierre Jaquet-Droz. The movement, Caliber 2663H24, features automatic winding via Jaquet Droz’s familiar skeletonized rotor (made of gold in the rose-gold case/ivory enamel dial version), a frequency of 28,800 vph, a power reserve of 65 hours stored in a double barrel, and an escapement made of silicon, which renders the movement nearly impervious to the effects of magnetic fields.
The case of the Grande Seconde Dual Time, which measures 43 mm in diameter and 13.13 mm thick, is in either stainless steel or 18k rose gold and water-resistant to 30 meters. The stainless steel version is available with either a silver opaline dial or a black onyx dial with white-gold applied rings; the rose-gold model has an ivory-colored grand feu enamel dial with hands made of rose gold.
All three versions of the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time come on a rolled-edge, hand-made alligator leather strap with a folding clasp made of the same material as the case. The stainless steel watch with silvered dial is priced at $16,000; the steel-cased model with onyx dial is $17,500; and the rose-gold model with ivory enamel dial is $26,800.
Below, you’ll find some photos we snapped of the Grande Seconde Dual Time at Baselworld.
