The new Perpetual Calendar Éclipse by Jaquet Droz, available in two dial colors, showcases the brand’s distinctive moon-phase display. In this article from my blog, Watch-Insider.com, I list the attributes of this new timepiece, which is crafted in Jaquet Droz’s ancestral home of La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.
The Éclipse collection includes some of Jaquet Droz’s most elegant timepieces. (Click here to see my article about the Eclipse Mother-of-Pearl and Eclipse Ivory Enamel, introduced earlier this year.)
This new model pairs the Jaquet Droz moon-phase complication — which displays the lunar cycles by means of a round index that passes over the moon, blocking part or all of it from sight — with a perpetual calendar. On the black or ivory-colored grand feu enamel dial, two straight hands contrast sharply with the curves of two wavy hands, each of the latter tipped with a crescent moon.
The calendar information is easy to read on several places on the dial: on the right you see the current date; on the left, the day of the week. At 12 o’clock, a single-hand counter indicates the month, with the leap-year indication appearing discreetly in a small window. At 6 o’clock, a black or ivory-colored onyx index moves across the face of the golden moon, revealing, and then concealing it until its total eclipse.
Surrounding the moon-phase display is a night-sky motif, with eight stars. (Eight, as longtime fans of the Jaquet Droz brand may know, was brand namesake Pierre Jaquet-Droz’s favorite number).
In my opinion, the Jaquet Droz Perpetual Calendar Éclipse captivates and surprises with its innovative design and contemporary calendar display. The wonderful sparkle of the rose-gold hands, moon, and stars creates a perfectly balanced contrast to the solemnity of the dial in this timepiece.