Hands-On – The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time

There is something about the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde. The graphic simplicity of its design and artfully crafted movements are indeed different and appealing. Its refined style, at once timeless and modern, is now endowed with a new indication for travelers. Here are our thoughts about the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time.

The singularity of the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde lies in a distinctive, enduring perception of elegance that was inspired by the minimalist design of a pocket watch created by the great Pierre Jaquet-Droz in the late 18^th century. The “Dual Time” inherited the collection’s clean lines and artful simplicity, with its two off-center dials slightly overlapping to delineate a figure eight. The upper dial shows the local time. The lower dial indicates concentrically the seconds, the date (hand with a red tip) and a second time-zone (with a 24 hour hand) and is of sufficient scale to allow all indications to be read easily.

The watch comes in three different variations; it is available in steel with a silver opaline dial or a deep black onyx dial featuring white gold applied rings. The pink gold version features a grand feu enamel dial, with the same milky off-white color that pleased us in the standard (non-dual-time) version. The sleek minimalist black onyx dial version endows the watch with a distinctive modern character while the other two versions are in keeping with the brand’s traditional style.

The brand’s haute horlogerie credentials need little introduction. The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time is powered by the 2663H24 caliber. This twin-barrel movement with automatic winding features a free-sprung balance, a silicon balance spring and silicon pallet horns. It runs at a modern 28,800 vibrations per hour (4Hz) and offers a healthypower reserve of 65 hours (more than sufficient considering the automatic winding). It is aesthetically pleasing and beautifully finished with Cotes de Genève radiating from the balance wheel and an open-worked rotor, pleasantly finished with polished chamfers and frosted surfaces. Like all Jaquet Droz movements, it is engraved with a clover leaf, the secret signature of the Maison.

The 2663H24 caliber is housed in a well-proportioned round case with a thin bezel. At 43mm, it has great presence even on larger wrists. Both the date and second time zone can be set via the crown. This makes correction easier, and the absence of a corrector on the case leaves its curves intact.

A rembordé alligator leather strap sets the final touch. It is closed with a steel folding buckle or pink gold pin buckle. More details on jaquet-droz.com.

Technical specifications of the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Dual Time         

• Case: 43mm x 13.13mm – steel or 18k pink gold – sapphire crystal on both sides – water resistant to 30m
• Movement: 2663H24 – mechanical with automatic winding – 65h power reserve – 28,800 vibrations/h – 42 jewels – off-centered hours and minutes, off-centered large second, date and second time zone at 6 o’clock.
• Strap: alligator leather strap with folding or pin buckle
• Reference: J016030240 / J016030270 / J016033200
• Price : steel white opaline dial 16,450 CHF, steel black onyx dial 18,050 CHF, 18k pink gold ivory enamel dial 27,550 CHF