BLACK SUN
After last year’s great success, this self-winding monopusher chronograph glorifies the arrival of summer with a new onyx dial dazzling like a black sun.
Everyone was waiting with baited breath this year for this piece to appear on the scene as it was one of the few complications which hadn’t embraced the Grande Seconde collection. And, no-one was disappointed when Jaquet Droz unveiled its chronograph during the Time To Move event. Quite the contrary actually as this watch, proposed in several versions, met with resounding success. The brand, which made good the wager of integrating short-cycle time measurement without interfering with its ambassador’s face, without disturbing the contour of its legendary 8, reveals a Grande Seconde Off-centered Chronograph Black Onyx to us as summer comes around.
With its dusky yet dazzling robe, the onyx underscores the 8’s clear silhouette delicately off-centered to the left. At 1 o’clock, in its small upper loop edged by a gray gold applique ring, the hours and minutes are displayed expressed by a pair of Lancine-shaped hands. At 7 o’clock, its large lower loop hosts a retrograde date hovered over by a miniature red-tipped hand and the chronograph minute totalizer, whilst a large central direct-drive ticks over the seconds around a railway-style tracker.
The chronograph is triggered, stopped and reset using the monopusher nestling in the crown at 4 o’clock. The Grande Seconde Off-centered Chronograph Black Onyx is driven by the automatic JD26M5R caliber which delivers a power reserve of 40 hours. The ballet of its skeletonized oscillating weight can be admired through the transparent back of the 43 mm-diameter steel case.
Price: CHF21,600 jaquet-droz.com
By Sharmila Bertin