Jaquet Droz stuns pocket watchers; interest rises

Ask a watch nerd what’s in his pocket, and you’re liable to draw a blank gaze, or some mumbling about his pride and joy being on his wrist, not in his pocket. But all poking fun at ourselves, and from within our pockets aside, we are surely not alone in noticing the profusion of pocket watches on the market of late.

The price and design spread is truly vast, from the reasonable fun that is the Tissot Pocket 1920 Mechanical through the ebony sheen of the Bell & Ross PW1 all the way to the mighty, and five-figured, Bovet Amadeo Fleurier 42 Jumping Hands. Yes indeed, gents and germs, you really can find a pocket watch to suit.

This said, we’re quite picky over here inside the depths of Prodigal Towers. The trade-off between the dosh and the design/mechanicals of these pocket watches is often too much in favour of one over the other, with few managing to strike the appropriate balance. Many will dismiss the idea of finding a “balance” in a world of mechanical devices that merely tell the time and yet can command six-figure prices as being illusory. But we never claimed to be anything other than subjective and opinionated here.

We’ve drawn your attention to the Jaquet Droz brand before, mostly because of its breath-taking and utterly minimalist designs. Sure, their enamel dials are an integral part of the spell they cast, but mostly, it’s their purity and delicacy that forces us to grab a seat. And a stiff drink.

You’ll recall that Straight-Six needled the Nomos Zurich Weltzeit over its brittle beauty, one that veered just over the fine line that divides the austere from the elegant. Well, we have no such hesitation here, in the form of the Pocket Watch Ivory Enamel from Jaquet Droz.

This 50mm case-diameter beauty comes with a fairly hefty price tag (23,000 euros); then again, it does sport the in-house 2615, hand-winding mechanical movement, along with a power reserve of 40 hours. With all the metal you see being 18-carat yellow gold, and the Jaquet Droz signature and individual serial number hand engraved on the case-back, the ivory Grand Feu enameled dial remains the key focus. We do imagine ourselves gazing at it for hours on end, with no valid reason to cease our endless-fondling.

As ever, Jaquet Droz absolutely nails utter refinement without seeming fragile, or sparse. Simply put: this is delicacy done right, and very few watch brands tread appropriately on this hallowed ground.

So, given we’re starting to get hot and bothered by a pricey, yellow gold, pocket watch, some might question whether we should already purchase our pipe, slippers and collection of fine cognacs. Maybe.

But if being comfortable and sedentary is the price to pay to enjoy a pocket watch such as this, well, we’d happily indulge.