Jaquet Droz expanded its flagship Grande Seconde series last year with the addition of a dual-time model (we review it here); the La Chaux-de-Fonds-based brand followed it up this year by incorporating another new horological complication to the collection’s classical figure-eight design ? the Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Moon, which will be among the highlight timepieces at next month’s WatchTime New York collectors’ event.
Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Moon with ivory enamel dial
Whereas the Grande Seconde Dual Time updated the original model by placing a GMT indication inside the large seconds/date display subdial (the lower circle of the dial’s figure eight), the Grande Seconde Moon adds a striking astronomical moon-phase indicator. Requiring adjustment only once every 122 years and 46 days, the specially developed “mechanism 135” for the moon-phase has a carefully studied gear ratio that makes it much more precise than the 59-toothed mechanism in a traditional moon-phase, which accumulates an error of one day in approximately two years, seven months, and 20 days. The upper subdial discreetly displays the hours and minutes. The watch has an 18k rose gold case measuring 43 mm in diameter and is graced with an ivory enamel dial and an applied, satin-finish, rose-gold circular ring surrounding the moon-phase aperture. (There will also be two steel-cased models available, one with a silvery opaline dial with Roman numerals in the upper su...