Introducing: The Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Skelet-One

March 22, 2018

Jaquet Droz is one of those brands that has a collection of watches that is genuinely unique in the market. The Grande Seconde, with its off-center dials and oversized sub-seconds register, doesn't look like anything else out there. It's clean, it's instantly recognizable, and it mixes traditional finishes and styles with a slightly modern sensibility. This new iteration, the Grande Seconde Skelet-One, keeps the core tenets of the design while taking the watch in a totally new direction by making the sub-dials out of thing sheets of sapphire and dramatically skeletonizing the movement. There are three versions of the Skelet-One: ceramic with red gold accents, red gold, and white gold. Something to note is that the ceramic version is slightly larger in diameter than the two gold versions (coming in at 41.5mm instead of 41mm) and even a tiny bit thicker (12.48mm instead of 12.3mm). For all three, the bridges of the caliber 2663 SQ have been given a dark grey treatment for a more high-contrast look and the winding rotor is openworked too so it doesn't get in the way. Initial Thoughts I've always had kind of a soft spot for Jaquet Droz's Grande Seconde models C there's something about the slight asymmetry that I find so charming. The Skelet-One (aside from the bad name) has me very conflicted though. On the one hand, I really like the idea of playing with transparency and the slim sapphire dial looks awesome, but on the other hand I think some of the purity of the Grande Seconde design is lost here when you can see so much going on behind the scenes. This is one of those watches that I'm really going to need to see in the metal before I make up my mind. Stay tuned. The Grande Second Skelet-One in ceramic and red gold. The Grande Second Skelet-One in red gold. The Grande Second Skelet-One in white gold. The Basics Brand: Jaquet DrozModel: Grande Second Skelet-OneReference Number: J003525540 (ceramic), J003523240 (red gold), J003524240 (white gold)Diameter: 41.5mm (ceramic), 41mm (red gold and white gold)Thickness: 12.48mm (ceramic), 12.3mm (red gold and white gold)Case Material: Black ceramic, red gold, or white goldDial: Translucent sapphire Indexes: Arabic and Roman numeralsLume: NoneWater Resistance: 30 meters?Strap/Bracelet: Black fabric strap (ceramic), black alligator strap (red gold and white gold) From the back you get another vantage point on the movement. The Movement Caliber: Jaquet Droz 2663 SQFunctions: Hours, minutes, seconds Power Reserve: 68 hoursWinding: Automatic (with openworked rotor)Frequency: 4 Hz (28,800 vph)Jewels: 30Additional Details: Movement is heavily openworked to show full bridge structure,? Pricing & Availability Price: Coming SoonAvailability: Coming SoonFor more click here. During assembly you get a real sense of how etherial this watch is.