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Lot Essay
This remarkable set of watches by the legendary mechanician Pierre Jaquet Droz with exquisite and lavishly decorated cases are distinguished by their extraordinary rarity and quality. It is amongst the most significant Chinese market watches to be offered at auction in recent years.
Early self-winding watches are extremely rare and only one or two other examples by Jaquet Droz are known. The present watch was made at a time when leading watchmakers were experimenting with the idea of the `perpetuelle` or self-winding watch mechanism. Whilst it is Breguet who is most famous for the perpetuelle movement, the invention itself is thought to have been made by Perrelet in Switzerland around 1770 and it is therefore likely that Jaquet Droz was directly influenced by him in the creation of his perpètuelle watches. During the last quarter of the 18th century several makers attempted to perfect the perpetuelle but most of those watches were not particularly successful requiring considerable movement to maintain enough power. As is well known, Breguet did perfect the mechanism and made watches that reacted to the slightest touch. The present watch by the legendary maker Jaquet Droz is one of the small number of early self-winding watches to survive and of great interest in the development of horology. The lavishly jewelled gold case and the center-seconds feature suggest that this watch was destined for export to China. It was probably retailed via Jaquet Droz's agent in London, Henry Maillardet. It was a clever marketing ploy by Jaquet Droz to sign many of his watches destined for the Orient 'Jaquet Droz, London', this was because goods from London were regarded as superior quality and had extra cachet therefore commanding higher prices.
Early self-winding watches are extremely rare and only one or two other examples by Jaquet Droz are known. The present watch was made at a time when leading watchmakers were experimenting with the idea of the `perpetuelle` or self-winding watch mechanism. Whilst it is Breguet who is most famous for the perpetuelle movement, the invention itself is thought to have been made by Perrelet in Switzerland around 1770 and it is therefore likely that Jaquet Droz was directly influenced by him in the creation of his perpètuelle watches. During the last quarter of the 18th century several makers attempted to perfect the perpetuelle but most of those watches were not particularly successful requiring considerable movement to maintain enough power. As is well known, Breguet did perfect the mechanism and made watches that reacted to the slightest touch. The present watch by the legendary maker Jaquet Droz is one of the small number of early self-winding watches to survive and of great interest in the development of horology. The lavishly jewelled gold case and the center-seconds feature suggest that this watch was destined for export to China. It was probably retailed via Jaquet Droz's agent in London, Henry Maillardet. It was a clever marketing ploy by Jaquet Droz to sign many of his watches destined for the Orient 'Jaquet Droz, London', this was because goods from London were regarded as superior quality and had extra cachet therefore commanding higher prices.