The Lady 8 Sunstone
Classic Jaquet Droz: the 8 symbology in the shape of the case, and the automation that enables a lotus flower in the top part of the case to open and close at the push of a button, revealing a diamond at the centre. While the Lady 8 series by Jaquet Droz (shown at right in the Sunstone version) is a women’s watch that incorporates a simple game, a ball at the top of the dial that rotates in all directions like a trackball, the Lady 8 Flower extends this concept into something more complicated, with a flower that becomes a sophisticated toy. The lower part of the dial has a butterfly motif either in red enamel or in a jewellery version with blue sapphire butterfly on a backdrop of snow-set diamonds. The movement powering the animation is separate from the watch movement itself, within a case just 35 mm in width. The watch is 17.6 mm thick in the top part, and 12.76 mm thick at the centre of the dial. Water resistance 30 metres.
The version with red enamel butterfly has a red gold case with a guilloché dial, on which the butterfly is created using gold appliqué and grand feu enamel. The case is set with 114 diamonds for a total of 1.43 carats. The lotus has red gold petals, engraved and enamelled by hand, with a briolette diamond at the centre that can swivel freely.
The version with blue sapphire butterfly has a white gold diamond-set case, with a dial entirely snow-set with diamonds on which the appliqué butterfly is set with blue sapphires. The lotus petals are in white gold enamelled and engraved by hand. It’s a tour de force of jewellery, with a small mother-of-pearl dial under the flower with an 18-carat gold ring.
The Jaquet Droz 615 automatic movement, with oscillating weight in platinum, has a power reserve of 38 hours. It runs at 21,600 vph (3 Hertz) and provides just hour and minute indications. The automation has a separate movement with 24 jewels, and it is activated by pressing the pusher at 2 o’clock.
In the red butterfly version, the watch has a brown alligator strap with rolled edges, and a red gold folding clasp set with 21 diamonds. Total carat weight is 1.89 carats, for 135 diamonds plus the briolette diamond at the centre of the lotus.
In the blue sapphire butterfly version, the strap is in dark blue alligator, and the white gold clasp is set with 125 diamonds. In total there are 148 baguette-cut diamonds, 383 brilliant-cut diamonds and 54 blue sapphires, for a total weight of 6.27 carats.
Reference
The watch is presented in two limited editions of 8 pieces each. The version with red enamel butterfly is reference J032003200; the version with blue sapphire butterfly is reference J032004220.
Video
The video below shows the watch in action (skip to 1:20 to see the flower animation):
Two animated flower watches
By coincidence, at Baselworld 2015 both Jaquet Droz and Richard Mille presented watches with an animated flower complication, each with the characteristics of the respective brand. Read about the Richard Mille Tourbillon Fleur here.
