Valentine’s Day is around the corner…barely 14 days as we go live with this article. Jaquet Droz introduces a rare gemstone – the astoriet to adorn the dial of the new Petite Heure Minute Astorite just in time for the lovers’ holiday. Here is our take with hands-on impressions of the new watch.
Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Astorite: a simple dial, classical in the JD tradition. Adorned with the rare gemstone Astorite, in a beautiful shade of pink.
The Petite Heure Minute is a watch that immediately catches the eye. The hour and minute is shown in a subdial, off-center towards 12 o’clock, and giving space on the dial to showcase Jaquet Droz’s creativity. The Petite Heure Minute is the stage for many a Jaquet Droz creation, and for this Valentine’s Day, 2017, they have chosen a very feminine touch. A pink natural gemstone.
The case is traditional Jaquet Droz, measuring 35mm in diameter, with elegant lugs, fitting for the feminine flavour of the watch.
For this watch, they chose to embellish it with a precious gem from the US. The Astorite dial is made from a single piece of hand-polished rock which has a beautiful shade of pink. Gold and silver inclusions, black flecks and veins provide visual interest and spectacle.
The dial is quite spectacular. The shade of pink is pretty, with gold and silver inclusions, black flecks and veins showing the character of the stone quite nicely on the space afforded by the negative space of the Petite Heure Minute dial.
The stone is named after one John Jacob Astor IV, in whose mines in Colorado the stone comes from. Astor (July 13, 1864 – April 15, 1912) was an American businessman, real estate builder, investor, inventor, writer, lieutenant colonel in the Spanish–American War, and a prominent member of the Astor family. He died in the sinking sinking of the RMS Titanic during the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was among the 1,514 people on board who did not survive. He was the richest passenger aboard the Titanic and was thought to be among the richest people in the world at that time, with a net worth of nearly $87 million when he died (equivalent to $2.16 billion in 2016)
Jaquet Droz 2653.P, self-winding mechanical movement, balance-spring and pallet-fork horns in silicon, double barrel, flat bridges, 18-carat red gold oscillating weight.
The movement powering the Petite Heure Minute Astorite is the Jaquet Droz 2653 P, a self winding movement with a power reserve of 60 hours, beating at 28,800 bph. The movement is a workhorse movement Jaquet Droz uses in all the Petite Heure Minute watches, and is quite nicely finished, with a silcon balance spring and pallet fork horns.
232 diamonds embellish the bezel, weighing a collective 1.23 carats. The diamonds are rated IF to VVSI, Full Cut, D to G
The watch is a limited edition of 28 pieces and is cased in a red gold case set with 232 diamonds on the bezel (total 1.23 carats). The hour minute sub-dial is in mother of pearl, with a ring marked with the hours in red gold as are the hands.
The Petite Heure Minute Astorite’s red gold case is 35mm in diameterr and sits nicely on the feminine wrist.
Retail price is S$ 52,000 inclusive of GST, and available soon. For more information on availablity, contact Jaquet Droz.
