Discussing Jaquet Droz watches in the US is almost futile. It isn’t that you can’t find this small Swatch Group brand in the US, but rather that it is extremely rare. I saw my first one in Europe personally. I’ve always liked this brand but haven’t known what to make of it. A lot of their designs are good, but currently they lack direction and leadership as far as I can tell. The last time the brand was really on my radar in any serious way was when Manuel Emch (current CEO of Romain Jerome) was the head honcho over there.

This Jaquet Droz watch from a few years ago is a great example of what the brand is capable of in terms of design. This specific model is itself extremely rare said to have been made as a limited edition of just 8 pieces. 8 being an important number and symbol for the brand as it is a good luck number in Asia (where a lot of Jaquet Droz pieces are apparently sold). This model is the Quantieme Perpetuel Calendar watch in 18k rose gold. There was another version that was not limited which was offered in 18k white gold.

Via the various images here you can see how this collection has evolved. Each of these watches used the Jaquet Droz caliber 5863 automatic perpetual calendar movement. With a lovely symmetrical set of dials and retrograde hands, this is a very unique and impressive layout for a perpetual calendar set of complications. The other images are there to show you have Jaquet Droz has implemented this movement in other watches.

The 18k rose gold case is 43mm wide and comes attached to a black crocodile strap. The dial is a mixture of elements and includes blued-steel hands. A bit hard to tell, the dial is gold and Aventurine. It almost looks as though Jaquet Droz asked F.P. Journe for help with the design. The dial includes the time with subsidiary seconds dial, retrograde day and date, month dial, and a small leap year indicator window. You can see the movement through a rear sapphire caseback window.

While this Jaquet Droz watch is a lovely thing, it is also very expensive. Original price for the limited edition Quantieme Perpetuel Calendar model in 18k rose gold was said to be over $60,000. Price now for one on James List is about $39,500 – check it out here.