Celebrating this year’s Chinese New Year, Jaquet Droz created six new precious pieces that match each other. Each of these exclusive timepieces features the legendary figure of a Tiger portrayed in various ways. The use of different techniques demonstrates the spirit and the personal history of this brand.
The first set features two naturalistic Tiger scenes above a dial made from Australian opal, from the Sanskrit “upala”, meaning “precious stone”. This stone is one of the most difficult to work with to achieve fine details.
The next set features cases in red gold and white gold. On the same Australian opal background is showcased the Tiger’s symbol of power and protection. The Tigers coat, portrayed from the front, seems to vanish in the opal’s reflection – this is an optical illusion created by artistic finesse requiring a month of work.
The final set features the same case and is the most contrasting. On the same opal background, made of “Heure Bleue” Grand Feu enamel, on one side we can see a finely chiselled white gold Tiger posing as a hunter. In the mirror reflection, on the other side, the red gold Tiger is relaxed, creating a hyper-realistic reflection of the Tiger.
Source: Jaquet-droz.com