The Lord of the Rings dragon on the wrist
Jaquet Droz has created a unique piece for a collector, featuring a dragon designed by John Howe, the creator of the graphic universe of JRR Tolkien's work.
Recently, Jaquet-Droz has decided to completely revise its strategy, abandoning boutiques and production to focus solely on the creation of unique pieces. After the world of Chantal Thomass, the Rolling Stones, and Bon Jovi, it's time for the world imagined by the author of The Lord of the Rings . John Howe, artistic director of the big-screen trilogy, created a unique painting for a collector, depicting a mythological dragon clutching a pearl. The La Chaux-de-Fonds workshop then miniaturized the canvas to insert it into a unique 43 mm white gold piece featuring a tourbillon. But what is the connection between John Howe and Jaquet Droz? The artist and the manufacturer have been working hand in hand for five years now... as neighbors! Indeed, the Canadian-born artist has lived in Neuchâtel for several decades, and this is not his first collaboration with the brand.
On this unique piece, the reproduction of the dragon imagined by John Howe nestles on the lower half of the dial, also in white gold. It is entirely covered in a deep, perfectly uniform midnight blue grand feu enamel. Jaquet Droz artists hand-painted the artist's dragon, its shades of gray giving a striking three-dimensional impression.
To successfully transpose this work onto a watch dial, the Jaquet Droz workshop had to overcome two challenges: first, to give the pearl held by the dragon in its claws the illusion of being luminous, in the spirit intended by John Howe; second, to ensure that the dragon passes "over" the minute track and the hour circle, in order to accentuate the illusion that it is literally "coming out" of the dial, but without altering any of the indexes, Roman numerals and railway. This was a high-flying task, the finest strokes of which were created with a brush with a single bristle. On this dial, the silhouette of the iconic Jaquet Droz "8" draws its hours and minutes at 6 o'clock, closed at noon by the opening dedicated to the tourbillon. A blued hand on its bridge indicates the seconds. The caliber of this piece offers an 8-day power reserve.
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