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Born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1721, Pierre Jaquet Droz was a mechanical genius and a pioneer in the art of the Haute Horlogerie jewelry watch – a veritable living legend. Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721–1790) was a Swiss-born watchmaker of the late eighteenth century. He lived in Paris, London, and Geneva, where he designed and built animated dolls, or automata, to help his firm sell watches and mechanical birds.Constructed between 1768 and 1774 by Pierre Jaquet-Droz, his son Henri-Louis (1752-1791), and Jean-Frederic Leschot (1746-1824) were The Writer (made of 6000 pieces), The Musician (2500 pieces) and The Draughtsman (2000 pieces).His astonishing mechanisms fascinated the world's most important people: the kings and emperors of Europe, China, India and Japan.Some consider these devices to be the oldest examples of the computer. The Writer has an input device to set tabs that form a programmable memory, 40 cams that represents the read only program, and a quill pen for output. The work of Pierre Jaquet-Droz predates that of Charles Babbage by decades.The automata of Jaquet-Droz are also considered to be some of the finest examples of human mechanical problem solving. Three particularly complex, and still working and functional dolls are housed at the art and history museum in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, now known as the Jaquet-Droz automata.He once constructed a clock which was capable of the following surprising movements:—There were seen on it a negro, a dog, and a shepherd; when the clock struck, the shepherd played six tunes on his flute, and the dog approached and fawned upon him. This clock was exhibited to the King of Spain, who was delighted with it. "The gentleness of my dog," said Droz, "is his least merit; if your Majesty touch one of the apples, which you see in the shepherd's basket, you will admire the fidelity of this animal." The King took an apple, and the dog flew at his hand, and barked so loud, that the King's dog, which was in the room, began also to bark; at this the Courtiers, not doubting that it was an affair of witchcraft, hastily left the room, crossing themselves as they went out. The minister of Marine was the only one that ventured to stay. The king having desired him to ask the negro what o'clock it was, the minister obeyed, but he obtained no reply. Droz then observed that the negro had not yet learned .Today, the brand is still inspired by his dreams, his extraordinary horological masterpieces, his exceptional automatons, which include the androids entitled «The Lady Musician», «The Writer» and «The Draughtsman», and his quest for innovation, progress and excellence. Operating in the Haute Horlogerie segment, Montres Jaquet Droz SA excels in the art of one-off and very limited-edition items. The brand has revived traditional crafts that were disappearing: outstanding illustrations of this include his spangled dials and those of black «Grand Feu» enamel. One of Jaquet Droz’s strengths is its ability to create custom dial designs to meet its enthusiastic clients’ requirements. Its leading model, La Grande Seconde, which draws its inspiration directly from an 18th century timepiece, can just as easily be made to measure with a dial set with precious and semi-precious stones as with a dial base decorated with prestigious minerals, dried seaweed or other specific materials. The brand’s character and refinement mark out a very special place for it in the world of prestige and luxury watchmaking.
