One of Jaquet Droz's 18th-century android automata, The Draughtsman, amazingly sketched a cherub on a chariot chasing a butterfly. Dating back to 1774, the drawing titled Le Papillon Conduit Par L'Amour (Butterfly Driven By Love) comes alive in Loving Butterfly Automaton.
Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Jaquet Droz is a quintessential Swiss watchmaker with a rich heritage in animated objet d'art.
Production facilities include an atelier dedicated to the creation of a new rendition of the Loving Butterfly and the philosophical Magic Lotus automata.
The magnificent insect flutters its wings as if it is about to break free and fly out of the Loving Butterfly Automaton, which is limited to 28 pieces.
Like the butterfly, the chariot comprises of several dozen stationary and moving appliqués hand-etched by artisan jewellers. Even the wheels on the chariot turn -- but not all of the spokes rotate -- to create an optical illusion.
The figures are surrounded by an entirely hand-crafted gold forest backdrop whose trees span a mere 0.2mm. The natural scenery rises up all around the dial with multiple levels lending a unique depth of perspective.
The warmth of the red gold case is complemented by the autumn hue of the dial crafted from Chinchilla Red, a wood petrified around 150 million years ago and named after its Australian locale in Queensland, which is known for its fossil sites.
Loving Butterfly Automaton is inspired by Le Papillon Conduit Par L'Amour, which was sketched by The Draughtsman, an android automaton, in 1774.
When dinosaurs ruled the Earth 150 million years ago, Chinchilla Red was formed by fir trees covered in volcanic ash that had been swept away by lava.
The rare and dense natural material requires countless hours of manual work to make the surface smooth and each of the limited editions is unique due to the slightly different mineral dial.
The exquisite timepiece was made possible thanks to Australian wood. A part of the proceeds from sales of the Loving Butterfly Automaton will be donated to associations dedicated to reforestation and preservation of endemic species such as "Plant A Tree For Me" or "One Tree Planted".
Automata have been the brand's signature since 1774 when Pierre Jaquet-Droz and his son Henri-Louis introduced The Writer, The Draughtsman and The Musician. Exhibited to European courts, including that of King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette, the three humanoid automata made a name for their Art of Astonishment.
However, the company was actually established in 1738 by clockmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz in La Chaux-de-Fonds.
Through its branch and a trading partner in London, the Swiss Maison later exported its mechanical creations to China where prestigious clientele included Emperor Qianlong. Several automata and pocket watches are still carefully preserved in the Imperial Palace museum today.
The founder was particularly passionate of nature and birds which he transcribed through his clocks, snuff boxes, pocket watches and automata.
Fauna and flora come to life in an animated river on the dial of the Magic Lotus Automaton. Jaquet Droz
The brand's naturalist roots show in Magic Lotus Automaton which portrays an animated Zen garden.
The development phase took over three years and as a result, the exceptional timepiece allows on-demand animation lasting more than four minutes with eight full rotations of 30 seconds each.
A power reserve between 8 and 9 o'clock depicts the progress of this lengthy animation as symbolised by a hand-painted and hand-carved dragonfly in red gold.
When the power reserve is empty, the dragonfly rests on the lotus leaf, ready to soar once again over the Zen River.
The stupendous automaton is an ode to life and perpetual new beginnings and represents the four seasons and stages of life through the lotus.
A mother-of-pearl unopened bud symbolises spring at 3 o'clock.
To its left, the summer lotus is in full bloom with its petals carved from mother-of-pearl and finished with a thin coat of translucent paint.
A yellow sapphire with gold prongs represents pistil and stamens whereas a lotus fallen onto water evokes autumn. At 6 o'clock, a diamond-set pod sinks to the bottom of the water in what is an ode to winter.
This naturalist scene is part of a circular animation staged on Jaquet Droz's most sophisticated dial comprising an immobile onyx watch dial, a crescent-shaped fixed disk, and a rotating peripheral disk.
The movement of water along with bobbing gold water lilies revealing the eddies of the water are illustrated on the mobile disk, which also houses a hand-carved gold koi.
The fish flaps its tails to create an illusion of swimming through the water and moves vertically up and down, enabling it to navigate the flowing river and dive beneath the lotus leaves.
Its movements are complemented by the floating lotus animation that magically changes the precious stone at the heart of the mother-of-pearl petals from blue sapphire to yellow sapphire and ruby.
The colour changes three times for every rotation around the river and the same stone is never seen twice in a row.
Turning over the timepiece, the bridges and oscillating weight are hand-engraved with exclusive naturalist motifs with the carp and lotus flowers echoing the carvings on the dial side.
Chinchilla Red, a wood petrified 150 million years ago.
Loving Butterfly Automaton is inspired by Le Papillon Conduit Par L'Amour, which was sketched by The Draughtsman, an android automaton, in 1774.
