This beautiful Cloverleaf is a new member of Jaquet Droz’s colorful Petite Heure Minute collection. The watch was officially presented early last year at the annual Baselworld 2010 trade show, but you can still find this beautiful timekeeper at some boutiques.
Case
Presented in an expensive 22-karat white gold case (which means that the mass of gold in the alloy is almost 92%, which makes it as close to the pure gold as it can theoretically get,) the watch measures 41 millimeters in diameter.
For a timekeeper that is designed for ladies, this looks like a bit too much, but the size of the case is partially compensated with the length of the integrated lugs. As you can see in the photo below, they are relatively short adding just a couple of millimeters on both sides to the total length.
Still, keep in mind that this is an oversized timepiece that will probably cover the whole width of an average lady’s wrist.
Mechanism
According to official specification is equipped with the well-known Jaquet Droz 2653 self-winding movement.
This is, in fact, a redecorated version of Blancpain’s Caliber 2653 that the Swiss manufacturer, too, uses to power their “sub-compacts” with smaller off-centered dials.
With 205 components, this is a relatively complex mechanism, but so far I didn’t hear anything bad regarding its reliability.
The double-barrel caliber stores enough energy to power the mechanism for as long as 68 hours and is widely used by Jaquet Droz throughout their “Petit Heure Minute” series that feature off-centered dials.
For some reason, this version of the mechanism has an official power reserve rating about four hours shorter than that listed on Blancpain’s site. Well, I think that this mostly has something to do with the way both brands do their testing.
Dial
The Cloverleaf’s main point of attraction, however, is the overwhelming number of precious stones that decorate its face.
According to the company, the white mother-of-pearl dial of the Cloverleaf is decorated with as many as 646 stones: 124 yellow sapphires, 175 blue sapphires, 125 pink sapphires, 129 orange sapphires and, finally, 93 tsavorites (yes, the green ones.)
Luckily, Jaquet Droz decided to cover the major part of the main (sub-)dial with a whitish mother-of-pearl inlay that makes an almost perfect background to the pair of blued hours and minutes hands. Of course, the lack of a chapter ring (even a rudimentary one with small diamonds or some other stones to serve as hour markers) significantly hampers its legibility. On the other hand, this sort of timekeepers are rarely bought to measure short time intervals or for other activities that would require a precise display of time, so this doesn’t look like a problem to me.
Well, it looks like the Cloverleaf may become an excellent choice for those tired with the numerous diamonds-set trinkets.
See also: Mira Fee Celeste Ladies
Photos: Jaquet Droz
Jaquet Droz Cloverleaf specification
Price: $22,000 (MSRP)
Movement: Automatic, Jaquet Droz 2653, base Frederic Piguet, double-barrel, 28,800 vph, Swiss Made
Movement decoration: 22-karat white gold winding rotor
Functions: Hours, minutes (off-centered)
Power reserve: 68 hours
Case: 22-karat white gold
Shape: Round
Size: 41.00 mm
Case height: 13.00 mm
Dial: White mother-of-pearl
Hands: Steel, blued
Water resistance: 30 meters
Strap: White satin with white gold 22-karat white gold buckle
Crystal: Sapphire
Back: Sapphire