For its Rolling Stones Automaton, Jaquet Droz has designed an animation recalling children’s nightlights and spinning tops, with colours and rotating discs showcasing the legendary band’s gear – all hand-crafted.

By giving a new face to its Rolling Stones Automaton, Jaquet Droz has created a fun piece evoking all the wonder of children at play. The Stones’ instruments, hand-crafted from blocks of gold, sit beneath the offset hours and minutes display on a disc coloured to resemble a vinyl LP. The scene is surrounded by a second disc that rotates when the pusher is activated, while the iconic Stones tongue rises, falls, and moves from left to right.

The power reserve is shown at nine o’clock by a cam made to look like the tonearm and stylus of a traditional record turntable. As it rotates, the brightly-coloured spiral creates an optical illusion just like a child’s spinning top, with each colour hand-painted to match the Only Watch 10th Edition palette. A second Rolling Stones tongue at the centre glows in the dark – recalling a child’s bedroom nightlight.

COLLABORATION
To mark the sixtieth anniversary of the Rolling Stones, Jaquet Droz has teamed up with the band to create a collection of unique pieces, including an exclusive version for Only Watch. For the first time in the history of watchmaking, the essence of the legendary band has been condensed into a 43mm automaton.

The greatest Rock'n'Roll band of all time, who is highly supportive of children's charities and the invaluable Only Watch project, has given its backing to Jaquet Droz and will be actively involved alongside the brand for the auction.

HISTORY OF THE BRAND
Founded in 1738, Fine Watchmakers Jaquet Droz perpetuate the ethos of the Atelier’s founder Pierre Jaquet-Droz: forward-looking aesthetic refinement. Pierre Jaquet-Droz’s clocks, automatons and animated human figures were a cultural and mechanical revolution in their day. Based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, the family firm was also a pioneer in exports, with its horological pieces gracing many royal and imperial courts across Europe and Asia.

Buoyed by its new strategy (‘JD 8.0: A Disruptive Legacy’) and the global acclaim for its Ateliers d’Art models, the Maison is further developing its ambitious vision of bespoke, animated High Horology, bringing together outstanding movements and new-generation materials to deliver a unique and highly personal experience. Each unique piece is created by and for a specific collector.

Ever stronger and more firmly grounded in its distinctive identity, Jaquet Droz remains unchanged even as it enters new and surprising territories – a herald of visionary disruption.