A Stunning Automata Repeater Watch Featuring Animated Tropical Birds Around a Painted Waterfall

Swiss watchmaker Jaquet Droz has created a wonderful line of Automata Repeater Watches that feature wonderfully interactive hand-painted watch face scenes. One watch in this colorful line is the Tropical Bird Repeater, a gorgeous watch featuring animated tropical birds and insects that interact with lush green surroundings that include a realistic waterfall.

A one-of-a-kind animation in watchmaking history, the hummingbird wings beat up to 40 times a second (80 times in real life), adding incredible realism to the scene. The peacock opens and closes its tail, while a toucan emerges from the palm leaves to open its beak. The dancing flight of three elegant dragonflies adds to the magic by day or by night as their tiny SuperLuminova®-coated wings glow in the dark. All of the element have been hand-carved and hand-engraved in the Jaquet Droz Ateliers d’Art and then assembled one by one in the Automata Ateliers.

Another stunning piece is their Parrot Repeater Pocket Watch.

Hand-engraved and hand-painted applied decoration in 18-karat red gold. Mechanical automaton with animation featuring parrots, hatching egg and waterfall. Minute repeater, hand-winding mechanical movement.

The Parrot Repeater case made up of two covers has been sculpted, painted, covered in “Grand Feu” enamel and coated in a rainbow of precious stones (yellow diamonds, rubies, emeralds and pink, yellow and blue sapphires). This exceptional one-of-a-kind piece, Numerus Clausus 1/1, represents the entire spectrum of Jaquet Droz craftsmanship in a single pocket watch.

via Karen Marcello

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.