JAQUET DROZ

JAQUET DROZ

PIERRE JAQUET DROZ (1721-1790)

As the creator of watches, clocks and automatons universally recognised for they elegance and finesse, Pier Jaquet Droz succeeded in making people the extreme complexity of the mechanisms required to operate his models. He became the undisputed master of animated timekeepers including songbirds, fountains and music watches, es well es the brillant creator of automatons. His three androids in particular - The Lady Musician, the Draughtsman and the Writer - created a sensation and toured the world. And entrepeneur in the strictest sense of the term, he ws present in the royal courts of Europe, Russia and China, including in the Forbidden City. He enlisted the support of the finest craftsmen on the market and opened three Manufactures: in La Chaux-de-Fonds (1738), in London (1774) and in Geneva (1784) - the latter being the first ever established within the walls of the city.

LES MANUFACTURES

By the end of the 18th century, in the autum of his life, Pierre Jaquet Droz could be proud of his achievements. He had created numerous jobs by enlisting the talents of the most gifted master-craftsemn and above all he had created and wisely guided the destinies of three watch and jewellery Manufacture located in the key business and trading centres of the period: the first in La Chaux-deFonds in 1738, the second in London in 1774, followed bt a third in Geneva in 1784, the first watch Manufacture ever set up in the town.
Today, the Jaquet Droz brand pays tribute to these thre Manufactures by naming is three lines in their honour. Through each of them, it passionately and competently perpetuates the humanist and scientific spirit of the founder, a mechanical genius and a pioneer of the jawellery-watch.

THE AUTOMATONS

Wherever they are displayed, the automatons created by Jaquet Droz are met with awe and wonderment. When the master-watchmaker set off to conquer the world with his trio of androids - peerless masterpiecs thet may rightly be considered as the first computers ever made - he caused a sensation. Tirelessly journeying the length and breadth of Europe, he earned praise from the greatest figures of the Age of Enlightenment, including the King of France and Queen Marie-Antoinette in 1773, followed by the sovereigns of England The Netherlands, Flanders and Russia.
Today, the Jaquet Droz automatons can be viewed at the Art and History Museum in Neuchâtel (Switzerland) and continue to arouse the same admiration. At Baseworld 2004, the Jaquet Droz brand also created a stir by presenting The Draughtsman, which had not been out and about in the world since its last presentation in Japan in 1973.