Jaquet Droz Éclipse Petite Heure Minute

For centuries, the pocket watch was the dominant form of personal timepiece. Situated safely in a waistcoat pocket and secured to said garment by a fob, it faithfully (and elegantly) communicated the time to its owner — providing it remained wound, of course. Once the First World War came along, however, there was a need to remove the physical interaction between a man’s hands and his timepiece so that they could be used to fire a weapon, draft a communiqué, etc. Hence the wristwatch. Jaquet Droz, a historical marque now under the ownership of the Swatch Group, allows more influence from the pocket watch to inform its wristwatch designs than many brands. Take, for example, this stunning Pétite Heure Minute: Housed in a 35mm white gold case with a beautiful, diamond-studded bezel and lugs, a sapphire crystal, and an 'onion' crown equipped with a push-button corrector, it boasts a large mother-of-pearl dial with a time-telling subdial below 12 o'clock featuring a blued steel 'alpha' handset. Powered by the automatic Jaquet Droz cal. 2653P movement with a 68-hour power reserve and loaded with over 80 precious stones, this perfectly sized dress watch comes paired to a signed navy blue leather strap with a white gold pin buckle — as well as the remainder of its factory goodies. If you're on the hunt for a beautiful piece to wear on special occasions, you could do much worse than this gorgeous Pétite Heure!