After the celebrated success of Jaquet Droz’s skeletonized Grand Seconde Skelet One series of watches back in 2018, they’ve recently announced two new versions for this year. The older models featured variants in red gold, ceramic and white gold, whereas the upcoming models will have a plasma ceramic and red gold versions.
Although the 2020 chronographs will retain the same dimensions (41.5mm X 12.48mm) as the 2018 versions, and feature the same Jaquet Droz calibre 2663 SQ movement, offering 68-hours of power reserve. We can expect to see a complete redesign and a new look of the newer models.
What do they look like?
Taking inspiration from the existing ceramic models, the 2020 variants will feature faceted, applied indices for the hours and minutes. It will also feature, an oversized small seconds display, which has just a train track chapter ring with no numerals.
The alpha minute and hour hand, and long baton seconds hand bare the same look and design across all variants. This definitely contributes to the modern, clean and contemporary look which have come to love after the initial launch of the Skelet One series in 2018.
How are they made?
The plasma ceramic variant features a very unique construction. The material is an amalgamation of metals and ceramic which bring together metallic properties and combine it with the benefits of ceramic. The ceramic plasma is produced by a process that super-heats white ceramic to 20,000 C using hot gas. This gives a shine to the ceramic giving it a metallic look but maintains the lightweight and scratch resistant properties of traditional ceramic.
Both variants feature a sapphire dial with off center dials held together by 5 screws. The hands, indices, and base may be of either white gold or red gold depending on the variant. Additionally, the red gold variant features a rolled edge alligator strap, which is slightly more exquisite than the grey fabric strap offered in the plasma ceramic variant. The price starts at $23,600 in ceramic.