Jaquet Droz Astrale Perpetual Calendar Review

Today we take a look at Jaquet Droz's limited edition Astrale Perpetual Calendar, aka j008334210.

Jaquet Droz Astrale Perpetual Calendar Review

First Impression

When you look at the black ceramic dial of j008334210, the first thing that catches your eye is the hour and minute hands. As with many watches from Jaquet Droz, this model uses different types of hands for different functions. Polished 18-carat white gold spear-shaped hands are used to show the time, and wavy, serpentine-shaped hands are used for perpetual calendar functions. This design choice is not only meant to enhance the look of the watch, it also clearly serves a practical purpose, making it easier to distinguish between the watch and calendar hands.

dial

Many perpetual calendar watches have very crowded-looking dials, which some consider unsightly; However, the dial of this Jaquet Droz has a minimalist design and does not make you want to look away, on the contrary, it is truly enjoyable to look at.

There is a finely crafted seconds scale consisting of small dots on the edge of the dial. The perpetual calendar has a retrograde serpentine hand; This hand points to the left side of the dial, just below the days of the week between the 7 and 11 o'clock positions.

On the right side of the dial, between 1 and 5 o'clock, the days of the month are located, and they are arranged in increments of 3 by 3 (i.e. 1, 4, 7, 10, etc.). The wavy serpentine hand extends above the Roman numeral corresponding to the date.

At 12 o'clock you will find the small indicator showing the months of the perpetual calendar. This subdial also uses a wavy serpentine hand, but it is a noticeably smaller hand as it is located in the upper quadrant of the dial and no retrograde is used on this subdial.

At the bottom of the dial, just above 6 o'clock, is a small running seconds subdial that uses a modern-style hand; This hand almost resembles an inverted Breguet-style hand, with a polished finish and a slim profile, and the skeletal circle on the hand is used as a counterweight instead of a pointer tip.

CASE

The 18-carat white gold case is 43 mm in diameter and 13.4 mm thick; Although it is not the most flashy case you will ever see, it is still impressive with its unique simple and minimalist style. The appearance and unique shape of the winding crown also partly play a role in this.

mechanism

The back of the case reveals Jaquet Droz's automatic in-house movement. Caliber 5863.4 is definitely a movement to be admired. Like every Jaquet Droz movement, the 5863.4 has superb workmanship and retains its power for approximately 68 hours when fully wound, which is impressive to say the least. The self-winding Jaquet Droz 5863.4 movement contains 38 jewels and beats at 28,800 VpH.

You will also see the name Jaquet Droz and the watch's limited and numbered edition number.

Case Side and Calendar Buttons

The side of the case has a beautiful polished workmanship and recessed buttons for setting the date in the perpetual calendar function. These buttons are pressed with a pen-like tool that you can see in the image below. As with all mechanical perpetual calendar watches, be sure to read the manual when changing the date; There is a certain time when it is safe to change and a time when it is not.

Crown and Ears

The 18-carat white gold crown is embossed with Jaquet Droz's signature double star motif. As you can see from the image below and the lugs on the right and left of the crown, the case is designed to be slightly raised from the surface in order to protect the transparent sapphire glass case back.

CONCLUSION

This is a breathtaking watch with great features and an excellent power reserve. Some people don't want to see anything on the dial other than the time and day of the month. If you are like that, this watch is not for you; But if you are not, in exchange for This watch comes brand new in its box and with all its paperwork. Factory warranty expires in February 2020.