Les Volumes du Temps: Jaquet Droz Counts Hours in 3D

Jaquet Droz Les Volumes du Temps is a unique white gold piece with champlevé enamel, up for auction at TimeForArt in New York on 5 December 2026.

What You Need to Know

• A unique piece — reference J0050240021 — limits acquisition to a single bidder at the TimeForArt auction on 5 December 2026 in New York, with an estimate of CHF 100,000 to 150,000 including Swiss VAT; all proceeds fund young artists through the Swiss Institute.
• The dial, designed by Académie de Meuron student Fiona Djukanovic, structures champlevé enamel across roughly forty parallelepipeds in graduated shades of blue, all applied by hand with Grand Feu technique.
• Time is read via off-centred dragging discs rather than conventional hands, an approach Jaquet Droz calls a “scenographic 3D of unprecedented depth.”
• The 41 mm case, dial, and oscillating weight are all 18-karat white gold, powered by calibre JD2653.SI with a 68-hour power reserve.

Design & Colour

A single primary colour, blue, governs every surface on the dial, yet the piece never reads as monochrome.

Two central volumes flank an X-shaped figure; their geometry has no standard name. Each has two straight sides and one gently curved edge that conforms to the 41 mm case profile. Height peaks at the centre, drawing the eye toward the disc display, then tapers to the flange. Before enamelling, those surfaces receive hand-engraved sunray finishing — a detail that shifts with every change of light.

Movement & Materials

Calibre JD2653.SI sits beneath the dial, its 18-karat white gold rotor set with an onyx applique.

The movement delivers 68 hours of power reserve and drives off-centred dragging discs for the hours and minutes — a display format that reinforces the dial’s sculptural logic by removing any hand that would bisect its geometry. Each disc is hand-sunray finished, as is the central circle that indexes each hour and minute.

The case measures 13.78 mm in height; a rubber strap with an 18-karat white gold folding clasp completes the build.

Who It Is For

One buyer, one object. The unique-piece format targets a collector whose interest sits at the intersection of contemporary art patronage and haute horlogerie. The TimeForArt auction on 5 December in New York situates the piece in the charity circuit — the winning bid directly supports exhibitions, residencies and community programmes at the Swiss Institute. For collectors across the Gulf and Europe, that provenance adds a dimension the dial itself cannot supply.

Verdict

Jaquet Droz’s Atelier in La Chaux-de-Fonds has produced, in collaboration with emerging designer Fiona Djukanovic, a piece whose formal logic is unusually tight. Blue does the work that most dials assign to contrast; volume does the work that most dials assign to hands. The estimate of CHF 100,000 to 150,000 is consistent with the craft involved and with the unique-piece status. Beyond the December auction, it will not be available anywhere.

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