Jaquet Droz honours the Rolling Stones

At the heart of this model sits a portrait of Mick Jagger, reinterpreted in a unique graphic style reflecting the spirit of Some Girls. He is the master of timekeeping on this Stones piece: he has the privilege of counting the hours and minutes by means of two hand-polished gold hands.

At the centre of composition is The Stones’ natural habitat: the stage. It includes a miniature engraving of all of the band’s instruments, Ron Wood and Keith Richards’ guitars, the minimalist drum kit of Charlie Watts, along with Jagger’s microphone and harmonica – the latter measuring a few tenths of a millimetre. Each instrument is crafted by hand from a block of unfinished gold and sits over the original cover of Some Girls, reproduced entirely using miniature painting.

The third circle is powered by an automaton. On its surface are the tiny grooves found on vinyl records – like the 33-rpm initial release of Some Girls – engraved on the brass surface. The disc makes one complete rotation every 30 seconds, on demand, by pressing the coaxial pusher on the crown at 3 o’clock. The automaton’s power reserve is sufficient for 4 minutes of animation (i.e. 8 consecutive rotations). While it is being activated, the iconic Stones tongue, at 9 o’clock, raises, lowers and waggles. Just above this, the player’s tonearm raises and lowers, allowing the power reserve to be read.

This animation takes place against a lurid applique pop-art background, also entirely hand-painted in miniature. At 4 o’clock, Jaquet Droz has painted a more recent image of the group to underscore its exceptional longevity (active since 1962 – 62 years of uninterruptedservice!), paying pay tribute to the memory of founding member Charlie Watts (1941-2021), the only one no longer with us and without whom Some Girls would never have existed.

October 17, 2024