Swiss watchmaker Jaquet Droz’s new limited editions take the art of paillonné enamelling to new heights. 

Paillonné enamelling consists of meticulously positioning tiny paillons of gold, one by one, to create perfectly geometrical patterns on the colored enamel itself, and then setting the design under a coat of translucent enamel fondant. 

The new timepieces offered as limited editions in 2016 push the boundaries of creativity and beauty even further. 

This virtuoso decorative art now adorns the Grande Seconde, the most emblematic of Jaquet Droz's families of watches, its graphic lines equalled in their purity only by the glints of light reflected off red gold and the shimmer of coloured enamel. The Grande Seconde sports unprecedented shades of violet and anthracite gray, along with a blue of outstanding luminosity. 

The same three colours unfold across the Petite Heure Minute 39 mm, while the Pocket Watch swathes itself in blue or red in a nod to the noble tradition of the pocket watch. 

Femininity is heightened in the new 35 mm version of the Petite Heure Minute with its deep blue dial that is sunray-polished, like all the models in this edition. 

Lastly, the majestic Tourbillon with its seven-day power reserve is now available in a paillonné version for the first time. An object of infinite care, this model abounds in well-considered detail, with minute attention paid to the blue of its hands, the screw heads on its flanges and the lapis lazuli oscillating weight – a harmony evoking Jaquet Droz's historical expertise in decorative stones and horological complications.

Although the workmanship on these new models abides by the rules laid down during the Renaissance, a spirit of reinvention still whispers through it. This year, the overlayed gold barrettes have been revisited with typical Jaquet Droz finesse – a pinhead of gold, like a tiny bead, is cut and placed by hand at the junction of the two lines, emphasising the decorative volumes encased in transparent enamel.

Each piece in these 2016 limited editions requires extremely painstaking craftsmanship, resulting in a rare contemporary experience where the finest of age-old tradition is united with the best of modernity, the manufacture says.