For all those who are discovering this principle for the first time, it is worth explaining that a deadbeat seconds is the term used when the seconds hand jumps from second to second instead of performing its usual smooth sweep. Jaquet Droz has chosen to apply this historical technique to its most iconic model, the Grande Seconde. On this version with the seconds hand no longer offset but instead enthroned at the dial center, the 6 o’clock space it normally occupies hosts a retrograde date display. These changes explain why the brand that has given its name to one of the streets in La Chaux-de-Fonds describes the Grande Seconde Deadbeat as “immediately recognizable yet somehow different, familiar yet surprising”. Other distinctive features are to be found beneath the enamel dial, since the sapphire caseback reveals a new self-winding caliber equipped with a silicon balance-spring and a pallet-lever featuring an optimized shape for which a patent has been filed. Whereas deadbeat seconds mechanisms generally involve a 30-toothed cam, this one has just 10. The show continues on the back of this limited edition with a magnificent performance given by the magnificent skeletonized gold oscillating weight.