Damas, leading retailer of stylish watches and jewellery in the Middle East, has unveiled two luxury timepieces for women from Jaquet Droz – the Date Astrale and the L’Heure Céleste.

The watches are from the brand's Hommage Paris 1785 series and are crafted in 18k white gold, diamonds and mother-of-pearl.

While Date Astrale unites the celestial beauty of the heavens with the natural wonders of a Polynesian paradise, its exuberant, sleek, and ultra-feminine, L’Heure Céleste model is a stunning Haute Couture jewellery watch, said a company spokesperson.

'A watch connoisseur and art lover’s dream, Jaquet Droz’s watches blend superior mechanical precision with minimalistic allure, based on the design principle of ‘less is more,' stated Tawhid Abdullah, managing director, Damas Jewellery.

'Opting for understated classicism the brand proposes discreet, refined and timeless watchmaking for discerning women in its Date Astrale and L’Heure Céleste models.'

The Date Astrale has an off-centered subdial at 2 o'clock and its watch face blends  mother-of-pearl and diamonds, mounted on the horns and bezel. Its dial is traversed by a diamond indicating the date, which, once a month at midnight, returns to its original starting position, tracing a majestic path like a shooting star.

It is presented in two versions each available in a Numerus Clausus of 8. One can opt for a black mother-of-pearl dial coordinated with a rolled-edge hand made black alligator leather strap, or for a white mother-of-pearl dial with a rolled-edge hand made white alligator leather strap.

Jaquet Droz’s other model the L’Heure Céleste has a dial which displays a virgin canvas lacquered in black against which a galaxy of planets in white gold are set with diamonds scintillates.

It is endowed with a sapphire crystal that liberates it from the graphic constraints imposed by a bezel that enables natural light to illuminate its dial from unusual angles, presenting an exciting interplay of volumes.

Hand-crafted in three dimensions and issued in a Numerus Clausus of 8, this timepiece comes in a 41 mm white gold watchcase featuring a 68 hour power reserve.

Founded in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland in 1738, the brand’s legendary watchmaker Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) is said to have astonished the royalty of Europe, China, India and Japan with highly animated dolls or automata, considered by some to be the oldest examples of the computer.

Three of these are housed at the art and history museum in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, now known as the Jaquet-Droz automata.

The brand was purchased in 2004 by the Swatch Group.-TradeArabia News Service