Jaquet Droz The Rolling Stones Automaton Only Watch 2023

By giving a new face to its Rolling Stones Automaton, Jaquet Droz has created a fun piece evoking all the wonder of children at play. The Stones’ instruments, hand-crafted from blocks of gold, sit beneath the offset hours and minutes display on a disc coloured to resemble a vinyl LP. The scene is surrounded by a second disc that rotates when the pusher is activated, while the iconic Stones tongue rises, falls, and moves from left to right. 

The power reserve is shown at nine o’clock by a cam made to look like the tonearm and stylus of a traditional record turntable. As it rotates, the brightly-coloured spiral creates an optical illusion just like a child’s spinning top, with each colour hand-painted to match the Only Watch 10th Edition palette. A second Rolling Stones tongue at the centre glows in the dark – recalling a child’s bedroom nightlight.

Estimate: CHF 250,000 – 300,000

Sold for: CHF 150,000