The term “Côtes de Genève” refers to one of the most common decorations in watch-making; a so-called “commodity” in the jargon of economics, and it represents everything that is nowadays so common and widespread that it goes easily almost unnoticed. I think that it represents one of those very rare cases when, just for saying it, I simply transcribe a piece of information from the press-release and the technical paper of a model, without expanding it any further. The Côtes de Genève pattern has always been reserved for the decoration of the bridges of a calibre rather than the winding rotor of an automatic movement; it is made through an abrasion process applied to an area and is so rarely used on other parts and components of a timepiece other than its caliber, that it goes unnoticed.
A Jaquet Droz Grande Seconde Quantième Côtes de Genève Blue retails at 9,700 euro; one of the most accessible retail prices if you want to own one of the big names in the industry of watch-making that makes product, manufacturing and small niche production talk better than any advertising claims. Among the strengths of this timepiece; it is entirely in-house manufactured, the ever-changing Côtes de Genève dial, the artisanal high-end range production style. Among the features that could be improved; the opportunity to evaluate whether a manually-wound calibre should be crafted, without diminishing the real value of the beautiful automatic calibre, this particular choice would be the icing on the cake for one of the only manufacturers that pay tribute to the historic memory of the real Swiss tradition and chronometry alike.
(Photo credit: Horbiter's proprietary photo-shooting)
Gaetano C @Horbiter