Chimes and Birdsong: Jaquet Droz’s Bird Repeater
Jaquet Droz has channeled the spirit of its namesake, the 18th-century inventor renowned for his complicated automatons and musical clockworks �� many of them using singing birds �� with its new ultra-complicated timepiece, the Bird Repeater.The Jaquet Droz Bird Repeater, as with many other models from this artisanal watch brand owned by the Swatch Group, takes its inspiration from the creations of Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790), a Swiss-born watchmaker who is today better known for his pioneering work in animated robotic dolls, or automata, which he used to help sell his timepieces. The most famous of these �� called the Musician, the Writer, and the Draftsman �� are on display at the Museum of Art and History in Neuchatel, Switzerland. Jaquet-Droz also worked with animatronic birds, including them in many of his famous table clocks, pocketwatches, and music boxes; many of these can be seen today at Jaquet-Droz’s birthplace, the Sur le Pont farm in the watchmaking cradle of La Chaux

Blue 15300 or 15202?
Hi all, as you can see by my avatar I have an unworn blue 15300, I have not worn it yet, I got it not long ago but prices have soared since for the blue dials, there are not so many available, and only one new which is in Italy for 17.500 euros.Knowing that I have the ceramic diver, plus now 2 Patek but getting a 5711 soon, so basically that's 3 ultra thin Pateks, 5712, 5711 and 5167R, would you prefer having a little thicker watch, which is out of production and which might become not really rare but not so common, with the 15300 or would you prefer the thinner 15202? Thanks for your replies

Some updates from my dealer:
Looks like the dreaded price increases did not affect the standard mainline watches; i.e., stainless Speedmasters and Seamasters.As for the newer pieces, he has four of the LE Bond watches in stock. I am so old that the only Bond for me is Sean Connery and he wore a Rolex but having seen the LE Bond in the steel, I must say that I am impressed.For those of us interested in the First Omega in Space (I call it the Schirra Speedy), he has no news as to when it might arrive. The official word remains September. The order list is growing but I'm still #1.Fr. John?

Where is the best place to get my 5711 in the NYC area?
Either a good deal, or someplace where you get the royal treatment, i.e. where they will throw in a necktie and other goodies

Could the SS Daytona Price Increase 20%?
The Patek sub-forum is all abuzz about Patek's announcement yesterday to increase the price of the white-hot Nautilus stainless steel line (5711-1A and 5712-1A) by about 20% worldwide effective March 1. Price increases, if any, for the rest of the lines have not yet been announced and may be announced at Basil.Gray market prices of these SS Pateks have been well above theoretical MSRP for some time and are now even higher than they've been. Sound familiar?Sooooo....does anyone think this might happen with Rolex and SS Daytona prices?