The Rolling Stones Automaton - Some Girls: a unique piece for the most criticised cover in the history of rock
Jaquet Droz is taking on an icon of rock history: the «Some Girls» album from The Rolling Stones. Its cover had to be significantly changed to align with the standards of the time. A backdrop that the highly disruptive Jaquet Droz could not help but revisit, devoting a unique piece to this monumental work of graphic art, and paying an irreverent homage to this album, which was released over 45 years ago.
The year is 1978. We thought we had pretty much seen the last of The Rolling Stones. From the outrageous cover of «Sticky Fingers», co-created by Andy Warhol in 1971, to shots of Keith Richards surrounded by virtually all of the recreational drugs in the northern hemisphere, surely, they had nothing more to say? But that would be to woefully underestimate The Stones who, with «Some Girls» (1978), bounced back yet again in unexpected ways.
Firstly, there was the music. The rockers (just 35 at the time) took an unexpected dive into disco on the global hit «Miss You», still the subject of heated debates between die-hard fans and the general public who shot the single straight to the top of the US charts. But, most of all, there was the album's cover. «Some Girls» initially showed The Stones made up and in drag. The «establishment» fallen from its perch. But that was not all: the cover of «Some Girls» was subject to censorship – once again, a worthy heir to a long tradition...
The original cover showed the Stones alongside some of the 20th century's most beautiful women, reflecting the album's title. These included Brigitte Bardot, Claudia Cardinale, Farrah Fawcett, Raquel Welch, Marilyn Monroe, and both Liza Minnelli and her mother Judy Garland. Legal actions for the unauthorised use of the images were filed immediately, and the Stones lost court case after court case. The group was forced – yet again! – to change its cover. In a final joke, the sleeve now showed only the band members made up like women, while the faces of the women previously featured were cut directly out of the cover. Yet another outrage for conformist society, but this version could not be taken to court...
It is to this cult album and its graphic twists and turns that Jaquet Droz is today paying tribute. This creation also steps away from the beaten track. It is a unique piece, in line with the Jaquet Droz Philosophy of the Unique, which has seen the brand cease all production of series watches. It is an automaton, in the finest tradition of Jaquet Droz, shaped by two centuries of experience. It is made entirely by hand.
At the heart of this piece sits a portrait of Mick Jagger, reinterpreted in a unique graphic style in the spirit of «Some Girls». He is the master of timekeeping on this Stones piece: he has the privilege of counting the hours and minutes thanks to two hand-polished gold hands.
At the centre of composition is The Stones' natural habitat: the stage. It includes a miniature engraving of all of the band's instruments, Ron Wood and Keith Richards' guitars, the minimalist drum kit of Charlie Watts, and Jagger's microphone and harmonica – the latter measuring a few tenths of a millimetre. Each instrument is crafted by hand from a block of unfinished gold and sits over the original cover of «Some Girls», reproduced entirely using miniature painting.
The third circle is powered by an automaton. On its surface are the tiny grooves found on vinyl records – like the 33-rpm initial release of «Some Girls» – engraved on the brass surface. The disc makes one complete rotation every 30 seconds, on demand, by pressing the coaxial pusher on the crown at 3 o'clock. The automaton's power reserve is sufficient for 4 minutes of animation (i.e. 8 consecutive rotations). While it is being activated, the iconic Stones tongue, at 9 o'clock, raises, lowers and waggles. Just above this, the player's tonearm raises and lowers, allowing the power reserve to be read.
This animation takes place against a lurid applique pop-art background, in the spirit of «Some Girls», also entirely hand-painted in miniature. At 4 o'clock, Jaquet Droz has painted a more recent image of the group to underscore its exceptional longevity (active since 1962 – 62 years of uninterrupted service!), and to pay tribute to the memory of founding member Charlie Watts (1941 – 2021), the only one no longer with us, and without whom «Some Girls» would never have existed. Nor this The Rolling Stones Automaton...
