Pierre Jaquet-Droz was a late-eighteenth-century Swiss-born watchmaker. He resided in Paris, London and Geneva, where he created animated dolls, known as automata, to help his company sell timepieces and mechanical birds. Some believe these devices to be the first computers and the best instances of human mechanical problem solving. Now owned by the Swatch Group, the watches are a blend of horological skill and workmanship with a distinct personality.