Jaeger-LeCoultre
The making of technically outstanding luxury watches
In 1903, Jacques David LeCoultre, the grandson of the company’s founder, met the Alsatian Edmond Jaeger. The two established a partnership which, after many years of friendship, became the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture in 1937. By 1903 the company had already succeeded in producing the smallest mechanical chronograph, the smallest repeater watch and the smallest wristwatch. These feats of precision engineering established the company’s technical pre-eminence and its reputation. Watches such as the Duoplan model (1925) achieved a rate accuracy unmatched until then. The Atmos model introduced in 1928 was likewise regarded as a milestone: a table clock mounted beneath a glass dome and driven solely by variations in atmospheric pressure. It was especially popular in the United States, so much so that half of the production was sold there.
The legendary Reverso watch
The legendary Reverso watch appeared in 1931. This watch could be turned over on the wrist and thus better withstand the blows and impacts encountered in sports such as golf, polo or tennis. To this day the Reverso remains a watch of unmistakable character and a true classic in the history of mechanical watchmaking. Over its long and successful history, the Reverso model has given rise to numerous variations. Alongside the rather spartan sports watches, this line has produced highly elaborate chronographs as well as watches with a minute repeater, a tourbillon and a second time zone. The materials used ranged from steel to rose gold, yellow gold and platinum with diamond embellishment. The bracelets and straps of these luxury watches were made from fine metal links or from crocodile and ostrich leather.
Further watch classics from Jaeger-LeCoultre
In its more recent history, too, the watch manufacture has repeatedly succeeded in developing luxury watches that became milestones in manufacturing technique. In 1989, for example, came the Grand Reveil watch, an automatic watch with an alarm and a perpetual calendar. A year later the Geographique was released, a masterpiece with a power reserve and the display of different time zones. The classic Master Ultra Thin also belongs to this line. The Master Control series marks an important step in watch production, as every watch in this line was tested for 1000 hours before delivery to confirm its operational reliability. In the course of this, the watches must undergo tests that are more demanding than the chronometer tests.
A focus on outstanding technology
What makes the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture special is that, from the very beginning, it has produced the complicated movements of its watches itself. Because of their renowned quality, these movements are purchased by other manufacturers and fitted into their watches. After concentrating for a long time on the production of the classics, Jaeger-LeCoultre has for some time now been impressing once again with the presentation of world firsts. Watch models such as the Gyrotourbillon 1 and the Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 as well as the Duomètre have won awards and were voted watches of the year in 2008. The Hybris Mechanica and the Hybris Mechanica a Triptyque are regarded as the most complicated wristwatches in the world. Luxury watches by Jaeger-LeCoultre are, and will always remain, something special.
Further Jaeger-LeCoultre categories at HORANDO:
Master, Polaris, Reverso, Chrono, Polaris Chrono, Ladies’ Watches, Pre-Owned, Ultra Thin Moon
