Jaeger-LeCoultre
The Swiss manufacture from Le Sentier, a village nestled in the heart of the idyllic Jura Mountains in the Vallée de Joux in the Swiss Canton of Vaud, is impossible to overlook in the watchmaking world. Jaeger-LeCoultre is famous for the painstaking precision that goes into its products and the perfection of the components as well as for its uncompromising 1000-hour testing before any timepiece is delivered onto the market. Jaeger-LeCoultre is a manufacture where the boundaries of what’s possible are incessantly pushed further and ground-breaking complications, such as the gyrotourbillon and sphérotourbillon, are developed. Well-balanced collections with a large selection of models are appreciated by all men and women with refined taste.
Iconic designs
The watches and clocks designed in the mid-20th century have remained symbols of the zenith of quality to this day and are an embodiment of timelessness and lasting value: the designs of Reverso, Atmos and Memovox haven’t aged one iota.
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s name rides on the back of several achievements, all of them originating decades ago: be it the atmospheric Atmos clock from 1928, the tiny 101 movement used for women’s timepieces, or the rectangular 1931 Reverso watch, all these are icons whose popularity and attractiveness has remained constant. The design of these timepieces hasn’t undergone any radical changes, it has only been updated to make these evergreens even more appealing.
Tradition
The LeCoultre family was among the founders of Le Sentier village where Antoine LeCoultre opened his first watchmaking workshop in 1883. His successors kept developing the craft and to this day, the brand has registered an impressive 400 patents and developed over 1,200 calibres.
In more than 190 years of existence, the watchmakers have won many firsts and awards. At the beginning of the 20th century, when Jacques-David LeCoultre teamed up with Frenchman Edmond Jaeger, the era of ultra-thin pocket watches began and immediately gained popularity in the market. For many years, the manufacture was also a supplier of movements to other major players in the market. Today, it produces movements exclusively for its own purposes and, with more than 1,300 employees, ranks among the leaders of the Swiss watchmaking craft.
Customising
Customers longing for something exceptional, a decoration or a special customisation according to their taste can order an original engraving, have their initials embossed on the strap and many other alterations. Jaeger-LeCoultre is more than able to personalise and/or customise any watch found in its extensive range.
The Reverso watch lends itself most easily to any creative expression the watch’s owner may deem necessary to define. The full back of the watch features a reversing mechanism originally designed to protect the face of the timepiece during polo matches. Today, it is the “canvas” of engravers and other artisans who embellish the back with consistently popular initials as well as more complicated images and patterns.
Top quality and a warranty of up to 8 years
Any owner of a mechanical watch should know that the timepiece requires regular maintenance and professional servicing. The Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture prides itself in its flawless execution of all components which is why it offers up to eight years of warranty for its products.
Before they reach the customers, all Jaeger-LeCoultre watches undergo the “1,000 Hour Control”, the manufacture’s own stringent quality test that exceeds the official chronometric COSC tests. The timepiece is exposed to a thousand hours of extreme and common use conditions, the accuracy and power reserve are tested, as are its waterproofness and resistance to vibrations and temperature variations.
Royal complications
The manufacture in Le Sentier has been accustomed to overcoming limitations in its fields, and the number of patents the brand has filed are excellent proof of this. Jaeger-LeCoultre develops the most complex horological complications such as a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar and a minute repeater.
Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces are testament to the excellent watchmaking skills of its employees but also testify to their desire to go forward and reach ever higher. The tradition was established by the brand’s founder, Antoine LeCoultre who invented the millionometre and came with a pocket watch that did without key winding. Today, the manufacture creates the most complicated mechanisms that currently exist in high horology: watches referred to as Grande Complication where all the possible complications are present in a single timepiece.
Immortality
Jaeger-LeCoultre watches and clocks attest to the fact that ingenius inventions last forever. Whether it is the ever popular design of the Reverso watch, born over ninety years ago, or the Atmos clock, whose operation gives the impression of a perpetuum mobile.
Customers who purchase watches and clocks by Jaeger-LeCoultre purchase a piece of watchmaking history while also making a future investment. Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces are not only of exceptional quality and precision, they are also distinctive symbols of the watchmaking craft, so noble and lively, as proven by the Reverso watch, first manufactured in 1931 and by the Atmos clock, several years its senior. The inventive Atmos clock doesn’t have a winding mechanism, it is powered by slight variations in temperature and pressure, quite unbelievable.
More about the brand...
In the 20th century Jaeger-LeCoultre was considered the Watchmaker of Watchmakers as the manufacture was supplying movements to many important watch manufacturers. Today, Jaeger-LeCoultre produces some 100,000 watches per year and its portfolio includes very elegant timepieces as well as rugged sporty watches and delightful clocks. The Rendez-Vous collection is entirely dedicated to women, while luxury watches with complications are to be found in the Duomètre and Hybris Mechanica collections.Much of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s production are high horology timepieces and exclusive models, yet the manufacture also produces pieces with a price tag of around CZK 100,000 which can be the perfect entrance to the dreamed-of world of haute horlogerie.
The brand’s history
When Antoine LeCoultre, the son of a blacksmith, founded a small watch workshop in his native village in 1833, he could hardly have predicted the huge amount of fame it would achieve over the course of the next two centuries. Le Sentier is home to Jaeger-LeCoultre to this day. In 1866 Antoine and his son Elie built the first traditional manufacture, gradually adding workshops and production halls to it. The LeCoultre & Cie company was founded.
At the beginning of the 20th century, Antoine’s grandson, Jacques-David LeCoultre, was appointed its director. In 1902, the Frenchmen Edmond Jaeger offered his ultra-thin movement (with a height of just 1.38 mm) at the Swiss fair. It was Jacques-David who seized the opportunity and in 1907 introduced the first pocket watch with calibre 145, the thinnest calibre in the world for many years to come.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is inextricably linked to ground-breaking technical innovations. From early on, Antoine LeCoultre became aware that if a timepiece was to function precisely, all its individual components had to be absolutely perfect.
He is the inventor of millionometre, a measuring device able to measure even the tiniest sections with high accuracy. In 1847, he removed the key from the pocket watch, replacing it with a crown winding mechanism. This innovative approach was the reason why the LeCoultre family decided to take up the challenge set by Edmond Jaeger. A one-time collaboration eventually developed into a lasting friendship and a close partnership, which later led to a change of the brand’s name to Jaeger-LeCoultre.
He is the inventor of millionometre, a measuring device able to measure even the tiniest sections with high accuracy. In 1847, he removed the key from the pocket watch, replacing it with a crown winding mechanism. This innovative approach was the reason why the LeCoultre family decided to take up the challenge set by Edmond Jaeger. A one-time collaboration eventually developed into a lasting friendship and a close partnership, which later led to a change of the brand’s name to Jaeger-LeCoultre.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the manufacture signed a contract, brokered by Edmond Jaeger, with the renowned French Maison Cartier to whom it supplied watch movements for fifteen years. Jaeger also obtained the patent for the Atmos clock from inventor Jean-Léon Reutter. The first Atmos clock left the workshop in Le Sentier in 1928.
In 1937 LeCoultre and Jaeger finally put their two family names together and the manufacture became Jaeger-LeCoultre. By then they had already launched the Reverso watch onto the market, with a reversible case protecting the crystal and dial from shocks, as well as the atmospheric Atmos clock, powered by variations in temperature and pressure.
The company expanded to Great Britain and the United States where it distributed Swiss watches in American cases under the name LeCoultre until 1985.
The Memovox watch was launched onto the European market in the 1950s; it features a mechanical alarm which would later be also found in the waterproof diving watch Polaris Memovox. The fifties were excellent years for the Manufacture: Jeager-LeCoultre introduced its Futurematic, a model equipped with a revolutionary self-winding calibre 497 where the oscillating weight was ingeniously locked into place by a small hook, preventing it from over winding and breaking the mainspring.
To celebrate the International Year of Geophysics in 1958, JLC came up with Geophysic, a watch resistant to magnetism, shocks and water. This highly reliable chronometer has become a model for a collection of the same name, which is still part of the brand’s product portfolio.
At present, Jaeger-LeCoultre, a part of the Richemont Group, offers nine collections of watches and Atmos clocks, and provides up to eight years of warranty for its products.
The Memovox watch was launched onto the European market in the 1950s; it features a mechanical alarm which would later be also found in the waterproof diving watch Polaris Memovox. The fifties were excellent years for the Manufacture: Jeager-LeCoultre introduced its Futurematic, a model equipped with a revolutionary self-winding calibre 497 where the oscillating weight was ingeniously locked into place by a small hook, preventing it from over winding and breaking the mainspring.
To celebrate the International Year of Geophysics in 1958, JLC came up with Geophysic, a watch resistant to magnetism, shocks and water. This highly reliable chronometer has become a model for a collection of the same name, which is still part of the brand’s product portfolio.
At present, Jaeger-LeCoultre, a part of the Richemont Group, offers nine collections of watches and Atmos clocks, and provides up to eight years of warranty for its products.