Can you believe this thing (click to embiggen the image)? It’s a 200,000+ Euros “spherotourbillion” from Jaeger-LeCoultre and it’s probably one of the most complex “classic” watches you’ll ever lay eyes on. What’s that ball thing in the window there? That’s the escapement. It spins in multiple directions, ensuring the sort of accuracy found in quartz watches with the complexity found in a haute mechanical.

Watch as Ariel apparently gets a demo from Bruce Willis’ girlfriend in Pulp Fiction (“Tulip is much better than mongoloid.”) The watch has two barrels – one for the tourbillon and one for the actual indications – and it comes in platinum.
Read more…

Do Want: Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 381

A new development of the “dual-wing” concept, with the Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 381, and a new open-worked dial revealing the details of the movement, with an indication of the moon phases and a jumping seconds hand. A new seconds jumping hand stop mechanism allows precision to 1/6th of a second when setting the time. This timepiece is available in pink gold and a limited series of 300 in yellow gold.

Read more…

I pulled the trigger, friends, and I think I found a nice match between form, function, and tradition. I bought the Jaeger LeCoultre Master Compressor Extreme World Chronograph – a review is forthcoming – and I think I found the right balance here. I was constantly going back to watches like Glashütte Original and even, dare I say it, Breguet but they just didn’t seem like watches I’d wear on a regular basis, unlike this monster. Even the Panerai I was eying would end up being relegated to the winder.

Read more…

So wait… Japan is eating your market share so you launch THIS? People must have been stupider in the seventies.

THE WATCHISMO TIMES: The Jaeger LeCoultre Wrist Discotheque of 1975

Tasty! A new, 44mm JLC with GMT hand. Pretty beefy.

I have just handled two of the three pieces (this one and the chrono) and the Ti piece is very light. There’s a bit of Hublot in there, a bit of Offshore and from side-on a Sinn U1 feel – in fact it is a bit tuna-canny. I guess there’s only so many shapes you can play with for a dive watch…

Jaeger-LeCoultre Diving GMT [Velociphile's Journey into Watches]

Sweet merciful watch gods! What is that! That’s a single hand escapement, called the Isometer by JLC. Seriously. This is a very big deal. The standard escapement loses accuracy because the little jeweled hands move back and forth, leading to friction et al. This apparently has one little hand that swings the balance wheel. More as we get it.

The Reverso Grande Complication a Triptyque is the results of tireless effort by many constructeurs and watchmakers under the strong guidance of the Jaeger-LeCoultre management and is truly the result of JLC’s collective effort and aspiration. We made a tour of the Manufacture last month to see the work involved in making of this Grande Complication and we spoke to the management, the product department, the prototype department, the Constructeurs etc to learn as much as possible about this new breakthrough.

Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO to visit Singapore with the Reverso Grande Complication a Triptyque, and our first ‘coffee break’ look at the watch. [Revolution via Velociphile