3 The watchmaker of ingenuity

1907

In 1903, Edmond Jaeger challenged Swiss manufacturers to develop the ultra-thin movements he had just invented. Jacques-David LeCoultre accepted the challenge, and they created the « Knife caliber » four years later, which became the world’s thinnest caliber for pocket watches.

1925

In the 1920s, when small, delicate wristwatches for women became highly fashionable, Jaeger and LeCoultre introduced the highly innovative Duoplan caliber which later inspired the creation of the smallest mechanical caliber 101.

1928

The revolutionary Atmos pendulum achieves one of humanity’s oldest dreams, that of perpetual motion. A variation in the ambient temperature of just one degree is enough to power the mechanism for two days, making the Atmos the first clock to function with no human intervention.

1931

The Reverso was designed to withstand the rigor of polo matches played by British officers in India. The Manufacture created a specific caliber for it, the hand-wound LeCoultre Caliber 410, which has founded a full lineage of shaped calibers.

1950

In October 1949, Jaeger-LeCoultre filed a patent application for an original alarm watch without a dedicated hand. In the dial center, a mobile disc set the alarm. Its famous triangular marker, that served as a pointer, has become the signature of the Memovox.

2009

With 26 complications, including a groundbreaking Grande Sonnerie, a Caliber 182 made of 1300 components, and more than 15 patents, the Master Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie is probably the most complex wristwatch of its time.

2004

In 2004, Jaeger-LeCoultre created the Gyrotourbillon, a multi-axis tourbillon that resolved potential positional errors of the balance and escapement. With its unprecedented levels of precision, it clearly demonstrates the Grande Maison’s horological excellence.

2007

In 2007, Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmakers set themselves the hardest challenge: to develop a chronograph watch as accurate as a chronometer. The result was the Duometre à Chronographe, fitted with Caliber 380.

1951

Equipped with Caliber 497, which enabled the watch to stop before it was fully unwound and to instantly restart with the utmost accuracy, the Futurematic freed the watch from the need for a conventional winding crown.

1959

As scuba diving was becoming very popular in the United States, Jaeger-LeCoultre developed its first diving watch: with its Caliber 815, it was the world’s first watch with an audible alarm signaling divers it was time to begin their ascent to the surface.