By Thomas Dowson
Jaeger-LeCoultre is today widely regarded as one of the most innovative players in the watch making industry. Having played a prominent role in the history of watch making, and producing distinctive, luxury and often unique watches Jaeger-LeCoultre watches often wins awards as chosen by the public and expert panels alike.
Recently, Jaeger LeCoultre shocked the watch-world by creating the Hybris Mechanica a Grande Sonnerie. This is officially the World's most sophisticated watch with 26 complications. And a long way from the humble beginnings of a family enterprise high up in the Swiss mountains.
Antoine LeCoultre founded his first workshop in 1833 in the small Swiss mountain town of Le Sentier, located in the Vallee de Joux. Jaeger-LeCoultre acknowledges its geographical location as a significant component of the pioneering watchmaker's success. Le Sentier was frequently cut off from the outside world by severe snow storms during long and harsh winters. But, with a great of ingenuity and a little iron from the local mines, some great and incredibly inventive watches were made.
A few decades later, in 1866 to be exact, Antoine LeCoultre and his son decided to bring together all the aspects of a watch's production under one roof. And to enable all of these activities to be able to function properly, a steam driven machine was installed to operate all the necessary tools. LeCoutlre & Cie was born. Because of this innovative approach to the production of watches, the factories in Le Sentier soon became affectionately known of as the 'Grande Maison' of the Vallee de Joux.
The other half of the Jaeger-LeCoultre story begins in Paris in 1903.
Edmond Jaeger designed an ultra-thin caliber, and he challenged Swiss watchmakers to manufacture these. It was Jacques-David LeCoultre, Antoine's grandson, who took up the challenge and succeeded. The LeCoultres brought their exceptional watch making craft skills, while Jaeger, a brilliant designer, gave their joint productions a distinctive style that is the unmistakable Jaeger-LeCoultre label. This partnership gave rise to a set of horological wonders, and then in 1937 the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand itself.
Both independently and together these two men forged relationships with some very well known creators of luxury watches. From 1902, and for some thirty years thereafter, LeCoultre & Cie produced watch movements for Patek Philippe of Geneva. Before Jaeger and LeCoultre began working together, Jaeger already had amongst his clients the famous designer Cartier. In 1907 a contract was signed in which it was agreed that Jaeger, LeCoultre & Cie would exclusively produce Cartier's creations.
In 1907 the Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 145 set the record for being the thinnest movement at 1.38 mm. But over the years there have been many, many more achievements and distinctions that have greatly influenced the evolution of watches and their production. Jaeger-LeCoultre have filed over two hundred patents and have developed more than a thousand different calibres. It is not surprising then that the luxury Jaeger-LeCoultre watches are considered by connoisseurs to be among the very best in the world.
