History of Jaeger-LeCoultre

In the valley of the Swiss Jura, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been creating since 1833, bringing together 180 different exceptional skills to give life to the heart of each watch, bringing each of the smallest components to life.

Since its creation, the Jaeger-LeCoultre workshop has produced over 1,200 movements, giving it today an exceptional reputation that is unique in the watchmaking industry, with a number of famous collections that are the solid foundation for its pride in excellence and the ultimate satisfaction of its loyal customers. For example, the Reverso collection was born out of the Art Deco movement of 1931, while the Atmos Air Clock is a pendulum watch with a near-constant movement.

About the founder of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Antoine LeCoultre, a brilliant inventor, who invented the revolutionary mechanism called the lever-winding crown, which led to the development of a safe and reliable mass production system that made the keyless winding system widely available. With his innovative and revolutionary inventor's spirit, Mr. Antoine LeCoultre understood even more the impact of good or bad gears on watches, and the quality of the gear parts he made was so outstanding that the gears he made soon gained the admiration of the industry, and so Mr. Antoine's name soon spread throughout the industry, and as his reputation grew Mr. Antoine became even more determined to create a watch brand of his own, and so In 1833, Antoine LeCoultre founded his own watch brand, known to many in the trade as Jaeger-LeCoultre.

In 1844, he invented the micrometer, which measures one millionth of a meter precisely. He was also responsible for the crown, the most widespread feature of modern watches, which has the dual function of winding and timing, thus bidding farewell to the era of the winding key. After the death of Antoine LeCoultre, the LeCoultre Manufacture, under the leadership of his son, Elie LeCoultre, continued to produce watchmaking mechanisms that combined fine form with sophisticated functions.

In 1903, Jacques-David LeCoultre, grandson of Antoine LeCoultre, decided to take up the challenge posed to Swiss watchmakers by Edmond Jaeger, the exclusive watchmaker of the French Navy from Paris, and began developing the ultra-thin watch.

Invented in 1928 by Jean-Léon Reutter and produced in the great LeCoultre workshop, the Atmos air clock is both classic and avant-garde. A temperature change of one degree Celsius was enough to power the clock for 48 hours.

In 1929, the watchmakers reduced the movement space of the gearbox to create the 101 calibre - a smaller, hand-wound movement. Its 98 parts weigh less than 1 gram in total.

In 1931, born out of a challenge, British officers stationed in India longed for a watch that could be used in the fierce game of polo, and the Reverso collection was born.

In 2007, the Duomètre Double Wing collection was inspired by a timepiece made in 1880 and features a double-wing movement concept. It employs two different mechanisms: one to ensure precision and the other to achieve complications, both driven simultaneously by the same regulating parts.

For 2013, the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3 Jubilee is equipped with a new type of spherical tourbillon without edges. Its instantaneous countdown timer is a remarkable technical achievement that demonstrates the brand's constant spirit of innovation.

For 2018, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Masterworks presents the Jaeger-LeCoultre North Chen, inspired by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Jaeger-LeCoultre Memovox Polar Alarm from 1968, embodying watchmaking mastery and modern elegance with a sporty twist.

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Source: https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.cn/cn/sc/our-maison/our-history.html