Messages: 36840 Location: NYC
Registered: May 2005
From Paris, a new boutique and new model from Jaeger-LeCoultre
Tue, 27 November 2012 03:56
This past week, Paris played host to a series of spectacular events for Jaeger-LeCoultre, beginning with the rarest of opportunities, then celebrating the opening of a 500 square meter (nearly 5400 sq ft) boutique, and culminating in the release of a new entry in the Duometre line.
We begin on Monday with a private tour and dinner at one of the city's most famous landmarks, the Musée d'Orsay.
We waited eagerly outside, until the time-programmed doors allowed us entry into this former railway station, which houses some of the most important work by many of the world's most famous artists...
Some 10,000 visitors per day pass through the d'Orsay, which is closed on Mondays. When the doors opened to welcome a mere 100 of us on a private tour of the museum, this impossible opportunity of a lifetime was lost on no one. "This is the stuff of bucket lists," one person said.
At the end of the tour, we had the chance to see some prized pieces from the JLC heritage museum
1960 Memovox with lapus lazuli dial
1946 Pocket Watch with Tourbillon
Many of the heritage pieces were placed next to images of related inspiration from the d'Orsay collection.
All in this very room, with the massive clock window that was the spark for the "must-be" location, as Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerome Lambert recalled.
"I took my children to see the film Hugo," Mssr. Lambert said, "and the preparations for the opening of our Paris Boutique were already underway. When I saw the train station clock in the film, I knew this event had to be at the Musée d'Orsay."
It was certainly an unforgettable evening for everyone!
Day two included a visit to the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Boutique on the renowned Place Vendôme, a veritable epicenter for luxury jewelry and watch boutiques.
from the Internet
The new Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique is exactly ten times the size of its previous JLC boutique here, and is now the largest of any brand on the square. It is also the largest JLC boutique in the world.
This flagship boutique offers a rich taste of the Grande Maison, Jaeger-LeCoultre's manufacturing house in Le Sentier, Switzerland.
With watchmaking facilities, and the Jura Mountains of the company's home referenced at the top border of the rooms
Some 60 pieces of the heritage museum are also on display here in the boutique, seen already by over 300 people per day.
Most remarkable is this flagship boutique will house literally every Jaeger-LeCoultre model in the nearly 300 reference range. This includes all Minute Repeaters, Perpetuals, as well as the Hybris Mechanica, a series of nec plus ultra watches offered by the brand.
Why is Paris so significant for Jaeger-LeCoultre? When the brand was founded in 1833, two men forged a relationship of business acumen (Jaeger) and precision watchmaking (LeCoultre) that will next month celebrate 180 years of consolidated skills under one roof. That is, they brought together all of the manufacturing processes for the first time at La Grande Maison in Le Sentier...and Mr. Edmond Jaeger had come from Paris to do so.
Paris is integral to Jaeger-LeCoultre, and when they open a boutique of such splendor, many long-time fans of the brand come to share in the celebration...including French actress Isabelle Huppert
And the incomparable Catherine Deneuve, shown here with Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO, Jerome Lambert
It was only natural that this focus on the powerful expression of 19th Century Parisian design would also bring us a new model honoring both the brand and the boutique.
Many here will recall that the Duometre line, with its dual wing mechanism inspired by a 19th century pocket watch, was launched with the Duomètre à Chronographe.
The dual wing system allows for the chronograph to run without causing an energy drag or fluctuation in the accuracy of the timekeeping mechanism, as there is a separate barrel and power reserve for each.
The Duomètre à Chronographe won Timezone Watch of the Year.
The second reference introduced in the Duometre line was the Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire, which adds a calendar and moonphase, and like the Chronographe also runs by a mechanism separated from the timekeeping functions.
The Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire also won Timezone Watch of the Year.
At this year's SIHH Watch Fair in January, Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced not only a smaller version of the Quantième Lunaire (40.5mm vs 42mm), but also the show-stopping Duomètre Sphérotourbillon, a multi-axis tourbillon that is flyback adjustable to the nearest second!
This magnificent watch is shown here
With the opening of the new Jaeger-LeCoultre boutique in Paris, the latest in the Duometre line is introduced, the Unique Travel Time...or UTT.
This 498-component watch resides somewhere between a dual time and a world timer, with some unique characteristics of its own. Unique Travel Time, meaning you can set the second time zone to the minute, and therefore to any zone of your desire.
The timekeeping function is on the right subdial, with the second time zone represented with a jump hour window and minute hand. When the crown is pulled to set the time, the second hand zeroes and synchronizes the zones.
Once synchronized, the wearer can use the push buttons to adjust the hour forward or backward, and the domed globe at 6 o'clock not only rotates, but does so with the outer ring hour designation, which indicates the second time zone relative to GMT.
The indication is given by the arrow seen at the very bottom of the dial, between "Swiss" and "Made".
As the shaded half of the GMT ring is a day/night indicator, you can see in this image that the second time zone is at 4:57 in the PM (or 16:57)----and is one hour behind GMT.
Perhaps more than any other Duometre, the UTT fully conveys in dial the nature of the dual wing system. Because you are seeing two timekeeping systems working independently, each with a 50-hour power reserve.
The watch is a joy to wear, and even more fun to operate.
The UTT is produced in white gold, a Limited Edition of 100 pieces, and is sold exclusively through the Paris Boutique.
The "7" and "9" of the jump hour wheel are in red, in homage to the address numbers occupied by the brand boutique on the Place Vendôme.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is the industry leader in movement development, having created nearly 1300 movements to date. The company holds some 400 patents, and produces 6 new calibers annually. The Duometre line is no exception, with each model developed from the ground up. In fact, the four movements in the Duometre line share almost no common parts between them.
The highly finished caliber 383 of the UTT
With the cities of 24 world time zones engraved on the outer caseback ring.
From the venues to the new model, the week's events focused on the glorious and lasting features of the 19th Century. Those highlighting Paris are known throughout the world.
From the Musée d'Orsay to the remarkable Jeu de Paume museum, where the new Duometre UTT was introduced.
Which itself looks upon the famed Eiffel Tower, seen here with the Musée d'Orsay
All marvels from the 19th Century, like Jaeger-LeCoultre itself
image from Internet
And like the Duometre line, which takes its roots from a 19th Century pocket watch and delivers 21st century innovation.
A confluence of enduring imaginations, bookending two centuries
And on the eve of the company's 180th Anniversary, delivering the eternal qualities of the 19th Century in a new boutique
and a new Duometre...of today!
I hope you enjoyed the visite, and au revoir de Paris!
Howard - Moderator...Audemars Piguet & Jaeger-LeCoultre
- boa2