CRADLE OF HERITAGE & ARTISANSHIP
With 185 years of history and know-how, plus an exclusive atelier dedicated to ornamental crafts of the finest class, under its roof, the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture is one of watchmaking’s most abundant treasure troves
FOUNDED IN 1833 by Antoine LeCoultre, the Grande Maison of Jaeger-LeCoultre has been a breeding ground for technical innovation and artistic talent, building up a rich legacy of knowhow, excellence and historic timepieces such as the Reverso, Master, Rendez-Vous, Duomètre, Geophysic and Atmos. Here, deft hands perpetuate age-old skills honed over more than 180 years, each time bringing to life a tour de force that will go down as a legend.
METIERS RARES ATELIER
Located in the Vallée de Joux, the historical premises of JaegerLeCoultre are also home to the recently launched Metiers Rares (Rare Crafts) Atelier, an exclusive space dedicated to ornamental crafts, so much so that they have become hallmarks of the brand: enamelling, engraving, gem-setting and guilloché. The workshop devotes its multiple skills to creating remarkable models such as the Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon.
In a labyrinth of glass panels, around 30 artisans ply their trade at their wooden workbenches, intently focused and oblivious to the world outside. Having previously worked on separate floors, they now radiate a creative energy stemming from their combined presence.
Duly restored and lubricated, three guilloché rose engines flaunt the complexity of their gleaming cams, while the early 20th century pantograph offers a fascinating view of its Bakelite plates depicting intricate motifs that will be reproduced to perfection on dials reflecting a fine tradition perpetuated by Jaeger-LeCoultre.
The Rare Crafts Atelier adopts the concept embodied in the Hybris Artistica collection - where master watchmakers and skilled artisans of rare crafts, along with their technical knowhow, artistic craftsmanship and ambitious ideas converge in perfect harmony. Hence, the layout of the Atelier is designed to foster cooperation, interaction and communication between the various experts. The engravers’ work benches are thus placed next to those of the chamferers, given their successive roles in the sequence of movement decoration. An excessively chamfered component, for example, will not leave enough space for engraving.
Nurtured by ideas and stimulated by the lively curiosity of those exercising their talents there, the Métiers Rares Atelier is a place where physical and intellectual interdisciplinary barriers are broken down to allow a free flow of inspiration. Where new working methods are developed and new innovations are born, leading to ever more astonishing creations.
The principle of sharing that governs the Rare Crafts Atelier naturally extends to the visitors exploring this area. Right at the centre, Jaeger-LeCoultre has chosen to place an elegant yet imposing made-to-measure wooden table echoing the nearby workbenches. It is the key element in a scenography that creates an immersive experience. Discreetly positioned above the table is a projector linked up with cameras fixed to the various workstations.
With the permission of the artisan who agrees to being filmed, the table gives a whole new meaning to the term “flat screen” by providing live streaming of the work in progress, magnified 40 times. Each sliver of brass removed and each pigment applied become actors in a live show that is at last revealed. Meanwhile, the glass panels provide an opportunity for real-scale observation of the artisans at work and thereby to gain a keen awareness of their incredibly accurate, delicate gestures.
GUILLOCHÉ
This technique is performed in circular or linear fashion, by moving the part to be decorated across a sharp-edged tool that remains immobile. Under the firm pressure of the artisan’s thumb, the metal shavings are successively removed to reveal a shiny motif. The contrast between the bulky, almost rusticlooking rose engine and the elegantly intersecting straight lines and curves is visually striking. Above and beyond mere ornamentation, the resulting dials are endowed with a unique shimmer that only the human hand can create.
ENGRAVING & SKELETON
An essential part of the Reverso philosophy, engraving generally takes around two hours if it involves just initials, or stretches over an entire week when it comes to reproducing a face or a coat-of-arms that must be redrawn by hand. Engravers also display the full extent of their talent when skeletonizing extremely small series of movements. They base their work on the movement plans, carefully seeking the design that will enable him to preserve all the parts required for its smooth operation. Using a tiny hacksaw, the skeleton-work specialists recreate the previously drawn motif on the component in question. Three weeks of intense concentration are required to skeletonise the Jaeger-LeCoultre 101 calibre, a process that entails removing 0.2 grams of material from a total 0.98 grams.
ENAMELLING
Enamel is the triumph of colour over time. Jaeger-LeCoultre has opted for the noble and particularly delicate technique known as Grand Feu enamelling. The artisans work with a gold case featuring a 0.4 mm recess coated with three layers of white enamel. The motif is then designed using enamel fragments coloured by metal oxides that are crushed to powder and mixed with oil.
Firing in a kiln heated to 800°C solidifies the matter on its base. This Grand Feu enamelling technique endows the models thus adorned with exceptional purity and longevity. Six to ten layers of transparent protective enamel are then applied to the dial that is carefully sanded and polished to achieve a shiny, finely glazed appearance. Each piece is fired between 17 and 22 times during the vitrification process, and each time, the enamel could crack and ruin hours of work. Despite the risks, the enamellers in the Atelier never tire of experimenting. Be it through enamel with guilloché motifs or enamel miniature painting: they deliberately play with fire to recapture techniques or develop new ones.
GEMSETTING
Gemsetting, as Jaeger-LeCoultre sees it, is not about an overabundance of precious stones, but instead about stirring emotions and a sense of wonder. Once the gems have been selected, artisans begin the preparatory “milling and drilling” work known by the French term mitraillage. They create the seats that will house the stones and carefully draw out the beads that will serve to secure them. Several techniques are available, including traditional bead setting done using stones of similar size held by four beads, along with baguette (tapered) or bezel setting. Jaeger-LeCoultre has innovated by transposing an exclusive jewellery technique to watchmaking, known as gemsetting, in which the artisan directly creates the pattern in step with his thoughts and inspiration, based on diamonds of varying diameters. They nestle against each other so as to entirely cover the gold surface, ensuring that the smooth feel of the surface is undisturbed by any prongs or sharp edges. Another signature technique used by the Maison is invisible or mystery setting, in which the stones are juxtaposed without the tiniest gap that mightlessen the beauty of the craftsmanship.
HERITAGE GALLERY
Devoted to showcasing the brand’s heritage at its Vallée de Joux Manufacture in the village of Le Sentier, the Heritage Gallery is designed as an unprecedented encounter with the Maison and its rich history that constantly inspires creativity, even to this day ‒ a setting that stirs the emotions and stimulates dialogue. The space has been considerably enlarged to bring together the Maison’s finest pieces through the ages, its historical archives, and a workshop that restores old timepieces. Visitors experience surprise and wonder, in a memorable encounter that is both authentic and contemporary.
The Heritage Gallery extends across more than 500sqm of the oldest buildings in the manufacture, which used to house the LeCoultre farm in the early 19th century. To afford visitors a real experience of the brand, the gallery design is totally in harmony with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s aesthetic codes, with pure colours, understated pale furnishings, and light as a central feature. This area marks the starting point of the complete Manufacture tour that takes in the workshops.
In addition to guided tours, various interactive features have also been installed for independent discovery. Right from the start, it is fun for visitors: they select a year on a touchscreen ‒ perhaps the year they were born ‒ and get to see what was happening within the brand that year. An image is projected onto a background symbolising a significant creative moment for Jaeger-LeCoultre, giving an insight into the Maison’s rich past and the breadth of its archives. Now visitors can step right into the story and have themselves photographed against this backdrop.
At the archives section, the tour begins with an exposition of the Maison’s outstanding historical archives, never before shown to the public, that constitute the “memory” of JaegerLeCoultre. Registers, documents, and old books have been meticulously categorised and line the shelves of the big archive room. They illustrate the Maison’s creative force since its earliest days. We can see here that as of the 19th century, the Manufacture was supplying its movements to most of the major watchmaking Maisons. A Patek Philippe pocket watch with a LeCoultre movement is even displayed here for the first time to typify this characteristic of Jaeger-LeCoultre, “watchmaker to the watchmakers”. The Maison’s archives are a significant asset and source of endless inspiration to today’s designers. In this space, visitors get a real sense of that resource. A shelf displays an old cabinet stocked with components, so those who enjoy bygone curiosities can feast their eyes. It is like stepping back into history.
FROM TOP
The orginal Reverso, 1931; Archive of Reverso dials; The newly refurbished Heritage Gallery at Jaeger-LeCoultre