TOUR DE FORCE

jaeger-lecoultre’s latest masterpiece isn’t just a grand complication, but also a reminder of how even the most familiar complications can still be improved on

Long a stalwart of complicated watchmaking, Jaeger-Lecoultre is no stranger to high and grand complications that are developed, produced and assembled in-house. The manufacture’s latest marvel is the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, which was unveiled at sihh amid a general dearth of complicated watches.

The eponymous Gyrotourbillon is Jaeger-lecoultre’s proprietary take on multi-axis tourbillons, which ostensibly negates timekeeping errors due to gravity by constantly rotating the balance and escapement through every possible orientation. This is the manufacture’s fifth iteration of the device and it’s about 15 percent smaller than its predecessor. The reduced form factor doesn’t just create a smaller movement and a more wearable watch, but also frees up space for other complications.

Indeed, the timepiece’s somewhat unwieldy name should hint at what the rest of its complications are, beginning with the Westminster minute repeater. This variant of the minute repeater has four sets of gongs and hammers instead of the usual two, and thus chimes the time with four notes rather than two. The difference is heard in the quarters – instead of a pair of high and low notes for each quarter, the Westminster minute repeater plays segments of the Westminster chimes a la Big Ben.

Jaeger-lecoultre has put a twist on the repeater mechanism though; the full melody of the Westminster chimes is normally heard only on the full hours, but this watch chimes the full melody when there are no quarters. At 2:12, for instance, it will sound two low notes for two o’clock, the full Westminster chimes for zero quarters, and 12 high notes for 12 minutes. With this tweak, the full melody can be admired more easily since there is now a larger window to do so.

The perpetual calendar in this watch has likewise been modified. Its biggest improvement over “traditional” perpetual calendars is its ability to be adjusted both forward and backwards, which makes correcting the date display a cinch. Finally, there is the movement’s remontoir d’égalité constant force mechanism. This device uses a tiny secondary spring to “feed” a constant, regulated amount of energy to the escapement once every minute. This doesn’t just improve timekeeping precision, but also has the added effect of creating a jumping minutes hand.

Two references of the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel are available. Both are in white gold, with one version sporting a blue flinqué enamel dial and the other, a silver grained dial. Just 18 pieces are available in total.