Jaeger-LeCoultre Rendez-Vous

As usual, it is very difficult to pick out a single highlight from Jaeger-LeCoultre’s impressively complicated line-up: there is an Atmos complication, reinterpretations of the Grande Complication Calibre 945, and a Rare Handcrafts World Timer.

But it is the new Rendez-Vous watches that are the manufacture stepping ever so slightly out from its usual fare: ladies’ timepieces with a complication that focuses on romance rather than function. At seemingly random times, a shooting star will cross a window on the dial. The mechanism has its own selfwinding power train; after a requisite amount of wrist movement it will fire on its own, giving an illusion of randomness. On average, it will activate four to six times an hour; but in practice most will only witness the animation once or twice a day, making it feel like a lucky occasion. It comes in two slightly different configurations: the Dazzling Star (from €73,000), which has an increased emphasis on gem-setting, and the Star (from €73,000), which features a sapphire disc layer hand-painted with clouds, lending the watch an extra mystique. All executions feature 36mm cases.