Time Marches On
Luxury Watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Innovation Continues
While the history of Jaeger-LeCoultre began in 1833 in Le Sentier, a small village in Switzerland, founder Antoine LeCoultre’s ideas have revolutionized the watchmaking industry forever. An inventor at heart, LeCoultre made many breakthroughs in horology, including producing a machine to cut watch pinions from steel and creating the Millionometre, which, at the time, was the world’s most precise measuring instrument.
LeCoultre also pioneered a lever-winding mechanism and keyless pocket watch and, along with his son, Elie, turned LeCoultre & Cie into one of Switzerland’s top watch houses. Creating the first complicated calibres in the 19th century, their technology was so advanced in the world of chiming and chronograph pocket watches that they manufactured partial movements for Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin
Beginning in the early 20th century, Jacques-David LeCoultre, Antoine’s grandson, collaborated with Paris-based Edmond Jaeger, who had invented ultra-thin movements. Together, they produced slim pocket watches and watches, and, in 1937, joined forces to become Jaeger-LeCoultre. The resulting company is a watchmaking legend, with over 1,000 different calibres and 400 patents registered. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most famous watch collections include the Master, Master Extreme, Reverso, Memovox, Futurematic and Rendez-Vous.
Most recently, Jaeger-LeCoultre has entered the digital age, with an interesting intersection between technology and watchmaking with its new mobile alarm app. Based on its Memovox watch, it’s notable because this was the world’s first automatic timepiece to feature an alarm function. The app (available on both Apple and Android devices) was released in conjunction with the 60-year anniversary commemorative Master Memovox limited edition, in stainless steel with light and dark blue face, and is a digital recreation of the stylish timepiece. (Same watch on opposite page in Pearl White)
The mobile app boasts functionality that only smart phone technology can provide, such as adjustable settings for volume, ringtone, language (including English, French, German, Spanish, Russian and many more), multiple snooze buttons and the ability to turn off the alarm by shaking the phone. The alarm even makes a digitized version of the sound made by the mechanical watch.
Of course, nothing can beat the real thing, and Gray & Sons Jewelers proudly sells Jaeger-LeCoultre watches. Our selection spans rare and limited edition timepieces, including Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Compressor series and the LeCoultre Classic (circa the 1940s). All of our vintage watches are certified pre-owned and are backed by a 12-month warranty.
