The Swiss-based Jaeger-LeCoultre Company was established in 1833 in the Vallee de Joux's Le Sentier. It represents one of the few watch companies that has been located at one and the same site during the entire period of its existence.
The factory of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Company is housed in an immense building. It employs about 1,000 people. The building of the factory has been often annexed during the 174-year history of the brand, but the additions have been made to the original workshop building founded by Antoine LeCoultre.
Over one hundred seventy years of operation is quite a long period of time for any company in business. The highly-respected watchmaking manufacture decided to document its rich heritage, having opened the doors to the new museum of the company under the same roof as its original workshop.
During 174 years of uninterrupted watch manufacturing, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Company has developed an impressive number of in-house movements and timepieces that boast the high watchmaking standards very few watch companies are able to match. Look through the list of just a few highlights of the brand:
- the Atmos clock that is wound by air (1928);
- the smallest mechanical movement (1929), still holding the record;
- the internationally-famous Reverso (1931).
New Heritage Gallery opened by Jaeger-LeCoultre invites the visitors to see over 500 technical, historical, and contemporary exhibits, including a diverse collection of about 300 mechanical movements. The Heritage Gallery inherited its remarkable exhibits from the brand's own private collection composed of several thousand pieces.
Among the exhibits the visitors will discover both pocket watches and period objects, including unique ring, brooch, and pendant timepieces. In addition to the permanent exhibition of the brand, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Gallery will also invite everyone interested to temporary exhibitions.
The Heritage Gallery has on display the most remarkable Jaeger-LeCoultre timekeeping creations, including the most recent masterpieces:
- the Duoplan (1925),
- the Memovox (1950),
- the Futurematic (1953),
- assorted watches for divers ( from 1959),
- a noteworthy collection of Reverso watches dating from 1931,
- the Gyrotourbillon I (2004),
- the Reverso Grand Complication a Triptyque (2006).
In the center of the gallery there is a large, curving, transparent display wall, about fourteen feet in height. It immediately attracts meticulous attention of the visitors. This 'mechanical wall' represents the innovative display case of one-of-a-kind collection of movements that comprises 300 different calibers developed in Jaeger-LeCoultre workshops during its 174-year-history.
The entire exhibition displayed at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Gallery traces the long illustrious path taken by the watchmaking company. All of the exhibited pieces demonstrate the ingenuity of the talented watchmaking teams of the brand through the years.
The exhibition is highlighted by a unique Lepine pocket watch equipped with flattest movement ever created. The creation of the mechanism dates back to 1903, when Parisian Edmond Jaeger invited the LeCoultre and Cie. watchmakers to produce a small serial of the ultra-thin movements he had invented. Jacques-David LeCoultre, the founder's grandson, was passionate about the project.
This initial cooperation resulted in a firm partnership that gave birth to Caliber 145, the flattest movement of its kind (1.38 mm) since 1907. This movement has been manufactured in small series during the period of over 50 years.
The Grande Complication pocket watch developed in 1928 represents one more remarkable exhibit displayed at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Gallery. The brand has continuously specialized in developing complicated calibers. According to the company, this experience has been accumulated since 1870. In about thirty years from then up to the turn of the 20th century, the Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmakers developed 99 different repeater calibers and 128 different chronographs, including 32 with rattrapantes. The first grande complication models appeared in the 1890s.
No doubt, watch collectors and aficionados of fine timepieces, as well as everyone who knows how to appreciate unique creations of an old and highly-respected brand will enjoy time spent among exhibits presented at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Heritage Gallery.
