• Reinventing the 9^th Art: breathing new life into comics by transforming traditional storytelling into immersive webcomic design

• Olivecoat: showcasing an exclusive collaboration with a rising Filipino webcomic designer, known for blending imaginative narratives, tender character interactions, and self-aware humour, paired with a distinctive pastel palette and carefully crafted panels

• Reverso: reimagining a classic Western tale of Jaeger-LeCoultre heritage through an Eastern lens, creating an archive-inspired watchmaking webcomic

Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils the latest collaboration under its Made of Makers™ programme: a retelling of the origin story of the Reverso by The Webcomic Designer Olivecoat.

PUSHING FURTHER THE BOUNDARIES OF CLASSICAL ARTS

The Made of Makers™ programme draws a parallel between the worlds of horology and art, fostering collaborations with artists, designers, and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, who share the Maison’s values of creativity, expertise, and precision. The programme challenges the perception of classical arts as static or bound to the past, instead emphasising their continuous reinvention and honouring them as a leading source of creativity today. Just as today’s classics were once seen as radical at their inception, the Made of Makers™ programme explores how traditional forms and techniques can be reinvented through new materials and media, offering a fresh perspective on the dialogue between past and present. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists respect tradition as a foundation for creativity, while pushing boundaries and exploring new horizons, highlighting how both watchmaking and classical art express human creativity, reflect the culture of an era and trigger emotions.

To date, the Made of Makers™ community has embraced the worlds of contemporary visual art, gastronomy, music and perfumery – with artists including Zimoun (Switzerland), Michael Murphy (USA), Guillaume Marmin (France), lettering artist Alex Trochut (Spain/USA), pastry chef Nina Métayer (France), mixologist Matthias Giroud (France), digital media artist Yiyun Kang (Korea), musician TØKIO M¥ERS (UK), multi-media artist Brendi Wedinger (USA), Chef Himanshu Saini (India), street light-painter Roy Wang (China), perfumer Nicolas Bonneville (France), designer Khalid Shafar (UAE), chef-chocolatier Mathieu Davoine (France/Switzerland) and animation film director Jackie Wang (China). This new collaboration with Olivecoat (Philippines) adds the art of webcomic design to the Made of Makers™ portfolio.

REINVENTING THE 9 TH ART

While comic strips are widely assumed to be a modern pop-culture phenomenon – originating in the mid-20^th century with Francophone bandes dessinées, American superheroes and Japanese manga – the art of narrating stories through sequences of images can be traced back to prehistoric cave paintings, relief sculptures on Roman monuments and medieval illustrated manuscripts. The acknowledged father of modern comic strips is Rodolphe Töpfer, a Swiss schoolteacher, author and caricaturist, who in the mid-19^th century published sequences of sketches in boxes with the first use of speech balloons and onomatopoeia (invented words that represent sounds, such as Bam!). In 1964, the French critic Claude Beylie coined the term “9^th Art” (neuvième art) to place comics within the canon of the fine arts. This cultural recognition was later affirmed when the Louvre Museum dedicated an exhibition to “The 9^th Art” in 2009. 

Today, webcomics (also called webtoons, after the name of the leading hosting platform) are reinterpreting the art through digital screens, with serialised, vertical-scrolling comics optimised for mobile devices.

THE WEBCOMIC DESIGNER

Based in Cebu, Philippines, The Webcomic Designer Olivecoat blends classical comic codes, such as hand-drawing, symbolism and storytelling, with contemporary digital collage and experimental visuals. As a rising talent in the webcomic world, Olivecoat stands out for her blend of imaginative narratives, tender character interactions, and self-aware humour, paired with a distinctive pastel palette and carefully crafted panels.  

For Olivecoat, storytelling transcends craft – it is a means to connect, reflect, and reveal subtle human truths. Her work is deeply rooted in authentic character dynamics, inspired by stories where characters feel like real people. “I love watching shows where the character dynamics feel fleshed out, like real humans rather than characters on a page, and I think that's what drives me,” she explains. “I’m always reading feedback about how I connect with readers and make them feel seen through narratives in my work. Comments like: ‘Oh, I didn't think this was a universal experience, but it touched me deeply.’ That really motivates me as a creator.”

A TIMELESS ICON TOLD THROUGH A NEW LENS

Bringing together heritage, innovation, and artistic fusion, the Reverso webcomic commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre to Olivecoat aims to offer a fresh perspective on one of the Maison’s most iconic timepieces. Through the lens of contemporary visual storytelling, this digital project captures the essence of the Reverso’s creation while engaging new audiences across cultures and platforms.

AN ARCHIVE-INSPIRED FICTIONAL NARRATIVE: Drawing from the rich historical legacy of the Reverso, the webcomic dramatises its origin story – transforming archival facts into a compelling fictional narrative that invites broader audiences into the world of fine watchmaking.

AN EASTERN TAKE ON A WESTERN TALE: With a graphic style influenced by Eastern visual traditions such as manga, the Reverso story is reinterpreted through a fresh visual language. This East-meets-West approach creates a dynamic dialogue between two cultures, two aesthetics, and two storytelling tempos.

A WATCHMAKING WEBCOMIC: As a serialised, vertical-scrolling comic tailored for mobile platforms, the project brings the craftsmanship of watchmaking into the realm of digital-native storytelling – reviving the classical codes of the 9^th Art in a modern format.

Through this innovative blend of narrative, visual culture, and digital media, the Reverso webcomic celebrates the legacy of a watchmaking icon while speaking to a new generation of readers – one scroll at a time.

THE MAKINGS OF A GREAT STORY

Created by Olivecoat for Jaeger-LeCoultre, the Reverso webcomic exemplifies the essence of compelling storytelling, elegantly echoing the classical unities of time, place, and action.

A MOMENT IN TIME: Set against the vibrant backdrop of the roaring twenties and the landmark year 1931 – the birth of the Reverso watch – it captures a pivotal moment in history.

A SENSE OF PLACE: The narrative seamlessly transports audiences to two defining locations: the polo fields of India, where the watch’s innovative reversible case was inspired, and the renowned workshops of Le Sentier, where craftsmanship and precision bring the vision to life.

DEFINING CHARACTERS: Anchored by compelling characters – César de Trey, the visionary entrepreneur, and Jacques-David LeCoultre, the master watchmaker – the webcomic tells a timeless tale of creativity, collaboration, and enduring legacy.

This fusion of icon, narrative, and heritage creates a storytelling experience that honors both the art of comics and the spirit of the Reverso.

Olivecoat’s webcomic REVERSO will be published online for the public on October 17, 2025, and will be reproduced in printed book format to be offered by Jaeger-LeCoultre as a gift to selected clients and collectors.

“We are delighted to collaborate with The Webcomic Designer Olivecoat,” says Jérôme Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “She is a perfect fit for the Made of Makers™ programme, as she brings instinctive, self-taught mastery to her craft, reimagining classical techniques through a contemporary lens. Her commitment to timeless aesthetics and refined storytelling resonates deeply with our values at Jaeger-LeCoultre’s – making her a natural creative voice for the programme and its celebration of craftsmanship and innovation.”

• Inspired by the 7^th Art: reviving the earliest spark of cinema by reinterpreting the ‘phenakistiscope’ through contemporary animation and poetic symbolism 
• Jackie Wang: an exclusive collaboration with the Chinese animation film director, known for blending hand-drawn animation with emotional nuance, cross-cultural depth, and refined visual storytelling
• ‘Drawn in Time’: a curated series of five intricately crafted discs, each depicting a unique narrative of feminine strength and evolution and paying tribute to the Rendez-Vous collection

Jaeger-LeCoultre showcases the latest artistic collaboration under its Made of Makers™ programme at ‘The Dream Shaper’ exhibition in Shanghai. Commissioned from Chinese independent animation director Jackie Wang, the hypnotic artwork ‘Drawn in Time’ pays homage to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s iconic Rendez-Vous collection, embodying feminine elegance and craftsmanship through a mesmerizing choreography of stars and precision mechanics.

PUSHING FURTHER THE BOUNDARIES OF CLASSICAL ARTS

The Made of Makers™ programme draws a parallel between the worlds of horology and art, fostering collaborations with artists, designers, and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, who share the Maison’s values of creativity, expertise, and precision. The programme challenges the perception of classical arts as static or bound to the past, instead emphasising their continuous reinvention and honouring them as a leading source of creativity today. Just as today’s classics were once seen as radical at their inception, the Made of Makers™ programme explores how traditional forms and techniques can be reinvented through new materials and media, offering a fresh perspective on the dialogue between past and present. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists respect tradition as a foundation for creativity, while pushing boundaries and exploring new horizons, highlighting how both watchmaking and classical art express human creativity, reflect the culture of an era and trigger emotions.

To date, the Made of Makers™ community has embraced the worlds of contemporary visual art, gastronomy, music and perfumery – with artists including Zimoun (Switzerland), Michael Murphy (USA), Guillaume Marmin (France), lettering artist Alex Trochut (Spain/USA), pastry chef Nina Métayer (France), mixologist Matthias Giroud (France), digital media artist Yiyun Kang (Korea), musician TØKIO M¥ERS (UK), multi-media artist Brendi Wedinger (USA), Chef Himanshu Saini (India), street light-painter Roy Wang (China), perfumer Nicolas Bonneville (France), designer Khalid Shafar (UAE) and chef-chocolatier Mathieu Davoine (France/Switzerland). This new collaboration with animation film director Jackie Wang (China) adds the art of animated artwork to the Made of Makers™ portfolio.

THE ANIMATION FILM DIRECTOR

Jaeger-LeCoultre invites guests to embark on a mesmerizing visual odyssey through its collaboration with The Animation Film Director Jackie Wang. A graduate of both the Central Academy of Fine Arts and London's Royal College of Art, Beijing-based Jackie Wang masterfully blends traditional hand-drawn techniques with contemporary storytelling. Drawing from her unique East-meets-West perspective and distinctly feminine sensibility, she captures ephemeral emotions through fluid brushstrokes and ethereal palettes. Her work sits at the intersection of reality and fantasy, creating narratives that combine visual impact with emotional depth.

For Jackie Wang, animation is more than a medium: it is a language that transcends borders, blurring the lines between memory and imagination. "Animation allows me to explore the unseen, the subtle, and the transformative," she says. "When Jaeger-LeCoultre invited me to revisit the origins of motion pictures, I saw an opportunity to breathe new life into the ‘phenakistiscope’, the very spark that ignited cinema."

Encapsulating Jackie Wang’s signature style, the artwork that she has created exclusively for La Grande Maison reinvents the classic of the 7^th art by pushing the limits of kinetic art.

'DRAWN IN TIME’

With ‘Drawn in Time’, Jackie Wang reimagines the earliest spark of cinema: the ‘phenakistiscope’, through the lens of contemporary animation and poetic symbolism. Inspired by the circular illusion that gave birth to motion pictures, she creates a hypnotic choreography of hand-drawn forms, brought to life only through movement. Birds in flight, moons, suns and blooming flowers orbit in a celestial dance: timeless symbols of freedom, renewal, and brilliance. Her animation is not only visual. It is tactile. Crafted with textures that echo watchmaking, from mother-of-pearl reflections to guilloché-inspired patterns, the piece bridges ancestral craftsmanship and digital imagination. More than a tribute to origins, ‘Drawn in Time’ is a meditation on time itself: how art moves, how emotion circulates, and how beauty emerges in motion.

Jackie Wang’s artwork comprises five intricately designed ‘phenakistiscope’ discs, each telling a distinct and artistic story of feminine strength and evolution.

THE ENCOUNTER: A peony transforms into a bird in flight, symbolizing a woman’s liberation and rebirth. Set against a starry sky with shooting stars and moon phases, it reflects the endless possibilities of unexpected moments.

THE HAND OF CREATION: Meteors burst from a woman’s palm, embodying the heritage of craftsmanship passed through generations. The design echoes Jaeger-LeCoultre’s guilloché patterns, celebrating precision and artistry.

HARMONY OF ORDER: Gears and constellations intertwine, representing the harmony between rationality and creativity. A woman’s voice, visualised through a trumpet, sings of confidence and grace.

TIMELESS SHELL: A mother-of-pearl dial, unique as every woman’s journey, captures the delicate yet resilient nature of femininity.

ETERNAL BLOOM: A golden peony blossoms endlessly, embodying everlasting vitality while honouring the Rendez-Vous collection.

Each disc rotates at 0.75 revolutions per second to create an illusion of movement. The installation alternates between static and dynamic states, inviting viewers to witness the metamorphosis of time and form. ‘Drawn in Time’ is an invitation to witness the alchemy of tradition and innovation, engaging with both centuries-old craftsmanship and contemporary animation.

“Jackie Wang’s talent, expertise and her poetic perspective add an exciting new dimension to our Made of Makers™ programme,” says Jérôme Lambert, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “Her works reveal masterful delicacy, creating perfect harmony with the feminine strength embodied in our Rendez-Vous collection. At Jaeger-LeCoultre, we strongly believe in the convergence of craftsmanship across many disciplines, and working with an artist like Jackie Wang allows us to explore uncharted territories where the worlds of kinetic art and watchmaking intersect.”

• A modern twist to ancient traditions: the collision of light and photography
• Three exploratory photographs and one stop-motion video made with light-painting
• The challenge of scaling down a life-sized format to the tiny size of a wristwatch

Jaeger-LeCoultre unveils the latest collaboration under its Made of Makers programme – a series of artworks created by Chinese street light-painter Roy Wang. In tribute to the pursuit of precision that has been a central value of La Grande Maison since its founding almost 200 years ago, the commissioned works – three light-painting photographs and a stop-motion video – will make their public debut on the opening day of ‘The Precision Pioneer’ exhibition in Dubai, which runs from 7–19 May. 

Expanding the Dialogue Between Watchmaking and the Arts

Through a series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, Made of Makers explores and extends the dialogue that naturally exists between horology and art. The programme focuses on artists who share Jaeger-LeCoultre’s values of creativity, expertise and precision, exploring new forms of artistic expression through different and often unexpected materials and media. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists and innovators have a deep respect for the past as their creative foundation and a springboard for their trailblazing work. To date, the Made of Makers community has embraced the worlds of contemporary art, gastronomy and music – with artists including Zimoun (Switzerland), Michael Murphy (USA),  Guillaume Marmin (France), lettering artist Alex Trochut (Spain/USA), pastry chef Nina Métayer (France), mixologist Matthias Giroud (France), digital media artist Yiyun Kang (Korea), musician Tøkio Myers (UK), multi-media artist Brendi Wedinger (USA) and, in 2024, Chef Himanshu Saini (India) and Roy Wang (China).

The Street Light-Painter: ephemeral moments captured for posterity

Rapidly gaining international recognition for his dynamic and visually arresting works, Roy Wang is breaking new ground in the use of light and movement in photography. Born in Beijing, his unusual career path has provided the life experiences that inform his work: after completing university in 2009 he left China to become a professional rugby player in Japan. Travelling around his new country, he began to carry a camera everywhere and taught himself the techniques of photography through constant practice.

One day, he chanced upon a black-and-white photograph from the 1949 collaboration between Pablo Picasso and the pioneering Life magazine photographer Gjon Mili, in which Picasso uses a small flashlight to sketch in mid-air, captured by Mili using a slow shutter speed. The image had a profound impact on Roy Wang and that very night, he went out with a flashlight and made his first attempt at light-painting.

Unlike in traditional photography and figurative art, in which the artist endeavours to capture the effect of light falling on the subject, for Roy Wang, light is the medium that creates the subject out of dark nothingness. Often set against urban backgrounds, his light-paintings combine references from Chinese culture and mythology with pop culture iconography and elements of calligraphy.

The Pursuit of the Unknown at the Intersection of Technology and Art

Since the dawn of time, people have been fascinated by the effect of light against the dark night sky – picking up burning sticks from a fire and sketching patterns against the void. However, it wasn’t until the advent of photography that it became possible to create enduring works of art in this way. In essence, light-painting is the art of ‘drawing’ images with a moving light, and capturing the process on camera with a single, long exposure – usually a minute or more.

Working at night, Roy Wang uses darkness as his canvas and light as his paintbrush, facing the camera and shaping his images in the air with no visual guidance. (He sees what he has created only in the resulting photograph.) Rather, he must rely on spatial memory, muscle memory and imagination. He credits his years as a professional sportsman for helping to develop the deep muscle memory that he employs in his art. The artist dresses in black while creating the work, becoming absorbed by the surrounding darkness and invisible in the finished image.

“I describe my art as the pursuit of the unknown because I must work towards an imagined result – I can’t see what I’m making until after it has been captured by the camera,” says the artist. “The process is very fast; it takes only a minute or two, but the planning is very lengthy. I must envision the image, the exact gestures that I will make to ‘paint’ it, the invisible ‘frame’ that must contain those gestures, and the perfect positioning of my body and the light source in relation to the frame and camera. Part of the magic of light-painting is that the light effects vanish as soon as they are created, yet they live forever through the photographs.”

Four Hypnotic Artworks: the precision of fine watchmaking expressed through light

The four art pieces that Roy Wang has created for Jaeger-LeCoultre – a stop motion video and three experimental photographs – presented even greater challenges. Asked to scale his work down to the tiny dimensions of watchmaking, required major technical adaptation. First, to create patterns of the desired finesse, he had to develop completely new, miniaturised light-tools – most of which are as small as a movement component. Second, he had to develop entirely different gestures: rather than the sweeping arm movements and whole-body motion that he normally uses, the artist had to master tiny movements of the hand and wrist – more akin to those of a watchmaker – with every gesture perfectly judged and precisely controlled. Along with meticulous planning this required a great deal of practice, until the new gestures became almost second nature. In many ways, the artistic process mirrors the preparation and precision, the technical knowledge and artistic sensibility inherent in every Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece.

For the three photographs and stop-motion video, Roy Wang has combined elements drawn from Chinese tradition with his experience of visiting the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux and discovering watchmaking in depth – particularly the different aspects of precision that he observed. In his signature style, he plays with shape, colour and dynamic lines to create visually captivating, one-of-a-kind works.

•  龘 (dá – Flying Dragon) pays tribute to the iconic Reverso
• 叒 (ruò – All the Best) celebrates the intricacies of the Duometre watch calibre
• 燚 (yì – Burning Flame) pays homage to a 19^th-century Jaeger-LeCoultre pocket watch

For the stop motion video, The Dragon of Time ( 时光绘龙 ), the artist combines his light-painting skills with stop motion animation – the technique in which the subject is manipulated between photographs shot at dozens of frames per second, to give the appearance of movement once the frames are spliced together. The Dragon of Time employs one of Roy Wang’s signature motifs, the dragon, which takes viewers on a fantastical journey through the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux.

“With his light-painting, Roy Wang brings an original and exciting dimension to our Made of Makers programme,” says Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “Founded on our deep belief in the convergence of craftsmanship across many disciplines and cultures, Made of Makers celebrates the strong affinity that exists between the artistic world and our Maison. To collaborate with an artist like Roy Wang, who is constantly expanding his artistic vision, allows us to explore uncharted territories where precision, creativity and passion intersect.”

Continuing to expand its cultural universe, Jaeger-LeCoultre announces the latest instalment in its Made of Makers programme: a new collaboration with Brendi Wedinger, a Los Angeles-based multi-media artist recognised for her work in 3D digital arts, sculpture and floristry. 

Expanding the Dialogue Between Watchmaking and the Arts

Through a series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, Made of Makers explores and extends the dialogue that naturally exists between horology and art. The programme focuses on artists who share Jaeger-LeCoultre’s values of creativity, expertise and precision, with nature at its core, exploring new forms of artistic expression through different and often unexpected materials and media. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists and innovators have a deep respect for the past as their creative foundation and a springboard for their trailblazing work. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre further explores the world of contemporary art with an unexpected new collaboration.

A Distinctive Artistic Vision that Unites Nature with Technology

Based in Los Angeles, Brendi Wedinger is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer whose three-dimensional, digital artworks blur the boundary between real life and fantasy. Taking inspiration from nature as her primary theme – with an emphasis on biodiversity, sustainability and renewal, and a particular love of flowers – she combines various elements to form a new and surreal visual reality that is almost tangible, occasionally abstract, often highly sculptural, and always emotionally captivating.

While the virtual world of Brendi Wedinger’s art and the technical tools employed to create it, appear to be the antithesis of the organic world that she portrays, a strong affinity with traditional craftsmanship underpins her creative process. “Rather than using a computer programme to design the work from the outset, I always begin by using the technical tools to hand-sculpt the larger three-dimensional elements, such as the petals of a flower, and hand-draw the fine details. Once I have completed this stage, I use a lot of mathematical equations to create textures, transparency and layering effects,” she explains. “What drew me to the digital medium is that it gives me more tools to play with and a wider scope for experimentation, so that my work becomes a more expressive homage to nature rather than a literal representation of it.”

New 3-D Artworks Inspired by the Flora of the Vallée de Joux

For each Made of Makers collaboration, Jaeger-LeCoultre commissions an original work, inviting the artist to express a theme of interest to the Maison through their particular craft. Given Brendi Wedinger’s deep affinity with the natural world it was self-evident that the theme of the new work would be nature – one of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s core values – and flowers, specifically.

Like all Made of Makers collaborators, before starting work on the commission Brendi Wedinger spent time at Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in the Vallée de Joux, discovering the crafts of watchmaking and exploring the natural world that surrounds the Manufacture. She combined elements from every aspect of the visit to create her new work – a series of three surrealistic flowers.

“Everything about that visit – from the wildflowers in the fields, to the incredible complexity and tiny scale of the watch components and the patience and skill of all the different craftsmen in the Manufacture – was like a romantic fantasy world, so far from the lightning-fast pace of modern life,” says Brendi Wedinger. “Aside from the natural beauty of the valley, I felt very inspired by the high-complication watches and the unique details you find in them. I wanted the flowers to be complex and one-of-a kind, like the watches, with all of the beauty and immense detail that can be found in both.”

Each of the three creations is an idealised homage to a variety of flowers found in the Vallée de Joux throughout the changing seasons, rather than a particular species that exists in nature. “When people look more deeply at each work, they will see that every element is recognisable and traceable to a natural flower, but I remixed and layered the details to emphasise their surreal nature,” Brendi Wedinger explains. Another important element of the commission was that the flowers should be (digitally) rendered in one of the precious metals used at Jaeger-LeCoultre, which creates a hyper-realistic illusion of the shadows and reflections created by light falling on polished gold, further amplifying the surreal effect. In creating this work, the artist has deliberately played with contrasting notions – the opposition between the organic softness of nature and the cold solidity of metal, the digital and the physical, the ephemeral and the static – adding subtle layers of tension and intrigue that heighten the emotional impact of each piece.

From Nature to Art…and Back to Nature

In a play on botanical tradition, the flowers have each been given official Latin names with formal English counterparts. Linking them back to the Maison’s history, Jaeger-LeCoultre has added an official name to each flower, which pays tribute to the Reverso’s year of origin. Thus, elements of poppy, alpine pasque and grass of parnassus have been combined to create Flos Montis Fluit (Flower of the Mountain Flows), known as the 1931 Golden Poppy. Poet's daffodil, red hemp nettle and late spider orchid are blended to create Gemma Vallis (The Jewel of the Vallee), known as the 1931 Golden Orchid. For the third flower, water mint, scabious and fringed pink have been combined to create Rhapsodia Petalorum Alpinorum (The Rhapsody of Alpine Petals), known as the 1931 Golden Thistle.

Further blurring the lines between the real and surreal, Jaeger-LeCoultre commissioned a French plant breeder to identify a flower that closely resembles the form of the 1931 Golden Orchid and to breed a hybrid exclusively for the Maison. Named the 1931 White Orchid, it is a natural and physical representation of Brendi Wedinger’s art piece. The flowers – in both their physical and virtual forms – will become part of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s visual identity and seen in a wide variety of initiatives in the future.

MADE OF MAKERS PROGRAMME TO CELEBRATE THE DESIGN OF REVERSO

Continuing to expand its cultural universe, Jaeger-LeCoultre announces the latest instalment in its Made of Makers programme: a new collaboration with the ground-breaking British musician TØKIO M¥ERS.

Expanding the Dialogue Between Watchmaking and the Arts

Through a series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, Made of Makers explores and extends the dialogue that naturally exists between horology and art. The programme focuses on artists who share Jaeger-LeCoultre’s values of creativity, expertise and precision, with nature at its core, exploring new forms of artistic expression through different and often unexpected materials and media. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists and innovators have a deep respect for the past as their creative foundation and a springboard for their trailblazing work. To date, Made of Makers has embraced the worlds of contemporary art and gastronomy and, through the new collaboration with TØKIO M¥ERS, adds music to the portfolio.

A Rising International Star with a Unique Style

A pianist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and producer, TØKIO M¥ERS has become celebrated for his experimental approach to classical music. An artist of immense range and dynamic power, his highly original approach to creating and performing music has established him as one of the most exciting artists to emerge in recent years. A musical alchemist, TØKIO M¥ERS fuses the classics with cinematic, hip-hop, dance, ‘90s soul and other influences to create his own inimitable sound and shatter the boundaries between genres.

His approach to his work has close parallels with that of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s watchmakers: using tradition as his creative foundation, he harnesses the craft and discipline of his classical music training in order to take it in new directions. As with watchmaking at La Grande Maison, TØKIO M¥ERS’ work is highly sophisticated, and anchored in deep technical complexity. He designs and produces his own live performances, capturing the visual potential of music and pushing it to new limits with lighting and pyrotechnics. Visually spectacular and emotionally absorbing, his work is redefining what classical music can be.

“Music has never been static; it's in constant evolution,” says TØKIO M¥ERS. “For me, it starts with mastery of the basics, then breaking free from the norms and composing my own story – constantly searching for the balance between the voices of the past and my own. Composing for Jaeger-LeCoultre was so natural for me because we're looking for the same thing; there's a common goal: to reinvent the classic and find what is universal and timeless.”

A New Composition inspired by the Spirit of the Manufacture

Under the aegis of Made of Makers, Jaeger-LeCoultre has commissioned TØKIO M¥ERS to compose a soundtrack exclusively for the Maison’s Golden Ratio Musical Show. The spectacular 10-minute sound-and-light show – projected onto a giant screen of falling water – tells the story of the Golden Ratio in four chapters, from its presence in nature, to the scientific examination of its mystical properties; and from its ubiquity in timeless architecture and art to its impact on contemporary design. TØKIO M¥ERS says that he wrote his new piece “with the explicit intention of amplifying the emotional impact of the digital projection” and describes the work as “a short symphony in four chapters, or movements, that takes the listener on a powerful journey”.

Like all Made of Makers artists, TØKIO M¥ERS has visited the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux, absorbing the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape, and spending time with the watchmakers and artisans. “Being in Le Sentier, seeing first-hand how Jaeger-LeCoultre operates, experiencing the atmosphere in the Manufacture, seeing all the skills, hearing all of the different sounds, enjoying the calm surroundings of the Vallée de Joux – that gave me a lot of inspiration to draw on,” he says. “And the Golden Ratio theme gave me the idea of translating that mathematical formula of 1.618 [Phi] into a tempo of 161.8 beats per minute.”

A Shanghai Debut followed by a World Tour

TØKIO M¥ERS will give the first performance of his new composition at a private event hosted by Jaeger-LeCoultre during the Shanghai International Film Festival on June 9. The show will then travel to Los Angeles on June 22, London in September, followed by Dubai at the end of the year.

Conceived by Jaeger-LeCoultre as part of its wider mission to bring inspiring and original experiences of the world of watchmaking to audiences around the world, The Golden Ratio Musical Show is an opportunity to discover the story of the Reverso in entirely new ways. The show will be staged in the 1931 Cinema, a specially designed setting inspired by the world’s first Drive-In Cinema, which – like the Reverso – was created at the height of the Art Deco period. The 1931 Cinema follows the creation two years ago of the 1931 Café, which is a feature of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s major events and exhibitions around the world.

MADE OF MAKERS PROGRAMME TO CELEBRATE THE DESIGN OF REVERSO

Continuing to expand its cultural universe, Jaeger-LeCoultre announces the latest instalment in its Made of Makers programme: a new collaboration with the Korean digital media artist Yiyun Kang.

Expanding the Dialogue Between Watchmaking and the Arts

Through a series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, Made of Makers explores and extends the dialogue that naturally exists between horology and art. The programme focuses on artists who share Jaeger-LeCoultre’s values of creativity, expertise and precision, with nature at its core, exploring new forms of artistic expression through different and often unexpected materials and media. Like the watchmakers of La Grande Maison, these artists and innovators have a deep respect for the past as their creative foundation and a springboard for their trailblazing work. In 2023, Jaeger-LeCoultre further explores the world of contemporary art with an unexpected new collaboration.

A Unique Artistic Vision Expressed Through Exceptional Technological Skill

Recognised for her immersive audio-visual installations that recast space with moving image and sound, Yiyun Kang is one of the most active and talented Korean digital media artists in today’s international art scene, as well as a highly respected teacher and researcher.

In both her art practice and her research, Yiyun Kang is exploring the intersection of art, technology, and experience to investigate what she describes as “the in-between – between the finite and infinite, reality and unreality, surface and depth, absence and presence”. Valuing art as a medium for communication, she invites us, through her work, to contemplate where the boundaries are and what those boundaries mean – for humanity and the important questions that we face in today’s world.

Through the relatively new art form of projection-mapping, Yiyun Kang’s works play with the symbiotic relationship between moving images, narrative, and space beyond the conventional screen. From relatively small-scale works created for indoor environments to very large site-specific works created for public outdoor spaces, these immersive environments involve the viewers as participants, taking them into another dimension; the effect is awe-inspiring, and occasionally disconcerting as the sense of space, dimension and time is dissolved and re-formed. Fractal geometries move and flow in a way that seems almost organic, lending a grace and fluidity to each work that makes it seem effortlessly natural. However, as with watchmaking, the beauty of the work is underpinned by intellectual rigour, complex mathematical calculations and extreme precision.

A 3D-Video Sculpture Inspired by The Golden Ratio

For each Made of Makers collaboration, Jaeger-LeCoultre commissions an original work, inviting the artist to express a theme of interest to the Maison in a new way, through their particular craft. To better understand what the 2023 theme of the Golden Ratio means to Jaeger-LeCoultre, Yiyun Kang spent time at the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux, gaining a deeper understanding of the Maison’s home, its values and the process of watchmaking.

“It was fascinating to see how the Reverso was made at the Manufacture. As an artist who works at the intersection of creativity and technology, I found it very interesting that the original design of Reverso was driven instinctively by the Golden Ratio, and I sought out scientific research that could explain why humanity has been drawn to the concept for so many centuries,” says the artist. “Jaeger-LeCoultre inspired me to explore, to draw a continuous line from the natural world into my digital space.”

This became the starting point for the newly commissioned work, titled Origin. Presented in a very large three-dimensional screen that has been purpose-built for installation in public spaces, Origin is a tribute to the ubiquity of the Golden ratio in the world around us. Through its narrative, it builds a parallel between the symmetry in nature and the geometry of Art Deco design.

“There are astounding examples from nature that literally represent the Phi number, the Golden Ratio, in their organisms,” Yiyun Kang observes. “Perhaps we are attracted to it because it identifies the origin of life – not just an aesthetic pattern, but an anchor for evolution. Seen in this light, the meaning of Golden Ratio becomes even more significant for us now that we are living in an Anthropocene age.”

A Seoul Debut Followed by a World Tour

Origin will make its debut in Seoul in June, before being presented at a series of Jaeger-LeCoultre events in key cities around the world, such as Chengdu, Singapore, New York and Zurich.

In 2023 Jaeger-LeCoultre enriches this year’s Golden Ratio theme through a continued collaboration with the Parisian artist-pastry chef Nina Métayer under its Made of Makers programme.

Expanding the dialogue that has long existed between horology, artisanship and art, Made of Makers is a programme of collaborations with artists and artisans from various disciplines outside watchmaking. It focuses on passionate and experienced creators who share Jaeger-LeCoultre’s values of creativity, expertise, precision and the perpetuation of excellence, and whose work explores new forms of expression through different and often unexpected materials and media. To date, the Made of Makers community has embraced the worlds of contemporary art and gastronomy – with alumni including artists Zimoun, Michael Murphy and Guillaume Marmin, lettering artist Alex Trochut, pastry chef Nina Métayer and mixologist Matthias Giroud.

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s collaboration with Nina Métayer began in 2021 with the inauguration of the 1931 Café, for which the celebrated pâtissière created a special menu of pastries inspired by the Art Deco. Named Pastry Chef of the Year three times before she turned 30, Nina is renowned for the visual appeal of her pastries as well as her singular talent for blending evocative flavours in new and often unexpected ways.

“We are delighted to continue our collaboration with Nina Métayer under our Made of Makers programme,” says Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “Between the artistic world and our Maison, there is an organic bond in the exploration of creativity and the respect for craft, and working with a passionate and experienced artisan like Nina enables us to express our Maison’s values in new ways that generate emotions, cultivate curiosity and explore the symbiotic relationship that exists between horology and art.”

For her new pastries, which will be offered to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s guests at Watches and Wonders 2023 and served in the 1931 Café around the world during the coming year, Nina Métayer interprets the  harmony of the Golden Ratio in a fresh and contemporary way, through proportions, shape, symmetry and colour – a tribute to the ‘divine proportion’ that defines the design of the first Reverso that was born in 1931. With their eye-catching forms and evocative names – Spirale de Noisette, Ellipse de Sapin, Étoile de Cassis and Carré au Miel de Forêt – each creation is infused with ingredients from the Vallée de Joux. The flavours and scent of hazelnuts, honey, pine, chestnuts and blackcurrants subtly evoke the natural harmony and beauty that surround Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in the Swiss Jura mountains.

“Harmony in everything is, and has always been, a blend of mathematics and poetry. It’s a balance to which nature has long held the secrets – and a deep belief that Jaeger-LeCoultre and I share and apply to our work. This is the approach that I took when creating my four new pastries that pay homage to the Golden Ratio,” says Nina. “The creative spirit also understands that aesthetics has an impact on what we feel – so the visual forms of my pastries influence the perception of flavour: it’s the promise of unleashing poetry from the first bite.”

Staged in a spectacular pavilion ‘floating’ on the waters of the Dubai Fountain, with Burj Khalifa as its backdrop, The Stellar Odyssey leads visitors on a journey through time and space, celebrating the relationship between astronomical phenomena and the measurement of time. Dubai was chosen as the first stop on a tour of major world cities, which will continue throughout 2023 and beyond.

“The Stellar Odyssey is a deeply immersive experience, inviting you to explore the wonders that we can observe in our night sky and their symbiotic relationship with the art of watchmaking,” said Catherine Rénier. “Because the ancient cultures of the Middle East played a seminal role in the origins of time measurement, we are truly honoured to begin the world tour of this exhibition here in Dubai.”

Showcasing a careful curated selection of the Manufacture’s most remarkable historic timepieces as well as its most recent celestially-inspired timepieces, the exhibition features multi-media installations that will take visitors on a virtual journey to the cosmos. It translates the wonders of the celestial world into art installations and multi-sensory experiences, while the Atelier d’Antoine, named after the Maison’s founder, Antoine LeCoultre, shares watchmaking know-how through hands-on educational workshops based on the Stellar Odyssey theme.

In the heart of the main pavilion beneath a geodesic dome, an immersive digital show takes visitors on a virtual journey through space and time, transporting them through infinite space and 13.7 billion years of time to reveal the mysteries of the cosmos in five episodes – from the origins of our known universe to the present day.

Among the highlights of The Stellar Odyssey is also a new art installation, Passengers: Through Time by the French visual artist, Guillaume Marmin, which makes its world debut in Dubai. Specially commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre, its endless reflections and astonishing perspectives invite visitors to reflect on the fundamental question of what time really is.

“Jaeger-LeCoultre’s celestial theme resonates very strongly with me because, working with light and sound, we are at the crossroads of scientific, artistic, philosophical, even mystical questions,” said the artist. “I also have a strong desire to take art out of the galleries and to invest the public space, so it’s a great privilege to invite a wider public to experience my art as part of The Stellar Odyssey.”

To enrich the Stellar Odyssey experience, Jaeger-LeCoultre asked world-renowned mixologist Matthias Giroud to create a special menu of soft cocktails. Regarded as an alchemist-artist in his field, Matthias has combined celestial inspiration with intriguing flavours from Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in Switzerland’s Vallée de Joux. Enjoyed by guests during the opening event, these exceptional mocktails will also be offered to visitors during the 20 days of the exhibition.

Both artists, who flew to Dubai for the opening event, are collaborating with Jaeger-LeCoultre under the aegis of its Made of Makers programme – an ongoing series of collaborations with artists, designers and craftsmen from disciplines outside watchmaking, which explores and extends the dialogue that exists between horology and art.

The Stellar Odyssey exhibition will be open from February 4^th to 23^rd, from 2:00pm to 12:00am on weekdays, and from 2:00pm to 1:00am on weekends, at the Dubai Fountains (Dubai Mall Cinema Parking, lower ground entrance near Bateel) Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

The exhibition is open to the public with free admission, but booking is recommended at https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/us-en/news/events/the-stellar-odyssey-exhibition

Enriching the dialogue that has long existed between horology, artisanship and art, Made of Makers is a profound expression of the core principles that have defined Jaeger-LeCoultre for 190 years: creativity, expertise and precision. With intense respect for the person in the process – the creativity of the mind and the skill of the hand – the programme focuses on world-class creators from outside the world of watchmaking, who share the Maison’s values and whose work explores new forms of expression through different and often unexpected materials and media.

“Through Made of Makers we are looking for different perspectives on how the practices of watchmaking, art and other creative disciplines can bring value to lived experiences,” says Catherine Rénier, CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “We seek out artists from disciplines as diverse as gastronomy, music and digital art, who harness great imagination to meticulous artistic processes, creating works that expand our minds, challenge our senses and trigger strong emotions.”

Guillaume Marmin employs light, sound and movement in complex and evocative relationships that redefine traditional ideas of sculpture, space and time. His work evokes the beauty of the imperceptible and the laws of physics, creating a new world of images and narrations, transporting the viewer to another place and inviting contemplation and introspection. Its deepest fascination lies in this almost transcendental effect on the viewer.

“I try to carry out an approach that is both conceptual and technical at the same time,” says the artist. “I am always looking for new tools to experiment with, and the times we live in are particularly conducive to this. When we work around light, we are at the crossroads of scientific, artistic, philosophical, even mystical questions. To a certain extent, I think my work is a continuation of the research begun by artists like Victor Vasarely or François Morellet since the 1950s. I also have a strong desire to take art out of the galleries, to invest the public space and find new distribution networks.”

While using technologically advanced tools and digital media, Guillaume Marmin’s work is always grounded in expressions of reality. Through subjects such as Earth, architecture, the paradigms of physics and – in this commission for Jaeger-LeCoultre – astronomical phenomena, he illustrates the ambivalence of the present day in its relationship between nature and technology.

 “We are delighted to be working with Guillaume,” says Catherine Rénier, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “The way his work sparks the imagination and creates a sense of awe and wonder captures perfectly the feeling we get when we look at the night sky and contemplate the movements of the stars and planets. In this sense, as well as the elegance and underlying complexity of his systems, we see an exact parallel with watchmaking. As it explores the very meaning of time, Passengers: Through Time is an outstanding expression of our Stellar Odyssey theme.”

Passengers: Through Time

In partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre, Guillaume Marmin created an entirely new chapter for his acclaimed installation, Passengers. This second chapter, Passengers: Through Time, focuses on celestial and astronomical observation, offering its visitors – or passengers – an exploration of the links between time, space and light, as described by the theory of relativity.

“The challenge of this project was to make perceptible the relationship between observation of the sky and the measurement of time,” says Guillaume Marmin “From discussions with astronomers and watchmakers, I imagined an art installation capable of transcribing the links that unite time and space.”

The intense planning phase of Passengers: Through Time included deep consultation between the artist and the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, which enabled him to identify and model the relationship between time and the cosmos in the light of contemporary knowledge. By employing generative programming to transcribe the data he collected, he has created an immersive and inspiring environment that enables us to momentarily approach the beauty of the unseen and the mathematical foundation of reality.

Through a kinetic device contained within a walk-through capsule and made up of visual and sound movements, infinite reflections and dizzying perspectives, the installation takes visitors (passengers) on a stellar excursion in which they are the protagonists. In the passengers’ minds, this complex and evocative interplay of light, sound and movement captures the vastness of the cosmos, inviting reflection on the fundamental question of what time really is.

Over the years, Jaeger-LeCoultre has been expanding its creative and cultural universe through a series of art commissions, as well as collaborations with world-class practitioners of crafts from outside the world of watchmaking, thus enlarging the dialogue that exists between horology and art. In keeping with La Grande Maison’s great legacy of innovation in watchmaking, these collaborations focus on artists whose work explores unexpected forms of expression.

In his work, Guillaume Marmin employs light, sound and movement in complex and evocative relationships that redefine traditional ideas of sculpture, space and time. It evokes the beauty of the imperceptible and the laws of physics, mingling sound and light to create a new world of images and narrations, and transporting the viewer to another plane, raising profound questions and inviting contemplation and introspection. Its deepest fascination lies in this almost transcendental effect on the viewer.

 As the artist has said of his work: “I try to carry out an approach that is both conceptual and technical at the same time. I am always looking for new tools to experiment with, the times we live in are particularly conducive to this. When we work around light, we are always at the crossroads of scientific, artistic but also philosophical, even mystical questions. To a certain extent, I think my work is a continuation of the research begun by artists like Victor Vasarely or François Morellet since the 1950s. With contemporary tools, I am interested in abstract forms, movement or still in the light. There is also this same desire to take the works out of the galleries, to invest the public space and to find new distribution networks.”

While using technologically advanced tools and digital media, Guillaume Marmin’s work is always grounded in expressions of reality. Through subjects such as Earth, architecture, the paradigms of physics – and in this new commission for Jaeger-LeCoultre, astronomical phenomena – he illustrates the ambivalence of the present day in its relationship between nature and technology.

 “We are delighted to be working with Guillaume,” says Catherine Rénier, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “The way his work sparks the imagination and creates a sense of awe and wonder captures perfectly the feeling we get when we look at the night sky and contemplate the movements of the stars and planets. In this sense, as well as the elegance and underlying complexity of his systems, we see an exact parallel with watchmaking. As it explores the very meaning of time, Passengers: Through Time is an outstanding expression of our Stellar Odyssey theme this year.”

Passengers: Through Time

In partnership with Jaeger-LeCoultre, Guillaume Marmin has created an entirely new chapter for his acclaimed installation, Passengers. This second chapter, Passengers: Through Time, focuses on celestial and astronomical observation, offering its visitors – or ‘passengers’ – an exploration of the links between time, space and light, as described by the theory of relativity.

“The challenge of this project is to make perceptible the relationship between the observation of the sky and the measurement of time,” says Guillaume Marmin “From exchanges with astronomers and watchmakers, I imagined an art installation capable of transcribing the links that unite time and space. Its visual and sound content is constantly renewed thanks to a program established according to the geographical coordinates of each exhibition venue, the solar and lunar calendars, and the timetables. Through a kinetic device composed of games of reflections, the installation can be perceived as a spatio-temporal excursion in which we would be the protagonists. »

The intense planning phase of Passengers: Through Time included a deep consultation between the artist and the Institute of Planetology and Astrophysics of Grenoble, which enabled him to identify and model the relationship between time and the cosmos in the light of contemporary knowledge. Employing generative programming to transcribe the data he collected during this phase, he has created an immersive and inspiring environment that enables us to momentarily approach the beauty of the unseen and the mathematical foundation of reality.

Through a kinetic device contained within a walk-through capsule and made up of visual and sound movements, infinite reflections and dizzying perspectives, the installation takes visitors on a stellar excursion in which they are the protagonists. In the passengers’ minds, this complex and evocative interplay of light, sound and movement captures the vastness of the cosmos, inviting reflection on the fundamental question of what time really is.

As Passengers: Through Time will travel to various global destinations as an integral part of the Stellar Odyssey Exhibition, its content will be perpetually modified in alignment with the solar calendar and the geographical coordinates of each exhibition site, thus expressing celestial phenomena in real time and place.

ABOUT GUILLAUME MARMIN

Born in France, Guillaume Marmin trained at the University of Lyon II, then specialised in in film, audio-visual media and digital media at ARFIS École. His work, connected from the beginning to the music scene and performing arts, is part of a revival of visual creation by overcoming traditional forms of storytelling and traditional performing media. Influenced by experimental filmmakers, Guillaume Marmin is looking for a new synaesthetic alphabet, a shared language between images and sounds, rhythms, contrast and sleek moving figures.

To develop this new language, Marmin’s work includes mapping on 3D sculptures and buildings, projection on photography and screen printing, bodies in motion and smoke. His immersive works in public spaces involve collaborations between architects, musicians and lighting designers, and give body to the intangible, making us momentarily approach the beauty of the unseen and the mathematical foundation of reality. Despite the use of technologically advanced tools and the intervention of digital media, Guillaume Marmin’s work is always grounded in expressions of reality. Whether his subject is Earth (Around the Island), climatic phenomena (Après-nous le Déluge), architecture (Raster) or the history of paradigms in physics (Timée), he illustrates the ambivalence of the present day in its relationship between nature and technology.

ABOUT THE STELLAR ODYSSEY

In 2022 Jaeger-LeCoultre pays homage to the astronomical phenomena that lie at the very origin of how mankind measures time. Since the earliest days of the Manufacture, astronomical functions have played a major role in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s portfolio of complicated timepieces ­– ranging from simple forms of moon phase display to highly complex perpetual calendars, equation of time, sky charts, and the draconic and anomalistic lunar cycles. Mastering all three measures of time – solar, lunar and sidereal – the watchmakers of La Grande Maison have perpetually innovated to create the most advanced and precise mechanisms that represent or even predict celestial phenomena. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre embarks on a Stellar Odyssey with an immersive exhibition and a series of themed events that will embrace inspirational collaborations with a visual artist and a mixologist, and a fascinating programme of celestially-themed Discovery Workshops at Atelier d’Antoine. The Stellar Odyssey is an invitation to discover how the mysteries of the cosmos are translated into micro-mechanical wonders for the wrist.

jaeger-lecoultre.com

Paying homage to the celestial origins of timekeeping, Matthias has drawn inspiration from the wonders of the night sky, the intricacies of astronomical watchmaking and the natural bounty of the Vallée de Joux, to create a menu of soft cocktails that Jaeger-LeCoultre will offer to guests throughout the year.

For Jaeger-LeCoultre, Matthias is a natural choice of partner due to their shared spirit of inventiveness driven by research and experimentation, and their similar approach to their crafts – where a successful outcome requires an adroit balance of technical expertise, artistic flair and rigorous attention to detail. Based in Paris and renowned for his avant-garde approach, Matthias is a leader among the new generation of mixologists, blending the skills of chef de cuisine, perfumer and visual artist; with exceptional imagination and great finesse, he elevates mixology to an art form that at times seems close to alchemy. Working with temperature, texture, colour and form, as well as scents and flavours, he masters the art of layering to bring out subtle nuances and create perfect, often unexpected, and sometimes provocative harmonies. These remarkable compositions go far beyond the exceptional flavours, capturing and teasing many senses at once – sight, touch, smell, and particularly taste.

To begin the new collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre, Matthias spent time at the home of the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux, absorbing the unique universe of savoir-faire and natural beauty. Wandering through the fields and forests he explored the local scents and flavours, and within the Manufacture he discovered the intricacy and beauty of celestial watchmaking.

From this starting-point, given creative carte blanche by Jaeger-LeCoultre, he has crafted eight exceptional soft cocktails, with evocative names such as Moon Elixir, Sun Infinity, Valley of Wonders and Earth Attraction. Delicious and intriguing, these highly original concoctions blend familiar ingredients with various herbs and fruit that grow wild in the valley, including unexpected flavours such as meadowsweet, gentian root, juniper berries, pine buds and sweet woodruff – as well as local elderflowers, cranberries and honey. For these visually captivating and highly imaginative creations, Matthias took inspiration from the colours, temperatures and forms of the heavenly bodies, adding final decorative flourishes inspired by the artistic crafts that he encountered in the Métiers Rares atelier of the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre.

“My time in the Vallée de Joux was truly inspiring,” says Matthias. “At the Manufacture I discovered watches that I never imagined possible – like microcosms of the universe. Seeing the planets and stars captured on such a tiny scale and designed with such artistry was thrilling. Then, discovering those amazing plants and herbs out in the wild, I couldn’t wait to get back to my laboratory and start working on these special creations.”

Jaeger-LeCoultre will unveil Matthias Giroud’s stellar creations at Watches & Wonders in Geneva in March, within a specially designed space called the Stellar Atelier – named as a reminder of the exceptional level of craftsmanship embodied in these splendid concoctions. After the unveiling in Geneva, Jaeger-LeCoultre will offer the same sublime tasting experience to its guests around the world – evoking the splendour of our universe and taking them on a sensory journey to the Vallée de Joux.

ABOUT MATTHIAS GIROUD

A mixologist of worldwide renown, Matthias Giroud was born in the French West Indies and started his career in 1997, aged 18, at the famous Bar Fly, Paris. In 2008 he was appointed worldwide executive bar chef development for Buddha Bar Group and, in 2009, became the first French executive bar chef to be named within the World’s 50 Best Bars ranking with Buddha Bar Paris. Co-author of the cocktail dictionary “La Petite Bibliothèque des Cocktails” by Larousse, he participated in the World Cuisine Summit in 2015 and 2019, alongside some of the world’s greatest chefs and in 2016 contributed his talent to Mistura Qaray, South America’s largest culinary event. Today, Matthias Giroud, together with his partner, runs the workshop L’Alchimiste, in Boulogne-Billancourt, Paris, dedicated to creating unique mixology and gastronomy experiences.

ABOUT THE STELLAR ODYSSEY

In 2022 Jaeger-LeCoultre pays homage to the astronomical phenomena that lie at the very origin of how mankind measures time. Since the earliest days of the Manufacture, astronomical functions have played a major role in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s portfolio of complicated timepieces ­– ranging from simple forms of moon phase display to highly complex perpetual calendars, equation of time, sky charts, and the draconic and anomalistic lunar cycles. Mastering all three measures of time – solar, lunar and sidereal – the watchmakers of La Grande Maison have perpetually innovated to create the most advanced and precise mechanisms that represent or even predict celestial phenomena. This year, Jaeger-LeCoultre embarks on a Stellar Odyssey with an immersive exhibition and a series of themed events that will embrace inspirational collaborations with a visual artist and a mixologist, and a fascinating programme of celestially-themed Discovery Workshops at Atelier d’Antoine. The Stellar Odyssey is an invitation to discover how the mysteries of the cosmos are translated into micro-mechanical wonders for the wrist.

Displayed over five floors, the "Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931" exhibition explores the creative and cultural universe of one of the world's most recognisable and celebrated wristwatches. The exhibition continues with a retrospective featuring the history of the Reverso told through four themes, from its origins to the present day. A highlight of this exhibition is the 1931 Café, an elegant setting designed in homage to Art Deco, which offers a special menu of sweets and cakes created by the Parisian pastry chef Nina Métayer.

Among the guests, acclaimed British actor and long-term Friend of the Maison Nicholas Hoult learned more about the iconic Reverso timepiece while wearing the Reverso Tribute Small Seconds in green. Nicholas Hoult can most recently be seen in the critically-acclaimed, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Emmy nominated Hulu series, THE GREAT. The new season is set to premiere on Friday, 19^th November for which he also serves as an Executive Producer.

American artist Michael Murphy sported the Reverso Tribute Nonantième, the timepiece chosen to be represented through SPACETIME, an art installation created by him for Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Actress Fala Chen and French actress Camille Razat also discovered the history of a watch of exceptional design and a destiny spanning nine decades.

The "Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931" exhibition and the 1931 Café will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 21^st October to 24^th December 2021 at 15 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Entry to the exhibition is free to the public.

Reservations are recommended and can be made on www.exposition-reverso.com

Audio guides are available for the exhibition. 

“We invite you to join us on a journey – one that began in 1931. Born at the height of the Art Deco era, the Reverso watch has become a cult object over time, a symbol of style and elegance. May this be an unforgettable journey of discovery for you," said Catherine Rénier in an opening speech that immediately set the tone. It is an invitation to travel through a world of Art Deco style, Parisian chic and the French art of living.

A highlight of this exhibition is Café 1931, an elegant setting designed in homage to Art Deco, which offers a special menu of sweets and cakes created by the Parisian pastry chef Nina Métayer – who was also present at the inauguration.

Actor, film director, Nicolas Maury, actor Djebril Zonga, as well as artist Inès Mélia, were also among the well-known figures present, who enjoyed discovering the history of a watch of exceptional design and a destiny spanning nine decades.

Displayed over five floors, the "Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931" exhibition explores the creative and cultural universe of one of the world’s most recognisable and celebrated wristwatches. An immersive and sensory experience, it begins with an art installation specially commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre from the American artist Michael Murphy.

The exhibition continues with a retrospective featuring the history of the Reverso told through four themes, from its origins to the present day. Guests were able to admire an amazing selection of Reverso models that have left their mark on history and that continue to keep alive the legend of this piece that has become a benchmark in design.

The "Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931" exhibition and the 1931 Café will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 21^st October to 24^th December 2021 at 15 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8th arrondissement of Paris.

Entry to the exhibition is free to the public.

Reservations are recommended and can be made on www.exposition-reverso.com

Audio guides are available for the exhibition. 

A unique and timeless expression of the Art Deco movement, the legend of the Reverso began on the polo fields of India, where the idea of a case that could be flipped over was born. With its revolutionary design and immaculate craftsmanship, the Reverso was immediately embraced by trendsetters from all walks of life, quickly transcending its original purpose. Deftly combining form and function, it is one of the most recognisable watches in the world.

The “Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931” exhibition is an opportunity to explore the cultural and creative universe of this design icon, through an immersive sensory experience that embraces a pop-up boutique, a fascinating retrospective, an Art Deco café and a hands-on workshop. Featuring a specially commissioned art installation by the American artist Michael Murphy, and a selection of famous Reverso watches, from the earliest time-only models to the new Reverso Hybris Mechanica Calibre 185, this original concept tells the story of Reverso through four key themes.

The Reverso, in four chapters – and a new art commission

The journey begins with the Story of an Icon, retelling the tale of the Reverso’s origins through rarely seen archive materials and heritage documents from the Jaeger-LeCoultre collection, as well as a selection of milestone Reverso watches, from the first 1931 model to the latest Reverso Tribute piece. A specially commissioned film transports the viewer inside the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, tracing each step in the creation of a Reverso through the words of the artisans and watchmakers themselves.

The Story of Style & Design looks at the Reverso watch from an aesthetic perspective. A quintessential example of Art Deco design, the rectangular shape of the reversible case is accentuated by clean lines and elegant curves; its dimensions determined by the rules of the golden ratio. To illustrate the stylistic evolution of the Reverso, examples for men and women are presented, each embodying its distinctive style in bold and often unexpected ways.

A Story of Innovation highlights the insatiable spirit of invention that characterises the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture. The Reverso was the result of a brilliant idea that took shape in the hands of French engineer René-Alfred Chauvot, whose design was submitted to the Paris patent office on 4 March 1931. Since the 1990s, the legendary Art Deco watch has welcomed emblematic complications, including the first rectangular minute repeater, the retrograde chronograph and the Gyrotourbillon, as well as the double-dial Duoface and Duetto models. Enhanced over the years by new materials and numerous interpretations, this technical creativity has culminated in the extraordinary four-face Reverso Quadriptyque in 2021.

The Story of Craftsmanship pays tribute to the engravers, gem-setters, enamellers and guillochage masters of the Manufacture, revealing how they have unleashed the full potential of the Reverso as a canvas for artistic expression and personalised messages. From historic timepieces, such as those belonging to Amelia Earhart and General Douglas MacArthur, to modern-day High Jewellery and miniature-painted models, these pieces provide special insight into how the Reverso has itself been telling the stories of its owners, and will continue to do so for many years to come.

A special highlight of the exhibition, the Spacetime art installation makes its European debut in Paris. Commissioned by Jaeger-LeCoultre from the American artist Michael Murphy to coincide with the 90th year of Reverso, it transports visitors through the three physical dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time. Viewing the installation is a bewitching and multifaceted experience that, in the words of the artist: “explodes into myriad elements that tell the story of the Reverso Tribute Nonantième and its inner workings”.

The 1931 Café

Before or after the exhibition, visitors can enjoy a delicious break at the 1931 Café, an elegant and welcoming Art Deco setting. The elegant black and white décor, reminiscent of the 1930s, is a feast for the eyes, while a special menu created by the young Parisian pastry chef Nina Métayer will delight the taste buds. Designed to evoke the aesthetic codes of Art Deco, these exceptional sweet treats are an invitation to travel through the aromas and flavours of the Vallée de Joux: mountain berries, nuts, honey, herbs and chocolate.

The Atelier d’Antoine

To complete the exhibition, the Atelier d’Antoine – named after the Manufacture’s founder – has been specially relocated to Paris, giving visitors the opportunity to enjoy a unique, hands-on adventure with the Reverso. Together with a watchmaker and instructor, this workshop combines interactive theoretical learning with practical training.

The “Reverso: Timeless Stories Since 1931” exhibition and the 1931 Café will be open Tuesday to Saturday from 21 October to 24 December at 15 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré in the 8^th arrondissement of Paris. The exhibition is free to the public, but booking is recommended at www.exposition-reverso.com

Audio guides are available for the exhibition. 

The Atelier d’Antoine workshops can be accessed for a fee (pre-reservation at www.exposition-reverso.com or with the following QR code)

An Homage to Art Deco

Born in the 1920s, Art Deco style was distinguished by a streamlined geometry that rejected traditional ornamentation and perfectly captured the spirit of modernity and progress that defined its time. Created in 1931 and infused with this same spirit, the Reverso was a radical departure from the norms of traditional watch design. Its ingenious functionality and highly distinctive aesthetic epitomised the progressive values that had transformed every area of design, from architecture, automobiles and graphic art, to furniture, films and fashion.

As a quintessential expression of Art Deco style, 1931 Café will evoke the elegant interior of a 1930s ocean liner and the glamour of a film set. Using a black-and-white palette and infused with a warm and flattering light, the design incorporates signature Art Deco materials – chrome, velvet, glass and lacquered wood – and features a marble floor with an inlaid geometric pattern typical of the era. Every detail has been custom-designed, from the frosted-glass chandelier dominating the centre of the room, to the chairs featuring three metal bands that echo the three gadroons on a Reverso case.

A Unique Collaboration with Chef Nina Métayer

Completing the design, a special collection of cakes and pastries has been created by Nina Métayer. Twice named Pastry Chef of the Year, the young Paris-based chef is celebrated for her originality, artistry and exceptional flavours. For 1931 Café, Chef Métayer has designed these sweet treats not only to echo the Art Deco aesthetic of the interior design but also to take guests on a journey to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s home in the Vallée de Joux. By using flavours from the Valley, such as mountain berries, nuts and honey – and, of course, Swiss chocolate – she is inviting guests to experience the world through different flavours, as well as to enjoy pastry that has been elevated to a finely handcrafted art form. Among the pieces created exclusively for 1931 Café are a delightful surprise that alludes to the snowy landscape of the Jura in winter while hiding a burst of summer fruit in its centre, and an elegant, rectangular confection of hazelnuts and chocolate that pays direct tribute to Art Deco style.

“What appealed to me greatly about this collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre was the idea of bringing together two very different expressions of craftsmanship in one project,” says Nina Métayer. “The pastry chef and the watchmaker share the same deep values and our gestures are driven by the same desire: not to create for ourselves but to excel for the pleasure of the recipient.”

From Paris to Shanghai – a Story of Style

The two cities chosen as locations for 1931 Café played significant roles in the story of Art Deco. Paris was its birthplace, with prototypical elements of the new style first appearing in the city’s architecture and applied arts in the 1920s. The defining moment came in 1925, when the French capital hosted the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes. This was the catalyst for the global flowering of a style that remained dominant throughout the 1930s – although the term Art Deco, derived from the exhibition’s name, was coined by art historians only in the late 1960s.

In the history of Shanghai, Art Deco also has a unique place. Blending East and West, the distinctive ‘Chinese Art Deco’ style blossomed during the 1930s, as the city became a social, cultural and economic hub of East Asia. This heritage makes it especially fitting to inaugurate the 1931 Café in Shanghai, offering its residents and visitors the opportunity to experience the aesthetic and cultural world that gave birth to the Reverso design.

Opening from 13th June until 15th August, the 1931 Café will be located at K11, the art and fashion hub in the centre of Shanghai. In the autumn, as 1931 Café, it will be recreated in a new location in the heart of Paris.

The installation, titled Spacetime, further expands the cultural and creative universe of the Manufacture by exploring the relationship between the three physical dimensions of space, and the fourth dimension of time. Following its debut in China at Watches & Wonders Shanghai on April 14^th, Spacetime will be exhibited in key cities around the world over the course of the year.

THE ANAMORPHOSIS

Michael Murphy’s main body of work emphasises perspective: his installations require the viewer to change position in order to fully appreciate them. Fusing classical art-making techniques with digital processes and manual skills, he has invented an entirely new formula for rendering two-dimensional images as suspended, three-dimensional mobiles. These anamorphic installations comprise a multitude of objects hanging at various heights and distances. Depending on the viewer’s line of sight, they appear to change form: from a seemingly random and chaotic jumble of shapes they coalesce into a highly organised and recognisable image. Thus, the viewer experiences a perceptual shift, breaking down the barrier between the art medium itself and the subjective experience.

“We are delighted to be collaborating with Michael Murphy. His artistic installation requires extreme precision, a value that we share at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Our watchmakers throw their heart and soul into every ingenious sketch, every oscillation of the balance wheel, every escapement wheel - always pushing the boundaries of precision." says Catherine Rénier, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre.

For this new work, the Maison has collaborated with an artist whose work is often based on images of instantly recognisable cultural icons. “The Reverso has this iconic graphic identity and that's the type of content that I often work with,” says Michael Murphy.

The timepiece chosen to be represented through Spacetime is the newly released Reverso Tribute Nonantième, which expresses the time in an entirely different manner on each of its faces. The artist immediately saw a parallel between this new Reverso and his anamorphic works, many of which have two distinct sides, showing two entirely different images when viewed from different positions.

“My Reverso design explodes into an array of parts that tell a story about the watch and how it works,” explains Murphy. “I dissected it into all of its working components and composed them in a way that creates two different photographic illusions, one renders the front of the watch and one the reverse.”

The shape of each of the artwork’s 69 components resembles a familiar part of a watch. However, each is photo-printed with different fragments of movement and dial components. These parts appear exactly as in the watch only when they are lined up perfectly, as the viewer walks around the installation.

PARALLELS WITH WATCHMAKING

Beyond the obvious connection to the Reverso, Murphy’s work has many parallels with watchmaking, especially the need for extreme precision. “We create these artworks that are made of a lot of suspended objects that have to line up with one another in three dimensions and we deal with just one millimetre tolerance,” says the artist. “For us, working on a piece more than 12 feet [3.6m] tall, one millimetre adds a real level of complexity. The precision of watchmaking is something we can really relate to.”

As with the development of a new watch calibre, Murphy’s art requires an intense level of planning. It is a highly complex process involving 75 steps that must be taken in the right sequence, beginning with the mapping of exactly where in the three dimensions each component must be, in order to create an image that the viewer can understand. As in a watch movement, if one tiny element is off, the entire work is off.

“SPACETIME” INSTALLATION

The title of the new work, Spacetime, came naturally to an artist who has always been fascinated by the relationship between space and time. In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of space and the one dimension of time into a single four-dimensional manifold.

“I’ve always thought of my installations as having four dimensions,” Murphy explains. “I create these artworks that are illusions of flat images that float in three dimensional space [with] the length, the width, and the height. And then the experiencing of the piece happens over time. That's the fourth dimension of the work.”

The collaboration with Jaeger-LeCoultre has fulfilled a desire, long held by the artist, to make a time piece – in the literal sense. “Time is an essential component to all of my work – the fourth dimension. But I have always been fascinated by the aesthetic of internal watch parts and their precision and have always wanted to make a time piece – a piece that is about time.”

For the viewer, Michael Murphy’s Spacetime captures the beauty and precision of time-keeping and time-making in a new and uniquely fascinating way.

Discover the Augmented Reality of the installation

ABOUT MICHAEL MURPHY

Michael Murphy (b. 1975) is an American artist best known for his unique style of art-making, which he calls Perceptual Art. He describes his technique, which emphasises the viewer’s perception, as “illusions of images rendered in three dimensional space”. In his early career, Murphy created commissioned works while teaching art in universities, and since 2013, he has devoted his time exclusively to creating art. Among Murphy’s most notable works are Gun Country and The Immigrant – which invite people to reflect on important social issues – his portraits of Barack Obama, and several works created for Michael Jordan and Nike. The artist lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. His portfolio can be viewed online at perceptualart.com.

ABOUT THE REVERSO

In 1931, Jaeger-LeCoultre launched a timepiece that was destined to become a classic of 20th-century design: the Reverso. Created to withstand the rigours of polo matches, its sleek, Art Deco lines and unique reversible case make it one of the most immediately recognisable watches of all time. Through nine decades the Reverso has continually reinvented itself without ever compromising its identity: it has housed more than 50 different calibres, while its blank metal flip side has become a canvas for creative expression, decorated with enamel, engravings or gemstones. Today, 90 years after the Reverso was born, it continues to epitomise the spirit of modernity that inspired its creation.

In choosing to expand its creative and cultural universe through this art commission, Jaeger-LeCoultre enlarges the dialogue that exists between horology and art. In keeping with The Sound Maker theme, the Maison has chosen to collaborate with an artist whose main body of work examines and celebrates the nature of sound.

In his work, Zimoun employs simple raw materials and repurposed industrial components to create complex and evocative tapestries of sound and movement that redefine traditional ideas of sculpture, space and time. Discussing his approach, the artist explains: “I’m interested in sound as an architectonic element to create space, but also in sound which somehow inhabits a room and interacts with it. I work with three-dimensional sound structures, with spatial experiences and the exploration of sound, material and space – and perception.”

Zimoun deliberately chooses materials that are not necessarily intended just to look attractive, basing his choices on their dynamics, behaviour and resonance properties. In this sense, there are clear parallels with the way the watchmakers of Jaeger-LeCoultre work with metal, and this adds a deeper dimension to the collaboration with Zimoun. “We are delighted to work with Zimoun,” says Catherine Rénier, Chief Executive Officer of Jaeger-LeCoultre. “Like our Manufacture, he transforms raw materials with precision. His expertise and creativity with metal was a perfect fit with our artisans, who are always looking for the ideal balance between technicality and beauty.”

Like the artisans who construct chiming watch movements, Zimoun creates graceful and poetic works that combine simplicity with complexity and playfulness with elegance. In both cases, fascination lies in the immediacy of understanding the sound-making process through visible and concrete elements, while at the same time the complexity of the total system defies attempts to dissect it.

‘The Sound Maker’ Installation

“1944 prepared dc-motors, mdf panels 72 x 72 cm, metal discs Ø 8cm, 2020”

To encourage freedom of interpretation, Zimoun gives his works very technical titles that just describe the materials used – the elements that the viewer sees anyway. The work is based on small dc-motors, fine wires, MDF panels and almost 2,000 very thin metal discs. These discs are, in fact, watchmaking components obtained from the Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre to serve as sound sources. Connected to the motors by wires, the discs rotate against the MDF panels in a similar way to a coin falling to the ground. This friction produces a highly complex sound structure and the movement creates a flickering surface.

The artist explains: “Since all the wires holding the metal discs are bent by hand, each is slightly different, causing the metal discs to rotate at different angles or speeds. This creates a complex individuality that affects both the visual and acoustic properties of the work. The sound becomes very complex and is in constant change in its microstructures. Similar to the sound of a river, which never sounds exactly the same again. Visually, a similar complexity arises…resulting in a kind of flickering, similar to the effect we know from water surfaces.”

In the viewer’s mind, this complex and evocative tapestry of sound and movement can be connected with natural phenomena – the sounds of nature and the reflection of sunlight on water – immersing visitors in the natural soundscape of the valley and evoking the deep connections between the watchmakers of Jaeger-LeCoultre and their surroundings.

ABOUT ZIMOUN

Zimoun (born 1977) is a Swiss self-taught artist best known for his ‘sound sculptures’, sound architectures and installation art. Exploring mechanical rhythm and flow in programmed systems, his emotionally engaging installations incorporate commonplace raw materials and industrial objects, articulating a tension between the orderly patterns of Modernism and the chaotic forces of life. In addition to being recognised by numerous residencies and grants, Zimoun’s work has been presented in exhibitions at prestigious international museums such as the Museum of Contemporary Art MAC Santiago de Chile; Nam June Paik Art Museum Seoul; Kuandu Museum Taipei; Art Museum Reina Sofia Madrid; Ringling Museum of Art Florida; Mumbai City Museum; National Art Museum Beijing; LAC Museum Lugano; Seoul Museum of Art; Museum MIS São Paulo; Muxin Art Museum Wuzhen; Kunsthalle Bern; Taipei Fine Arts Museum; Le Centquatre Paris; Museum of Contemporary Art Busan; Museum of Fine Arts MBAL; Kunstmuseum Bern; Museum Collection Lambert Avignon; among others. The artist lives and works in Bern, Switzerland.

ABOUT THE SOUND MAKER

In 2020, Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates THE SOUND MAKER, paying homage to the sounds of nature that form a backdrop to daily life in the Vallée de Joux, and to its great legacy of chiming timepieces, expressing a century and a half of accumulated expertise in fresh new ways. During the 150 years since the Manufacture developed its first minute repeater in 1870, chiming watches have been a particular forte, with 200 calibres demonstrating its mastery of all forms, from relatively simple alarms to highly complex sonneries and repeaters. In parallel, the Manufacture’s engineers and designers have patented numerous innovations that redefine the benchmark for acoustic quality and beauty.