Key points of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel

• The fifth multi-axis tourbillon from Jaeger-LeCoultre, with a size reduction in the redesigned tourbillon component to create a more wearable watch
• A Westminster carillon minute repeater that replicates the chime of the famed Big Ben clock tower in London, with a silence-reduction mechanism to optimise melody cadence
• Incorporates a one-minute constant-force mechanism to provide consistent energy to the sensitive tourbillon, resulting in a precisely jumping minute hand and a more precise minute repeater mechanism
• A sleek new contemporary aesthetic that pairs traditional haut-de-gamme finishing with modern, wearable watches at the top of the mechanical watchmaking hierarchy

JANUARY 2019 — The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel is the latest generation of multi-axis tourbillon to emerge from Jaeger-LeCoultre, following the 2004 Master Gyrotourbillon 1, the 2008 Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2, the 2013 Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3 Jubilee and the 2016 Reverso Tribute Gyrotourbillon.

Precision tourbillons are a noted speciality of Jaeger-LeCoultre, as proven by the 2009 Concours International de Chronométrie timing competition, in which the top two prizes were awarded to Jaeger-LeCoultre. The strength in creating high-precision tourbillons goes hand-in-hand with the mastery required to engineer the visually spectacular Gyrotourbillon watches. Even with the considerable energy demands of the large multi-axis tourbillon, chronometric performance must not be affected. Reconciling the needs of the Gyrotourbillon with impeccable chronometric requirements is a balancing feat that can only be accomplished with the experience and skill of a 186-year-old watchmaking manufacture.

Further advancing the art of multi-axis tourbillons, the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel features a tourbillon that is significantly smaller than those in the preceding Gyrotourbillon timepieces. As a rule, reducing the size of a mechanism also reduces its error tolerance, which is why successful miniaturisation efforts are so highly valued and complex. In creating a smaller tourbillon, Jaeger-LeCoultre has created a truly wearable Gyrotourbillon, bringing high complication out of the watch safe and onto the wrist for everyday enjoyment.

The Westminster chime is familiar to everyone as the famous melody of the Big Ben clock at the Palace of Westminster in London. Its four-phrase melody is composed of four notes played in different sequences and different quantities at each quarter of the hour. The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel uses four sets of gongs and hammers to create the Westminster chime to indicate the quarters when the minute repeater is activated, incorporating a complex mechanism that places it at the most prestigious tier of chiming watches.

The most beautiful chime can be marred by interruptions and gaps of silence between the strikes. In order to create a chime of unmatched euphony, the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel has a silence-reduction function built into its chiming mechanism. This ensures that even when the full set of Westminster quarters is not struck, there is no time delay corresponding to the missing quarters before the minutes are struck. In every instance of the chime when the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel is activated, the hour strikes, quarter strikes and minute strikes are seamlessly joined.

Precision lies at the heart of the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, with a one-minute constant-force mechanism that provides a consistent level of power for the energy-hungry tourbillon without affecting its chronometric ability. The constant-force mechanism consists of a spring, known classically as a remontoir d’égalité, that is periodically re-armed by the mainspring and acts as a secondary power source to protect the regulating organ of the movement.

In the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, the constant-force mechanism has an additional advantage. It regulates the motion of the minute wheel, creating a jumping minutes hand that offers greater precision in time display. More significantly, the mechanism that controls the minute strike also follows this one-minute jumping system, which completely eliminates the chiming error that can occur when the repeater is activated between minutes, when the chime played and the time shown can be one minute apart.

Besides the multi-axis tourbillon, which highlights the cinematic virtuosity of fine watchmaking at Jaeger-LeCoultre, and the minute repeater, which showcases in-house mastery of the most sophisticated complications, the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel also features the one horological function with the greatest everyday relevance and pragmatic value — the perpetual calendar. As the name suggests, the perpetual calendar is designed to work in perpetuity. It automatically displays the correct date without the need for manual adjustment between months of different lengths. It even takes into account the extra day at the end of February during leap years. The most common configuration of the perpetual calendar mechanism can only be adjusted in one direction, but the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel emphasises the experience and convenience of the user, and its date can be adjusted forwards or backwards without harming the movement. The pointer-style date indication further reinforces the precision aspect of the timepiece, as it jumps over the tourbillon aperture in order to provide the best possible view of the visually stunning rotating escapement.

The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel is the result of 186 years of fine watchmaking expertise and a spirit of innovation that continues to this day. Reflecting the blend of patrimony and modernity is the design of the watch, which emphasises the round profile of the Master Grande Tradition case. A retractable minute repeater pusher, first seen in the Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon, preserves the smooth lines of the case. Hand guillochage, fine hammering (martelage) and grand feu enamel are part of the canon of fine watchmaking finish and have been practiced at Jaeger-LeCoultre throughout its history — most outstandingly in the dazzling Hybris Artistica collection. In the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, however, these finishes are expressed in a subtle and contemporary way, culminating in the openworked dial — produced either in a striking deep-blue grand feu enamel or in a more classic silver-grained version — showcasing the mesmerising multi-axis tourbillon. These age-old techniques are skilfully practised by master artisans from the in-house Metiers Rares atelier of Jaeger-LeCoultre, where haut-de-gamme traditional finish is also applied to the movement by hand.

The Sound of Precision

There are extremely few watchmaking manufactures that possess in-house expertise in sonnerie wristwatches. There are even fewer that have been making them since 1870, accumulating one and a half centuries of experience and savoir-faire. There is only one watchmaking manufacture in the world that has over 200 chiming watch calibers in its historical and modern inventory — La Grande Maison du Sentier.

The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel brings together a panoply of chiming innovations and improvements that were first debuted by Jaeger-LeCoultre, representing the epitome of horological creativity and ingenuity at La Grande Maison.

In the 19^th century, repeater chimes were regulated primarily by an anchor-and-flywheel mechanism, which resulted in a characteristic buzz that can be heard underlying the chime of antique repeaters and some modern watches that still use the old system. Jaeger-LeCoultre patented a new silent strike governer in 1895 that uses friction and centripetal forces to regulate chiming. Today, this mechanism is used in the majority of chiming watches, including the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel.

The minute repeater of the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel also benefits from more recent innovations, such as the patented crystal gongs that first appeared in the Master Minute Repeater Antoine LeCoultre in 2005. These crystal gongs were welded to the dial crystal of the watch, capitalising on the superior sound transmission qualities of synthetic sapphire crystal to produce the loudest and clearest wristwatch chime ever created. Trebuchet hammers, articulated and sprung to deliver strong and quick strikes to the gongs, can be found in the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, as they first appeared in the only other Westminster chime wristwatch of Jaeger-LeCoultre, the 2009 Hybris Mechanica Duomètre à Grande Sonnerie. Gongs with circular cross sections are the norm in minute repeater watches, but the square cross-section gongs seen in the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel are engineered to provide the greatest area of contact with the striking hammers, and have been a mainstay of Jaeger-LeCoultre chiming watches since 2006.

The Whirlwind of Precision

Of utmost importance in any watch movement is the regulating organ, the balance and hairspring assembly that allows a watch to measure time in precise beats. The tourbillon is a chronometric amplifier that can improve the timekeeping performance of a regulator by averaging out its positional errors. The in-house expertise of Jaeger-LeCoultre in tourbillons is unmatched, extending over a range of rotating escapements from the award-winning classic tourbillon calibre 978, the unbridged flying tourbillon, the various multi-axis Gyrotourbillon watches, the inclined-axis Sphérotoubillon and the groundbreaking flying tourbillon with flying balance in the Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon.

Along with this unparalleled variety of tourbillons comes an equally profound understanding of hairspring technology, which Jaeger-LeCoultre has developed with its own in-house tools to form the sophisticated spherical hairsprings used in some of its most evolved tourbillon watches.

The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel takes this exploration of precision to a new level with its constant-force mechanism. With the inclusion of the constant-force spring remontoir, the focus on precision is expanded far beyond the whirling dimensions of the tourbillon and its precision regulation. The Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel constant-force mechanism highlights the precision of power delivery in one-minute cycles, the precision of time display in the jumping minutes hand and the precision of the repeater chime.

Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel

Dimensions: 43 mm

Thickness: 14.08 mm

Calibre: 184 - Manual

Case: White gold

Water resistance: 3 bar

Functions: Hour/Minute, Jumping Date, Two-way perpetual calendar (Day/Date/Month/Year), Gyrotourbillon, Minute repeater with Westminster chime

Power reserve: 52 h

Dial: Blue guilloché enamel or Silver grained

Case Back: Open

Limitation: 18 pieces

Reference: Q52534E1, Q5253420

NICHOLAS HOULT

SIHH 2019

Jaeger-LeCoultre is thrilled to welcome the British actor Nicholas Hoult to SIHH 2019, where he will experience ‘The Art of Precision’.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture Visit

Nicholas will also have the opportunity to visit the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in Le Sentier, in the heart of the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. He will discover the workshops of the Grande Maison, including the Watchmaking Specialties workshop, the Rares Handcrafts (Métiers Rares) and the Atmos workshops, and witness the 180 skills of the master artisans.

Within the Watchmaking Specialties workshop, the place where Complication and High Complication movements are assembled, he will have a chance to talk with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s master-watchmakers about the specific characteristics of assembling the movements driving the High Complication pieces of the Brand, including the SIHH 2019 novelties.

Venice International Film Festival

As an official partner of the Venice International Film Festival, Jaeger-LeCoultre had the pleasure to meet Nicholas in Venice in 2015, and to dress him with a Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece on the red carpet before the screening of EQUALS directed by Drake Doremus.

At the 2018 Venice International Film Festival, Jaeger-LeCoultre dressed Nicholas for the red carpet and screening of THE FAVOURITE, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, with an elegant Master Ultra-Thin Moon.

The film was nominated for the Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy category at the 2019 Golden Globes.

Biography

Nicholas Hoult has become one of Hollywood’s most sought after actors. Known for blockbuster films like the X-MEN franchise as well as for independent projects like A SINGLE MAN. His upcoming projects reflect this agility with appearances in international franchises as well as character-driven dramas.

Hoult will next be seen reprising his role as ‘Hank McCoy/Beast’ in X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX.

He recently starred in the Fox Searchlight Pictures historical drama THE FAVOURITE alongside Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz. The film is a tale of royal intrigue, passion, envy, and betrayal in the court of Queen Anne during the early 18th century England. He also recently wrapped production on the biopic TOLKIEN, playing the titular character opposite Lily Collins.

Last year, Hoult was seen as J.D. Salinger in the Salinger biopic REBEL IN THE RYE, directed by Danny Strong from his own screenplay, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Also premiering at Sundance was the Drake Doremus’s drama NEWNESS, a film set in contemporary Los Angeles about two millennials (Hoult and Courtney Eaton) navigating their relationship in a social media-driven hookup culture.

In 2016 he reprised his role as ‘Hank McCoy’ AKA ‘Beast’ in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, the ninth installment of X-MEN which is directed by Bryan Singer. Previously he appeared in X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST alongside an all-star cast including Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy. He also starred opposite Kristen Stewart in EQUALS, a futuristic love story set in a world where emotions have been eradicated, directed by Drake Doremus.

In 2015 he starred as ‘Nux’ opposite Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy in George Miller’s MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, which received multiple Oscar nominations including “Best Picture.”

DANIEL BRUEHL

Jaeger-LeCoultre is thrilled to welcome the actor and longtime Friend of the Brand Daniel Bruehl to SIHH 2019, where he will discover Jaeger-LeCoultre novelties.

A few years ago, Daniel had the pleasure to visit the Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in the heart of the Vallée de Joux, Switzerland. He was impressed by the savoir-faire of the Grande Maison’s master artisans, especially in the Rares Handcrafts and High Complication workshops.

Jaeger-LeCoultre also welcomed Daniel at their Gala Dinner to celebrate the Art of Filmmaking at the Venice International Film Festival in 2015, 2016 and 2018.

In 2018, Daniel attended the Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris launch event in Zurich, Switzerland. He said “this wonderful watch is inspired by an iconic diving watch from the 50’s-60’s, the Memovox, I love the design of it, that cool 60’s look, love it!”.

Recently, Daniel Bruehl was nominated in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television at the 2019 Golden Globes.

Jaeger-LeCoultre is proud to congratulate Daniel for his second nomination at the Golden Globes and to welcome him in Geneva for the SIHH 2019.

Biography

Award winning actor Daniel Bruehl has been involved in many critically acclaimed film and television projects and has garnered international recognition for his talent and versatility.

Next, Daniel will shoot Kingsman The Great Game, directed by Matthew Vaughn and starring Ralph Fiennes, Charles Dance and Rhys Ifans. In April 2019 he will shoot “The Angel of Darkness”, which is a new limited series based on the sequel to best-selling author Caleb Carr’s “The Alienist”. In addition in the near future Daniel Bruehl and Luke Evans are reuniting for an untitled dramedy feature inspired by the 2006 French film Mon Meilleur Ami.

In summer 2018 Daniel’s production company Amusement Park Films produced the film My Zoe which he featured in together with Julie Delpy and Gemma Arterton. My Zoe, which is written and directed by Julie Delpy, is the fascinating and confrontational story about the lengths to which a mother’s love goes for her child.

In March 2018, Daniel has starred as activist ‘Wilfried Böse’ in drama feature Entebbe, opposite Rosamund Pike. Based on a true story, the film follows four hijackers who commandeer an airplane bound to Entebbe, Uganda in 1976 to free dozens of Palestinian and pro-Palestinian prisoners in Israel. On Netflix, Daniel can be seen in J.J. Abrams God Particle, about a group of astronauts fighting for survival. Julius Onah directs, and the feature also stars David Oyelowo, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Elizabeth Debicki, and Chris O’Dowd. The Bad Robot picture was released worldwide by Netflix in February 2018.

On 22nd January 2018, Daniel took on the lead role of criminal psychologist ‘Dr. Laszlo Kreizler’ in the premiere of new TNT/Paramount series The Alienist, based on the international best-selling novel by Caleb Carr. The psychological thriller is set in 1896 in New York City where Daniel’s character works as a specialist in deviant behaviour, known as The Alienist (one who studies mental pathologies). Luke Evans and Dakota Fanning also star, with Jakob Verbruggen directing and Cary Fukunaga serves as an executive producer. The series was released globally by Netflix in April 2018. The Alienist was nominated for 2 Golden Globes, one of them for Daniel as Best Actor and won an Emmy out of 6 nominations. Furthermore The Alienist is nominated for the Saturn Award.

In 2017, Daniel stared in The Zookeepers Wife, opposite Jessica Chastain. Daniel took on the role of ‘Lutz Heck’ in the feature set against the savage backdrop of the Nazi invasion of Poland in the second world war. Directed by Niki Caro, the film follows the story the Zoo Keepers in Warsaw Zoo, ‘Jan and Antonina Zabinski’, who helped save hundreds of people and animals during the Nazi invasion.

In 2016, Daniel took on the role of ‘Zemo’ in the summer blockbuster Captain America: Civil War, starring alongside Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. in the third adaptation of the popular Marvel comic book Captain America. He also starred in thriller feature Colony as ‘Daniel’ opposite Emma Watson.

Jaeger-LeCoultre

Since its creation, Jaeger-LeCoultre has made precision an art form in its own right, balancing skills and artistry with sophistication and esthetic finesse. In keeping with the inventive spirit initiated in 1833 by its founder Antoine LeCoultre, the artisans of the Manufacture create collections which have been at the forefront of fine watchmaking: Reverso, Master, Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris, Rendez-Vous and Atmos – this rich legacy built by the Grande Maison over centuries serves as a constant source of inspiration in ever so pushing the boundaries through unprecedented timepieces.

www.jaeger-lecoultre.com

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s history is rooted in the Vallée de Joux, bordering the Swiss Jura Mountains. Beyond the peaceful image it conveys, this setting forged the very identity of the Manufacture. Against this backdrop where patience and calm are intrinsic to the landscape, there grew up a tradition of precision bound up with a profoundly authentic artistic élan.

A balance of technical sophistication and perfected skill

For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the quintessence of the watchmaker’s art lies in achieving a perfect balance between precision techniques and the deft craftsmanship required to perform them. From the invention of the Millionomètre to the Gyrotourbillon, this balance is expressed in the diversity of the Manufacture's Rare Handcrafts (“Métiers Rares®”) and the many-faceted expertise of its master watchmakers, united in a common pursuit: to match technical sophistication with esthetic finesse.

Craftsmanship and precision

The Manufacture set itself two objectives from the outset: accuracy of the movement, and technical precision. These goals both emerged from, and flourished in, this Swiss natural setting, whose calm and serenity seem to abide, undisturbed, from one season to the next. The Manufacture's master watchmakers are deeply influenced and inspired by this environment, throwing their heart and soul into every ingenious sketch, every oscillation of the balance wheel, every escapement wheel—always pushing the boundaries of precision.

An endless wellspring of inspiration

From its caliber to its case, every Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is entirely designed, manufactured and assembled under one roof. This is why the name Jaeger-LeCoultre is so closely associated with some very revealing figures. Almost 180 specialist skills and trades are assembled in our manufacture, along with nearly 1,250 calibers from the simplest to the most sophisticated and some 400 patents.

The quest for precision is also reflected in milestones of invention, all of them world firsts, from the first tools to cut the pinions invented by Antoine LeCoultre who was determinate to reach excellence. Then Millionomètre in 1844. First grande complication pocket watch in 1895. Chronomètre Geophysic in 1958. Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 920 in 1967. Master Control 1000 Hours in 1992. Gyrotourbillon 1 in 2004. Duomètre and Dual Wing concept in 2007. Grand Prix de Chronométrie in 2009 … This list is far from exhaustive, and is constantly expanding with new precision inventions that mark out the Manufacture as the irrefutable gold standard, both nationally and worldwide. At Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre, pursuit of excellence, attention to infinitely small details, and patience are necessary at every single stage of designing, making and finishing/completing each watch and clock.

When precision becomes art

Jaeger-LeCoultre has made precision an art form in its own right: because technical and mechanical precision are matched by the precision and artistry of the workmanship. Age-old skills like guillochage, engraving, gem-setting, and enameling are still at the heart of the expertise preserved in the Maison and its Rare Handcrafts (“Métiers Rares®”).

As the name “Manufacture” suggests, the hand of man is indeed at the helm here. It is man who dreams up and designs the prototypes. It is the hand of man that directs and breathes life into the tools and instruments, the movement and its heartbeat, the materials and the precious stones. These hands belong to craftsmen who never cease to hone their skills—that is, to ensure that their tiniest gestures are as careful, as rigorous, as fitting, and as precise as possible. Even if it means going higher than where the bar is usually set.