Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso

Today, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is one of the most famous watches ever produced. But were you aware that the company got its start producing ebauches for other companies? A little known fact about Jaeger-LeCoultre is that in addition to producing movements for its own watches, the company has also produced movements for famous watch houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, Patek Philippe, and IWC.

In 1833, the thirty-year-old Antoine LeCoultre, son of Vallee de Joux watchmaker Jacques LeCoultre, opened a small factory in the town of Le Sentier. LeCoultre soon proved himself to be a gifted watchmaker and a brilliant inventor. In 1844, he revolutionized the watch industry with the invention of the millionometer, an instrument, which could accurately measure up to one thousandths of a millimeter.

LeCoultre's motto - "we must base our experience on science" - was particularly true when it came to manufacturing precision movements and tools. The artistry came later at the hands of a master watchmaker, who assembled, decorated and regulated the movements. In short order, LeCoultre became the leading supplier of movements, parts and tools to the watch-making industry in Switzerland.

In 1925, the grandson of the firm’s founder, David LeCoultre, merged his company with that of Edmond Jaeger, the exclusive supplier of watch movements to Cartier. This is when the modern company known as Jaeger-LeCoultre first came into existence. Incredibly enough, up to that point Jaeger-LeCoultre had not sold any watches under its own name.

The year 1931 saw the introduction of the Reverso, a wristwatch that could be turned 180 degrees within the case, thereby protecting the crystal and dial. It was a fantastic creation and one that was enthusiastically received by the public. Today, the Reverso is by far Jaeger-LeCoultre's most popular model and the rest is history.

In 1932, Patek Philippe was in major financial straits and was looking for a white knight, LeCoultre, whose company manufactured movements for Patek, wanted to acquire a majority interest. He came close to finalizing a deal, but the Stern brothers, whose company supplied the dials used in Patek Philippe watches, ultimately acquired the company. Although Patek Philippe has certainly prospered under the Stern family’s management, it is nonetheless interesting to contemplate what effect a Patek Philippe/Jaeger-LeCoultre merger may have had on the Swiss watch industry.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has continued to thrive, introducing such innovations as the Memovox, Futurematic, Atmos Clock and strikingly original movements such as the world’s thinnest automatic with a thickness of just 2.35 mm, just to name a few. The thin automatic movement in particular was an incredible success, as both Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet featured it in wristwatches advertised as being the world’s slimmest self-winding timepieces. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Jaeger-LeCoultre produced a 36 jewel, self-winding calibre for Patek Philippe.

It is worth noting that Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the few companies in Switzerland that still produces its own movements, cases, dials, hands and bracelets. Virtually every single component in a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is hand-finished, produced in-house, and this in turn results in strict quality control. As a result, Jaeger-LeCoultre watches are recognized as being among the very finest hand-crafted watches available, and evidence of this can be seen in the fact that Jaeger-LeCoultre regularly produces such masterpieces as the Reverso Tourbillon and Reverso Minute Repeater.

Worldofluxuryus.com is proud to offer large selection of Jaeger-LeCoultre watches including the Duometre, Haute Joaillerie Reverso, Ideale, Master, Master Calendar, Master Compressor, Master Control, Master Grand Reveil, Master Grande Tradition, Master Reserve De Marche, Memovox, Reverso, Reverso Grande and Reverso Lady models.