Jaeger-LeCoultre

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 is one of the most collectible Reversos ever made. Only 75 pieces were created, one of which sold on eBay" for $279,499 in February. Another will be up for sale at the August 25th Antiquorum auction in Hong Kong.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Gyrotourbillon 2 comes is an oversized platinum Reverso case measuring 16 mm thick. The movement has a highly complicated double-axis spherical tourbillon with a cylindrical hairspring. Functions include hours, minutes, tourbillon seconds, reserve de march and date. The movement runs at 28,800 vph (4Hz), has 373 parts, 58 jewels and a 50-hour power reserve. Finishing inlcudes clous de Paris, anglage and perlage.

Considering the price paid for a Gyrotourbillon 2 earlier this year, Antiquorum's estimate seems low.

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At the June 2012 Antiquorum auction in New York, there will be a Jaeger-LeCoultre Eight Day Platinum Perpetual Calendar Skeleton up for sale.

The Eight Day Perpetual Skeleton was made in a limited edition of 100 pieces in 2005. The 950 platinum case measures 42 mm x 12 mm and is fully polished. The case back is transparent which allows a view into the beautifully finished manually wound caliber 876 SQ movement. The movement is skeletonized, rhodium plated and features dual spring barrels (to power the watch for 8-days), blued steel screws, 37 jewels, a straightline lever escapement, a monometallic balance with 4 adjustments, a shock absorber and a self-compensating flat balance spring.

Functions include hours, minutes, moon phase, perpetual calendar, power reserve indicator, day and night indication and 4-digit year display. The dial is transparent with applied white gold Arabic numeral and baton indexes. Transparent subsidiary disc dials for the date, days of week with inner moon phase indication, months, sectors for day and night and power reserve indications. Polished and frosted white gold baton hands. Black leather strap with 18K white gold clasp. Water-resistant 30 meters.

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In 1925, Jaeger-LeCoultre, or more specifically Ed Jaeger London Ltd, specialized in automative dashboard instruments. In the mid 1920s and leading up until World War II, Jaeger "became the prevalent supplier to the most prestigious car companies, including virtually all racing cars as 95% of car races were won by cars equipped with Jaeger counters." Read more about the historical ties between automobiles and Jaeger-LeCoultre here.

The 1952 Ferrari Mexico Vignale Berlinetta (shown above) is a rare (1 of 4) race car that is equipped with Jaeger gauges. This car is reportedly worth over $4 million dollars, and even though it may be one of the least aesthetically pleasing of vintage Ferraris, at least it has some cool gauges.

Jaeger-LeCoultre has just revealed a new diving chronograph, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Chronograph. Unlike most chronographs, this one can be operated underwater. Breitling makes a magnetic quartz based chronograph that operates underwater, but as far as mechanical chronographs go, they typically do not work underwater.

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Earlier this week, Jay-Z wore a Jaeger-LeCoultre Grande Reverso Ultra Thin Tribute to 1931 in rose gold when performing at Carnegie Hall to Benefit the United Way of New York City and the Shawn Carter Foundation.

Last month at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH ) in Geneva, Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled the Duomètre à Sphérotourbillon, a tourbillon wristwatch that is both visually and technically amazing.

In Geneva, I met with Stéphane Belmont, Marketing Director at Jaeger-LeCoultre, and we discussed the historic importance of a tourbillon in watchmaking. As you probably already know, the first tourbillon was developed by Abraham-Louis Breguet around 1795; its purpose was to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage, thus improving the accuracy of the timepiece's regulating organs. Back then, the tourbillon was used to increase the precision of a timepiece.

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The Purists just published a sneak peek of a new timepiece that Jaeger-LeCoultre will unveil at SIHH 2012 next week - the Deep Sea Vintage Chronograph. It is a vintage inspired 100 meter dive watch powered by automatic caliber 751G and housed in a 40.5 mm case. This is not a professional diver watch and it is not recommended to activate the chronograph underwater.

The Deep Sea Chronograph is similar to the Memovox Tribute to Deep Sea that Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced last year. According to Jaeger's Tumblr site, it is "a remarkable reinterpretation of the legendary Memovox Deep Sea watch."

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