Inside Jaeger-LeCoultre's Complications Atelier

The Atelier des Spécialités Horlogères is the Kingdom of Complications, a kind of wonderland for every watchnut.

Spécialité Horlogère...There is an historical meaning behind this name:

This was the name of the Company which was in charge to promote and sell the Reverso and all the Jaeger or Lecoultre watches, since ...1931. ( Jaeger- Lecoultre " La Grande Maison " )

This is also, nowadays, the place where all the complications are assembled, like the Amvoxes, the Minute Repeaters, and the Duomètres à Chronographe, for example.

Here, the Silence is deliciously " broken " by the Ding Dong of a Minute Repeater, or the Driiiiiiing of an Alarm.

Here, the people of the workshop is proud to share with you the ballet of a Tourbillon, a magic moment, indeed, where you can see Inertia turning into Movement, a kind of Birth.

Here, you see the movement as you never saw it before, unassembled, just the mainplate, the bridges, the jewels and screws, on its 2 faces.

Do you want to see the Amvox III movement?

Here you are:



Dialside:



For all the Minute Repeater fans, here is something you will certainly enjoy as much as I enjoyed looking at it .

Backside:





Dialside:



Since the movement is part of the dial on the MMR, here is a better known view:



The " secret of the MMR Success " is here:



The gongs, welded in the sapphire glass.

An uncommon view on the Duomètre à Chronographe movement?

Here you are:

Backside:





Dialside:



Here, as everywhere in the Manufacture, Time flies at the speed of sound, and even more when you engage the conversation with the Master Horologer in charge of this Workshop.

I asked him what was THE JLC complication, according to him, and his answer surprised me:

The Duometre à Chronographe!

He explained that it was his favourite movement, in terms of Finish, of Beauty.

He also told me that they worked hard to reach a serious degree of reliability, and that now, the ratio of issues on the Duomètre is only 1%, and that these issues are easy to solve.

He surprised me a lot because I was expecting he answered me that THE JLC complication by excellence was the Alarm, for example...

I guess I would get this answer from the Heritage Gallery Team!



I only can recommend you to visit this place, my friends, you will loose your mind, as I did!

Next time, I will spend more time among these mechanical marvels.

To be followed...

Best,

Nicolas This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-12 00:58:06 This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-12 01:01:05 This message has been edited by amanico on 2010-07-16 06:40:15