Jaeger-LeCoultre

Hey All,

A question came up, so I thought I would ask the experts here, as you seem to have the deepest insights. Are JLC cases made in-house, or do they source them from a case maker and then finish them in-house?

Best,
Daniel

Reverso
All Reverso watch-cases are 100% JLC made in-house

Simple round case
60% up to 70%

JLC rounded watch-case are made up to 70% in-house by JLC. Usually to begin with, simple round case are contracted out and finished by JLC, if the demand of a model round watch-case model increases usually JLC will produce them in-house to 100%

Round-watch-case housing complication(s)
Any shape watch-cases are 100% JLC made in-house

This message has been edited by PoyFR on 2009-05-13 07:22:25

that everything was made in-house
cheers

Hi,

AFAIK ceramic cases and parts are not made in-house, which is not surprising as it is an industry in itself!

Cheers

Dje

 

ceramic cases were contracted out when JLC started to look at having ceramic cases.
Apparently, it was hard to get a consistent quality and reliability (especially for delivery times) for teh ceramic cases, so JLC invested to produce them in house.

for ceramic, this is a significant investment as the machines able to cut and finish ceramic cases are very special to be able to stand the erosion of ceramic cuttings (a mateiral that is twice as hard as stell). So imagine throwing fine cuttings or powder made of ceramic everywhere and you can foresee that "standad" machinery would not last a week.

Poy, is correct, that Reverso 100%. Round cases (Master Contols) usually made in-house, but new models are sometimes made by suppliers until a new model is retired to make room for in-house production. Same for Master Compressors. Atmos are made in-house, though I believe they've moved the base and case stamping off-premises for the time being, until the expansion is finished.

-Dean

No message body

has not much sense.
I would think that in the case of the polaris, JLC probably does not manufacture the plexi of the watch.
However, JLC is one of the few brands that integrates the design and production of all main components of the watch in-house. The calibre is certainly designed and manufactured mostly in-house, but, I would think that the mainspring is purchased from a supplier.

The strap is most likely not in-house. (no rubber plantation in vallee de joux or alligator farms for straps either

Teh amazing thing with the "grande maison" is their capacity to integrate an industrial process and the relevant equipment when it makes sense to ensure high quality of hte final product.

right now, silicium parts that are appearing in very high end pieces of the brand are produced by an entity that is far closer to a research lab than a normal industrial factory. I would not be surprised to see this process under the roof of JLC a decade down the road if silicium parts perform the way everybody expects them to.

vertical integration in watchmaking is a choice that does have good and bad sides. There is a huge number of suppliers for pretty much every single part constituting watches. vertical integration, depending on brands go from not integrated at all (when one simply outsources entirely themanufacturing of the watch to someone else) to pretty much fully integrated such as JLC and a few others, where, only small portion of the watch are outsourced to third party.

In the case of the vintage polaris E859, the case was outsourced (to EPSA), the dial too (to Singer), as well as the hands
So, only the movement was in-house.
But at that time, this was quite the norm in the industry  (and nobody really cared about the concept of 'manufacture' anyhow)
I suspect the modern re-creation of the watch has its case elements in-house now  (but this is to be confirmed)