The Melbourne WatchBand Winter GTG coincided with a generous offer by Richemont Australia to share with us the Jaeger-LeCoultre SIHH 2013 collection. The SIHH releases were in Oz for a short period of time for local Boutique staff to familiarize themselves with the new models, but they kindly offered to also show the pieces to local collectors in Melbourne and Sydney.

It was a wonderful time of sharing, eating and drooling over great watches as I hope you will see.

I will let the watches speak for themselves, but this is a very coherent and balanced collection in this important 180^th anniversary year for Jaeger-LeCoultre.

Master Ultra Thin Perpetual

This new perpetual is housed in an elegant 39mm x 9.2mm case. Inside is the cal. 868 automatic with perpetual calendar and moonphase. The dial is an eggshell colour and compliments the RG indices and hands and sets of the tapered heat blued second hand beautifully. All functions are controlled by a single corrector.

Master Calendar

A classic in the JLC lineup. 39mm triple date with moonphase in a 39mm case and an automatic Cal. 866 inside with a 43h power reserve.

Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon Cylindrique à Quantième Perpétuel Jubilee

The new Cal. 985 automatic movement combines a flying tourbillon with a cylindrical balance-spring. PR 48h. Perpetual calendar and moonphase set by one corrector. Platinum 42 x 13.1mm case. 22K RG oscillating weight with a representation of the gold medal awarded to Jaeger-LeCoultre at the Universal Exhibition of Paris in 1889. Alligator strap tapers to an 18mm pin buckle. Nice balanced dial.

Master Ultra Thin Reserve de Marche

39 x 9.9mm. This is a classic dial from JLC with the pointer date and RdM and seconds displays. Cal. 938 automatic with 43h PR, again with a thickness of only 4.9mm. Blued hands … and a diamond bezel.

Duomètre à Chronographe

Dual calibre with independent power supplies for the time functions and the chronograph. Cal. 380A manual wind at 21600vph with a 50h PR. Case measures 42 x 13.6mm. Openworked dial providing a glimpse into the movement. Love this one.

Grande Reverso Ladu Ultra Thin Duetto Duo

The mother of pearl with diamonds for the evening was stunning on both the pink gold and steel versions. Inside is the Cal. 864A manual wind but with a very usable 50h power reserve. The case size is 40 x 24mm.

Grand Reverso Ultra Thin Duo

One of the most elegant and functional ways of showing two time zones; no confusion if you are looking at home time or the time at your destination. The Duo concept has been in the JLC range since 1994. This watch was one of the hits of the evening. Black dials always work well with rose gold and black alligator straps, but the watch sits perfectly on the wrist as well and looks fantastic. The case measures 46.8 x 27.4mm and is only 9.15mm thick. Elegance.

Master Ultra Thin 41

Automatic Cal. 898C with 43h PR which measures 3.3mm thick; 28800vph. 41 x 7.5mm case. Comes in steel with a sunray brushed silvered dial with dauphine hands or a 18K pink gold version with an eggshell coloured dial.

Master Ultra Thin Jubilee 39

Inspired by a JLC pocket watch produced in 1907, the thinnest manually wound pocket watch of its day. Calibre 849 with 35h PR21600vph single barrel, 19 jewels, only 1.85mm thick. Housed in a ‘knife-shaped ‘platinum case measuring 39 x 4.05mm and on a 16mm pin buckle. This is the thinnest manual wind wristwatch in production. The silver-grained finish of the dial is also inspired by JLC pocket watches. 1833 is on the dial to celebrate 180 years of the Manufacture and the watch is produced in a numbered limited run of 880 pieces.

Deep Sea Chronograph Cermet

I like the splash of red on the dial, used to show the state of the chronograph: zero – white – in operation – half red – paused – red. The case is made from reinforced cermet – ceramic particles and aluminium topped with a strong ceramic coating. The watch measures 44mm, but its light weight and embossed calfskin strap means it wears smaller on the wrist. It grew on me. Inside is the automatic Cal. 758 with a 65h power reserve.

My thanks to Sam Kan and Pierre-Etienne Durand from JLC and Richemont for a wonderful evening.

Andrew

So, the DS Chrono Cermet grows on you?

Good, I am testing it till next week.

What do you think of the MUT 39 Jubilé?

Best,

Nicolas

... wears smaller than 44mm to me, which is a good thing. The light weight and short lugs helps. I do love the textured dial. Perhaps a bicompax design would have been even better, but it is a great watch. I look forward to your longer term comments.

The 39mm MUT Jubilee is an austere watch. Definitely a dress watch for the evening for me. There were many who liked it around the table - several of whom were MUT owners.

Andrew

Thanks JLC E,

The MUT Perpetual was one of my two favourites amongst the collection.

Here's another shot of the ceramic-cased 44mm Amvox 5 World Chronograph ...