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In the beautiful Vallée de Joux nestled in the Jura Mountains of Switzerland lies the birthplace of Swiss watchmaking. It is in the small village of Le Sentier in this magnificent valley that Antoine LeCoultre founded the first LeCoultre watchmaking workshop in 1833. And from the very beginning, innovation and manufacturing advancements has been the company’s hallmark!
Around a decade after building his workshop, Antoine LeCoultre invented the Millionometre, a device that refined manufacturing components by measuring them to the micron. This was followed by the founder inventing a system of keyless winding and setting of watches. And breaking new grounds in technology wasn’t the only thing that the company got adept at during the early years. Antoine and his son, Elie LeCoultre, ensured that the manufacturing of the watches came under one roof in a facility that they opened in the 1870s in the region. This was the first all-in-all manufacturing facility in Vallée de Joux, leading to the official moniker of LeCoultre & Cie.
The Jaeger part of the brand’s name didn’t come into effect until 1937. However, the collaboration between LeCoultre and Jaeger began more than 30 years before that. The grandson of Antoine LeCoultre, Jacques-David LeCoultre, accepted an open challenge made by French watchmaker Edmond Jaeger. The challenge: to make the thinnest watches. It was fulfilled by LeCoultre, leading to a line of ultra-slim pocket watches, including the thinnest pocket watch of that time. This led to more and more collaborations leading to the assimilation of the Jaeger name into the company!
Currently owned by the Swiss supergroup, Richemont, Jaeger-LeCoultre is a top-tier watch brand producing exquisite and innovative luxury watches that are backed by their rich heritage!
This iconic tagline from JLC’s marketing adverts stems from its deep pride over its manufacturing system! Paying homage to the visionary idea of bringing all manufacturing components under one roof, the headquarters and the manufacturing plant of JLC is still located at Le Sentier in Vallée de Joux, Switzerland.
Each and every Jaeger-LeCoultre is designed and produced at this Le Sentier facility. In their production processes, Jaeger-LeCoultre watches go through several different stages. In the case of a new model, the design is made from scratch after countless hours of research. Interestingly, the initial sketches for these watches are still hand-drawn!
On the other hand, the already manufactured models pass through plenty of hands and a battery of tests before being shipped to be sold at boutiques around the world. Thus, a large portion of the 2800+ employees works on perfecting the fusion between heritage and innovation.
Of course, during the first stages of the manufacturing process, the dials, the cases, the calibre, and the watches’ movements are made. Once they are completed with the foundations of the watch, the parts are decorated. This usually includes jewelling, snow-setting, gem-setting, pallet decoration, engraving, and profile tuning.
Yet, the watch isn’t assembled at that point of the procedure. Instead, a host of other processes like enamelling, skeletonising, circular-graining, electroplating, and polishing are left for the watch’s components to travel through. When these departments give the green signal, the master watchmakers at the Jaeger-LeCoultre start to assemble the parts.
Now, the assembled watch isn’t ready to be shipped just yet. Why? Because Jaeger-LeCoultre makes all their watches go through their infamous 1000 hour-test. This rigorous and tedious test includes several testing of the quality and the endurance of the watch. If and only if the watch completes those tests does the company ship it for purchase!
Since producing their first significant watch model called Reverso in 1931, there has been no looking back for the brand. Major innovations along their history include the 1958 Geophysic Chronometer. Jaeger-LeCoultre has also been critically acclaimed for creating the Atmos timepiece clock. This astonishing design is a near-perpetual movement meaning it can run for ages drawing its energy from temperature and atmospheric variations.
Current watch models include collections for both men and women. Traditionally, the watches have been grouped under different families. They are: Rendez-Vous, Reverso, Polaris, Master, Duomètre, 101, and Hybris Mechanica. Each of these watch families is highly valued and has seen several famous personalities like Charlie Chaplin and Robert Downey Jr. and royal family members like Queen Elizabeth II wear them over the years.
Thus, it can be safe to say that Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the most prestigious watchmaking brands globally, who are still striving for that perfect fusion between the past, the present, and the future!