In 1833, the thirty-year-old Antoine LeCoultre, son of Vallee de Joux watchmaker Jacques LeCoultre, opened a small factory in the town of Le Sentier. LeCoultre soon proved himself to be a gifted watchmaker and a brilliant inventor. In 1844, he revolutionized the watch industry with the invention of the millionometer, an instrument, which could accurately measure up to one thousandths of a millimeter.
In 1925, the grandson of the firm’s founder, David LeCoultre, merged hispany with that of Edmond Jaeger, the exclusive supplier of watch movements to Cartier. This is when the modernpany known as Jaeger-LeCoultre first came into existence. Incredibly enough, up to that point Jaeger-LeCoultre had not sold any watches under its own name.
Today, JAEGER LECOULTRE Watchis one of the most prestigious in contemporary watchmaking. Watches are among our most important assets and they keep world time. Do you realize that thepany start producing ebauches for otherpanies? According to a little known fact, Jaeger-LeCoultre not only produce movements for its own watches but also produce movements for other famous watch houses, including IWC , VACHERON CONSTANTIN , AUDEMARS PIGUET and PATEK PHILIPPE.
In 1932, Patek Philippe was in major financial straits and was looking for a white knight, LeCoultre, whosepany manufactured movements for Patek, wanted to acquire a majority interest. He came close to finalizing a deal, but the Stern brothers, whosepany supplied the dials used in Patek Philippe watches, ultimately acquired thepany. Although Patek Philippe has certainly prospered under the Stern family’s management, it is nonetheless interesting to contemplate what effect a Patek Philippe/Jaeger-LeCoultre merger may have had on the Swiss watch industry.
On a final note. It regularly. is particularly worth noting that the Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the rarepanies in Switzerland that still produces its own movements, cases, dials, hands, and bracelets. As a matter of fact,armani watches, each singleponent in a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is hand-made, produced inside the factory. Strict quality control are used in developing systems to ensure products or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements. Therefore, Jaeger-LeCoultre watches enjoy high reputation thanks to finest hand-crafted watches. It is evidence that Jaeger-LeCoultre produces such masterpieces as the Reverso Tourbillon and Reverso Minute Repeater
LeCoultre’s motto “we must base our experience on science” was particularly true when it came to manufacturing precision movements and tools. The artistry came later at the hands of a master watchmaker, who assembled,replica watches, decorated and regulated the movements. In short order, LeCoultre became the leading supplier of movements, parts and tools to the watch-making industry in Switzerland.
Jaeger-LeCoultre has continued to thrive, introducing such innovations as the Memovox, Futurematic, Atmos Clock and strikingly original movements such as the world’s thinnest automatic with a thickness of just 2.35 mm, just to name a few. The thin automatic movement in particular was an incredible success, as both Vacheron Constantin and Audemars Piguet featured it in wristwatches advertised as being the world’s slimmest self-winding timepieces. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Jaeger-LeCoultre produced a 36 jewel, self-winding calibre for Patek Philippe.
The year 1931 saw the introduction of the Reverso, a wristwatch that could be turned 180 degrees within the case, thereby protecting the crystal and dial. It was a fantastic creation and one that was enthusiastically received by the public. Today, the Reverso is by far Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most popular model and the rest is history.
