With the new Grande Complication watch in the Haute Joaillerie line, Jaeger-LeCoultre presents an unprecedented blend of design, technical construction, watchmaking art and exquisite craftsmanship, striking a fine balance that provides a spectacular demonstration of the Manufacture's mastery and style. The watch incorporates three complications: a minute repeater, a flying tourbillon and a zodiacal calendar. Each is regarded as extremely complicated in its own right and all of them are built according to the latest watchmaking standards, bound together by the romantic soul conferred on them by true artists working together at Manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre. This Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication will be produced in an 8-piece white gold limited edition, honouring the exclusivity of the movement and the splendour of its gem-setting. The essence of the watch lies in its interpretation of astronomical timekeeping for the wrist. And there could be no driving force more suited to this task than the pulsing heart of a flying tourbillon orbiting the dial, depicting a sky-chart of the northern hemisphere. A sun performs a full revolution in 24 hours around the rim of this exceptional creation, thereby displaying a 24- hour indication, zodiac signs, as well as the days and months appearing on a circular scale surrounding the dial. Its precision is based on advanced technology, with a flying tourbillon setting the pace within an ultra-light titanium cage.
Additionally, the watch incorporates a minute repeater in which the sound is generated by two crystal gongs directly fixed to the sapphire crystal. Equipped with ‘trébuchet hammers’, the Grande Complication watch offers a sound of unprecedented clarity and fullness, at a simple push of the dedicated slide. Its classically shaped white gold case, along with the decoration of the movement parts in keeping with the finest horological traditions, testify to the prodigious sum of techniques and knowledge acquired by the Manufacture in the field of Haute Horlogerie throughout its 181 years of existence. The gem-setting motif conceived by designers accentuates the distinctive architecture of the Master Grande Tradition case. The crown is meticulously set with baguette cut diamonds, while two rows of baguette-cut diamonds extend to the right and left of the crown to adorn the convex-shaped side of the case, and descend to the lugs. A day is basically defined as one rotation of the earth around its own axis. Depending on which point of reference is used, astronomy distinguishes between a solar day and a sidereal day. The former is measured with the sun as reference, while the latter uses other, more distant fixed stars. Since the earth orbits around the sun as well as upon its own axis, the solar day is slightly longer than the sidereal day, differing by about one degree, meaning almost four minutes. To underline these celestial ambitions that make the watch a perfect instrument for astronomical observations, the sky disc performs a rotation in 23 hours and 56 minutes, meaning one sidereal day. Moreover, a zodiac calendar is placed around the rim of the dial together with a month indication to further depict the position of the constellations at any given time of the year, with a perpetual calendar regulating the timing system.
The technical nature of the dial is heightened by subtle aesthetic touches that lend it an air of nobility and distinction. The dark blue aventurine sky disc illuminated with diamond stars is surrounded by two crescents of baguette-cut sapphires in lighter shades of blue. The blue becomes even lighter on the hand-guilloché lacquered disc bearing the indications of the month and zodiac signs. These subtly graded shades create a depth effect on the multi-layered watch dial testifying to the masterful skills of the in-house designers and artisans. The diamond hourmarkers echo the stars, while the radiant bezel creates a splendidly luminous glow for this
Grande Complication.
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