LeCoultre watches
by David Barth
written March 29, 2003
LeCoultre
The Vallee de Joux, is in the Jura Hills of Switzerland. It's known for its harsh and persistent winters. In the 16th Century, Huguenots sought refuge from religious
persecution in the secluded Vallee de Joux and began to develop their craft skills with puritanical tenacity. Specializing in metalwork, they raised their art to the
manufacture of the first complex mechanical devices, such as music boxes, automations and watch components. By the 19th Century, the valley dwellers were
acquiring every conceivable manual skill in the art of making watches. Many people believe the Vallée de Joux is still the home of the worlds best watchmakers.
The LeCoultre family made a name for themselves through unrelenting industry and constant invention. In the town of Le Sentier, the LeCoultres began by making
razors, then music boxes, keyboard instruments and, finally, watch components of the highest precision. And it is in Le Sentier, in 1833, that the chronicle of the
Jaeger-LeCoultre watch manufacture begins.
In 1803, Le Sentier saw the birth of Antoine LeCoultre, the son of Henri David, owner of a forge that produced mechanical instruments. It was here that he completed
his apprenticeship specialising in metallurgy and gear-mechanisms. In 1833, Antoine left and founded a business manufacturing watch gearing with his brother Ulysse.
Antoine invested in the development of new production processes and methods. His Millionometer of 1844 was the first instrument capable of measuring components
to the nearest micron - a millionth of a meter.
The growing business made watch-blanks as well as precision parts, and, by 1860, it employed 100 people. Antoine
LeCoultre's sons, Elie, Paul and Benjamin, followed him in the business. LeCoultre became an early source for complicated movements, creating repeaters,
chronographs and calendars. By the time Elie's son, Jacques David, joined the business in 1899, LeCoultre had become the Vallée de Joux's leading
manufacturer.
It was Jacques David who, in 1903, entered into a business relationship in Paris with the chronometer-maker Edmond Jaeger. This partnership opened the way into
the luxury market for LeCoultre and resulted in the name of Jaeger-LeCoultre, which was to become synonymous with high-grade watchmaking.
In the early 18th Century, the leading watch manufacturers were the French and the British. Both were sea-faring people with merchant fleets and navies that needed
precise time keeping to navigate the globe. But, by the mid-19th Century, their watchmaking dominance was undermined by Swiss watchmakers who began
turning out high-value watches in greater quantities.
The portable timepiece, once a symbol of rule and power, became available to a wider population. At the same time, watchmaking came
under new influences. One of the sources of new ideas and opportunities was Antoine LeCoultre, who designed and built machine-tools that could produce watch-parts
to unprecedented precision. Among these was his Millionometer, which established the metric system as the watch-industry measurement standard. In 1847, Antoine
LeCoultre developed a crown winding system that also set the time. His successors have inherited his pioneering spirit; since 1833, the manufacture has filed more than
a hundred patents.
Within a few decades, LeCoultre & Co. had become a leading watchmaker, delivering an increasingly complicated succession of movements. In
1890, it produced a range of 125 different movements, and, in 1903, its workshops unveiled the slimmest movement for pocket watches. At 1.38 mm thick, it remains
an unbroken record. Other exceptionally thin movements followed: a 2.8 mm chronograph and a 2.7 mm minute-repeater.
As wristwatches superseded pocket watches,
LeCoultre found new fields to conquer. The tiny wristwatches of the Art Déco era were fitted with the thin-level rectangular douplan movement, invented in 1925. It was
followed, in 1929, by Calibre 101 - still the smallest mechanical watch movement ever made and still in production. In 1928, a revolutionary clock appeared. The Atmos
was the only clock that derives its energy from the slightest temperature changes of the surrounding air. The Reverso, which was introduced in 1931, is among the
world's best known watches and, as an Art Déco classic, has entered into the history of the decorative arts movement. The fifties and sixties saw a number of
innovative wristwatches. The Geomatic had a chronometer movement, and the Geophysic had special antimagnetic protection as well. The remarkable Calibre 497
automatic movement needed no winding crown in the Futurematic watch of 1953. And the Memovox was the first automatic alarm wristwatch in 1956. After the "Quartz
Years" that nearly put an end to mechanical watches, the pent-up ideas in the manufacture were suddenly released in 1980, resulting in a series of watchmaking
achievements that were new to the world. The Manufacture's book of Timepieces tells the story of their past and their future.
Today, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso is one of the most famous watches ever produced, but were you aware that the company got its start producing ebauches for
other companies? A little known fact about Jaeger-LeCoultre is that in addition to producing movements for its own watches, the company has also produced
movements for famous watch houses such as Vacheron Constantin, Audemars Piguet, and IWC. As a matter of fact, in the early part of the 20th Century,
Jaeger-LeCoultre even supplied ebauches to the great firm of Patek Philippe. Then as now, Jaeger-LeCoultre was considered one of the finest watchmakers in
Switzerland.
The year was 1833 when thirty-year-old Antoine LeCoultre, son of Vallee de Joux watchmaker Jacques LeCoultre, opened a small factory in the town of Le Sentier.
Amazingly enough, the current Jaeger-LeCoultre factory is only a few feet away from the site of the original factory. In any event, LeCoultre soon proved himself to be a
gifted watchmaker, but an even more brilliant inventor. In 1844, LeCoultre revolutionized the watch industry with the invention of the millionometer, an instrument with
which measurements of up to one thousandths of a millimeter could be made accurately. As a result, precisely finished components could be manufactured, resulting
in greatly improved accuracy in timekeeping. Likewise, the metric system became the universal measuring standard in watchmaking, while other systems were
rendered obsolete.
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, decorated and regulated the movements. In short order, LeCoultre became the leading supplier of
movements, parts and tools to the watchmaking industry in Switzerland.
LeCoultre movements were so highly regarded, in fact, that until 1910, the company provided Patek Philippe with most of its raw movements. It was only in later years
that Patek Philippe built its own movements from scratch. In the meantime, other companies had come to rely exclusively on LeCoultre's products, from which they
would create finished watches. LeCoultre's success was so great that between 1900 and 1919, 40,000 raw movements were produced. Movements sold for between
100 and 400 francs each, not an inconsiderable sum of money back then.
In 1923 the grandson of Antoine LeCoultre, Jacques-David LeCoultre, met Edmund Jaeger, another watch maker who was the exclusive supplier of watch
movements to Cartier. In 1925 the two companies, LeCoultre and Jaeger, merged but it wasn't until 1937 that they launched the LeCoultre brand.
This is when the modern company known as Jaeger-LeCoultre first came into existence. Incredibly enough, up to this point, Jaeger-LeCoultre had not sold any
watches under its own name. The merger, however, prompted further technical innovations, not the least of which was a case made from stainless steel, as well
as the creation of the smallest mechanical movement in the world, which weighed less than one gram.
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. Unfortunately, the worldwide economic crisis and World War II conspired to prevent the
Reverso from achieving its full potential. Changing fashions coupled with the advent of waterproof watches might have forever doomed the watch to obscurity, had it
not been for an Italian dealer who visited the factory in the 1960's and noticed a number of unused Reverso cases sitting in a watchmakers' drawer. The Italian dealer
bought the cases and fitted them with movements. The finished watches were an instant sell-out and the rest is history. Today, the Reverso is by far
Jaeger-LeCoultre's most popular model.
Another interesting story concerns David LeCoultre's bid for Patek Philippe. In 1932, Patek Philippe was in major financial straits and looking for a white knight.
LeCoultre, whose company manufactured movements for Patek, wanted to acquire a majority interest. He came close to finalizing a deal, but the Stern brothers,
whose company supplied the dials used in Patek Philippe watches, ultimately acquired the company. 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.
Needless to say, the company has continued to thrive, introducing such innovations as the Memovox, Futurematic, Atmos Clock (which in and of itself could be the
subject of an article) 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 1970's and early 1980's, Jaeger-LeCoultre produced a 36 jewel, self-winding calibre for Patek Philippe.
Once again, both companies had come full circle.
On a final note, it is worth noting that Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of the few companies in Switzerland that still produces its own movements, cases, dials, hands, and
bracelets. Virtually every single component in a Jaeger-LeCoultre watch is hand-finished, produced in-house, and this in turn results in strict quality control. As a
result, Jaeger-LeCoultre watches are recognized as being among the very finest hand-crafted watches available and evidence of this can be seen in the fact that
Jaeger-LeCoultre regularly produces such masterpieces as the Reverso Tourbillon and Reverso Minute Repeater. There is also the Master Control series of watches,
which boast 1,000 hours of testing and assembly at the patient hands of a master watchmaker.
Highlights
LeCoultre developed the world's smallest mechanical movement, the world's smallest quartz movement, and the world's smallest analog chronograph
movement.
In the early 1900's it produced many components for other watch manufacturers. Today, Jaeger-Le Coultre supplies watch movements to International Watch
Company (IWC).
A famous LeCoultre product was the Atmos clock. LeCoultre also developed the Millonometer, the world's first instrument capable of measuring accurately
to one thousandth of a millimeter.
Queen Elizabeth II wore a 2 Ligne watch, the smallest in the world, to her coronation in 1953.
Other famous LeCoultre watches include the Reverso line and the Futurematic, introduced in 1953, the world's first fully automatic wristwatch.
Watch Models:
Atmos - Produced in 1928, it is the only clock that derives its energy from the slightest temperature changes of the surrounding air.
2 Ligne - At the time of its introduction, around the middle of the 20th Century, this was the smallest watch in the world.
Reverso - The Reverso, designed in 1931, is a watch that can be rotated so that the crystal is next to the arm, or otherwise protected.
One story is that it was built by request of English polo players who wanted to protect their watch crystals.
Reverso tourbillon
Reverso Gran Sport
Le Grand Reveil
Master Control Grande Taille
Futurematic