Haute Time Visits Jaeger-LeCoultre in Moscow

By Adrienne Faurote May 5, 2014

The centerpiece of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Moscow boutique is undoubtedly its safe, which is finished with a beautiful light shade of leather and houses the most complicated watches of the Hybris Mechanica Collection. The safe, which weighs a total of 1,200 kg, was developed by the German manufacture Döttling especially for the Hybris Mechanica 55 set.

Besides storing pieces like the Grande Sonnerie, Triptyque and Gyrotourbillon timepieces, it also safeguards 30 special Jaeger-LeCoultre customers’ personal treasures.

On the surface of the safe you will also notice another artifact: one of 10 pieces of the Atmos Marqueterie L’Attente Table Clock, the case of which features 1400 fragments of different types of wood.

Many other magnificent Jaeger-LeCoultre pieces at the boutique are not so conspicuous and require more careful review! Here’s an exclusive look at our favorites:

Master Grande Tradition Grande Complication
The fourth of eight issued pieces (№4/8) of this high-jewelry astronomical watch is facing us. The 44mm white gold case and the dial are decorated with 62 sapphires and 125 baguette diamonds totaling 8.35 carats. The mechanical heart of the watch, manually-wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 945 is made of 527 components, it houses a minute repeater with cathedral crystal gong, an underside flying tourbillion and a zodiacal calendar. The essence of this micromechanics masterpiece is that the measurement of astronomical time adapted for wristwatches. The tourbillon mechanism built into not only as an escapement, but also as a functional element and plays the role of the sidereal hour hand on a dial reproducing the sky chart of the Northern Hemisphere. The sun disk rotates once round the dial but counterclockwise and in 24 hours exactly (solar day is 4 minutes longer than the stellar). The sun moves along the scale with the zodiac sings and the names of the months – it displays a current constellation at any time of the year. All this complex system is regulated by the annual calendar. Traditional indications of the average solar time are marked by hour and minute hands.

Duomètre Unique Travel Time
The hand-wound Dual-Wing Calibre 383 is used in this second time-zone piece, debuted at SIHH 2014 in January in Geneva, Switzerland. The traditional right-side dial shows the home time and the 2nd time zone in jumping digital display along with minutes. For greater visualization, the sphere with a globe at 6 o’clock displays the day/night ring. The globe’s position is synchronized with the travel time zone which is adjusted using the “forward” and «back» push-pieces on the left caseside. It’s interesting that in case of a non-standard time zone, the minutes can be adjusted separately. The engraved names of the cities corresponding to the world’s 24 time zones are visible through the back of the 42mm rose gold case.

Rendez-Vous Tourbillon Wild
The Rendez-Vous Tourbillon Wild is part of a Limited Collection of 100 numbered pieces. The dial design is breathtaking using an mélange of different rare techniques: snow-setting, mother of pearl marquetry and real feathers. 39mm case’s white gold bezel, satin strap lugs and winding crown are paved with 366 diamonds totaling 3.1 carats. The automatic Calibre 978 features second hand function mounted on the tourbillon cage.