Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is painstakingly crafted by the Maison’s Metiers Rares Atelier. Upholding the reputation for watches from this region it is slender and equipped with a high-complication. However, this model’s talents extend further, courtesy of its dial enriched with a combination of hand-guilloché and Grand Feu enamel. Angus Davies urges horological fetishists to form an orderly queue.
Horological fetishism
Strolling along a high street, dodging the oncoming throngs of scooters and prams, I no longer engage in window shopping. However, I still tend to pause whenever I pass a jeweller’s window. As a self-confessed horological fetishist, nothing makes me more excited than a tastefully adorned dial, a sumptuously executed case or a finely decorated movement.
Jaeger-LeCoultre has just released a new watch that not only tickles my fancy, it wholeheartedly seduces me with its bewitching appearance and technical excellence. Allow me to elaborate.
Hand-guilloché dial
The dial of the new Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is endowed with a hand-guilloché pattern. This form of adornment is performed using a rose engine lathe. These machines are no longer made and while Jaeger-LeCoultre does not state the age of its lathes, it is not unheard of for artisans to use 100 year-old machines.
In some respects, my use of the word ‘machine’ is somewhat misleading as there is an absence of electrical power or any other form of automation. A dial blank (typically brass) is fixed to a rotating head and held in a vertical position. A cutter is then placed against the dial blank and by turning the rotating head using a handle, a groove is cut into the blank. A series of cams or rosettes influences the behaviour of the cutter, guiding it in a particular direction to achieve a specific pattern. This technique is repeated again and again to achieve the desired motif.
In this instance, the dial of the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is adorned with a sun ray pattern. According to the Maison, 180 sun rays emanate from the centre of the dial with each ray necessitating six passes of the cutter, making a total of 1080 passes of the cutter. However, this is only half the story. For the motif to seduce a purist’s soul, the space between each line and the depth of each groove must be uniform. This can only be achieved by a time-served guillocher, blessed with the necessary patience and hand-eye coordination, deftly imparting the motif.
Grand Feu enamel
At this stage, the norm is to impart colour to the dial using a galvanic process. However, the Maison’s specialist department, the Metiers Rares Atelier, clearly had different ideas. It seems this team of gifted artisans has slightly masochistic tendencies. Once the guillocher completes their job, the dial is passed to a master enameller where multiple layers of Grand Feu enamel are applied to the engraved motif.
The enamel is a silica-based powder. When heated to approximately 800°C the enamel fuses with the brass to form a base layer. Once cooled, the process is repeated over and over again to create distinct layers. Just as an aside, the underside of the dial usually receives a base layer of enamel to prevent the dial from buckling during the firing process.
During each firing process, the artisan must closely observe the evolution of the enamel to ensure it does not crack, bubble or assume the wrong shade. Indeed, the unpredictability of the firing process will inevitably result in some dials being discarded.
Other dial details
Dauphine-style hour and minute hands collaborate with applied indexes to express meaning. A pointer-type date display is positioned in the upper reaches of the dial and features snailed decoration, sometimes termed ‘azurage’, at its centre.
A tourbillon cage resides in the southern dial region and is encircled by a golden seconds track.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel case
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is housed in an 18-carat pink gold case, measuring 40 mm in diameter. While some of its JLC Master Ultra Thin siblings have a narrower waist, the 12.13 mm thickness of this watch remains impressive given the complexity within.
Jaeger-Le-Coultre Calibre 978 movement
Few watch firms can rival the watchmaking expertise of Jaeger-LeCoultre. Founded in 1833, the Maison has created over 1400 calibres and holds more than 430 patents. Over the years, it has been trusted by the great and good, supplying movements to Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Patek Philippe and Vacheron Constantin, to name but a few.
Jaeger-LeCoultre is located in Le Sentier, a picturesque village in the Vallée de Joux, a region with a rich tradition of making complicated watches and ultra-thin timepieces. As its name implies, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel features Breguet’s ultra-desirable mechanism (patented in 1801). By placing the escapement and regulating organ within a rotating cage, the tourbillon counters the adverse influence of gravity on the rate, aiding precision.
In this instance, the tourbillon cage rotates 360° every 60 seconds. JLC has fitted a three-arm hand atop the cage, serving as a small-second display. The tourbillon cage is made of lightweight titanium, hence it requires little energy to perform its pirouetting performance.
This is not the first time that the luxury marque has used the Calibre 978 movement. It was first released in 2009 and won an international chronometry prize in the same year. A notable feature of the movement, besides said tourbillon, is that it features a ‘flat, two-level hairspring designed with a specific curve at the attachment points’. This improves the way the balance spring develops (breathes), augmenting isochronism.
As one would expect of this esteemed Maison, the movement is attractively finished with Côtes de Genève rayonnantes. Furthermore, polished sinks and thermally blued screws are also in evidence.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel – closing remarks
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is an informed choice. The purchaser of this model is likely to be knowledgeable about high-end watchmaking and will recognise some of this model’s qualities within moments of meeting its acquaintance.
However, while this model’s charms are clear to see, it is only with sufficient understanding that you can appreciate the work that has gone into crafting the dial or assembling the movement. Hand-guilloché, Grand Feu enamel, a tourbillon, an in-house hairspring with optimised geometry are just some of the delights on offer. The question is, are you a connoisseur or a horological fetishist? Irrespective of how you answer this question, you will find much to tempt you with this exquisite timepiece.
Further reading
https://www.jaeger-lecoultre.com/
Technical specification
- Model: Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel
- Reference: Q13224E1
- Case: 18-carat pink gold, diameter 40 mm, height 12.13 mm, water resistance 5 ATM (50 m), sapphire crystal to front and exhibition caseback
- Functions: hours, minutes, centre seconds, moon phases, date
- Movement: Calibre 978, self-winding movement, frequency 28,800 vph (4 Hz), contains 35 jewels, power reserve 45 hours
- Strap: blue alligator strap with small scale lining supplied with 18-carat pink gold folding clasp
- Price on application