Jaeger-LeCoultre - Adrenalin Rush
WORLDTEMPUS - 9 November 2012
After perusing the chic Aston Martin showroom near Hyde Park in London, I accompanied representatives from Jaeger-LeCoultre out to Millbrook. This testing ground for automobiles is where Aston Martin and other car makers put their products through their paces before releasing them to the public.
It is here that Aston Martin's patient driving teachers allowed me to take the new Vanquish and DB9 models, not yet even in retail stores, out for a spin, pushing the speedometer up to a full 130 mph (the highest speed allowed on the tracks). Naturally, the cars drove as smooth as silk, even at these high speeds.
Adrenalin on the wrist
Even though the automobiles captured a great deal of my attention, Jaeger-LeCoultre's new Amvox 7 captured even more of it. The seventh timepiece in the line of exceptional Amvox sports watches is a chronograph with a twist: it contains a vertical trigger mechanism under the dial so that pushing on the sapphire crystal in just the right places will start, stop and reset the chronograph. The desired chronograph function can be locked by a slide on the side of the case so that timing intervals aren't accidentally started or stopped. Additionally, the 65-hour power reserve of the automatic movement is shown in a unique radial display that adds to the visuals' feeling of speed.
The Amvox collaboration has been partially so successful for Jaeger-LeCoultre because the timepieces of this collaboration authentically, but not tackily, contain design elements from Aston Martin's own set of codes as head designer Marek Reichman, who came to Aston Martin a few months after the start of the now eight-year collaboration, confirms. "It's important that the watch gives you a feeling similar to that of the car," he explained. "Both Aston Martin and Jaeger-LeCoultre stand for similar things, but live in different worlds: depth, richness of heritage, and being contemporary brands."
After eight years of limited editions only, the 44 mm titanium Amvox 7 finally represents an entry-level timepiece for the collection and is thus unlimited. Like all timepieces of this collection, it is outfitted with a quick-change strap system that allows the owner to change the look and feel of the watch instantaneously.