Jaeger-LeCoultre - Practical Whirlwind
WORLDTEMPUS - 16 January 2012
The tourbillon has become one of the most common tools of luxury marketing in watchmaking in the current era. Naturally, it has been hotly debated in the last few years whether the whirlwind escapement actually adds precision to the rate of a wristwatch. Jaeger-LeCoultre has been one of the very few manufacturers to address this issue head on. The latest tangible result of it is currently being released at SIHH this week.
Purpose
Marketing director Stephane Belmont reports general sales of tourbillons increasing at Jaeger-LeCoultre. "However," he adds, "these need to be tourbillons with a purpose."
One of the new Duometre a Spherotourbillon's greatest advantages is that - despite its great complexity - it remains fully wearable and as easy to use as a child's toy. "This sort of modern watchmaking that stays within the confines of what can be considered traditional appeals greatly to a new clientele," says Belmont.
It is housed in an incredibly svelte 42 mm 18-karat rose gold case that is a very proportional 14.1 mm in height. The right side of the case houses the clean, practical displays: hours, minutes, and seconds that are connected to a flyback reset allowing precise time-setting. Here, two power reserve displays are also visible: one for the functions and one for the movement as is typical of the entire dual-winged line. The date and a 24-hour second time zone are also visible here, but do not distract from the main feature.
Feature presentation
The main focus, of course, is the delicate dance of the multi-axis tourbillon beautifully sheathed in its cage of sapphire crystal: this timepiece boasts a large sapphire recess revealing every move the double-axis tourbillon makes. Rotating at a much faster rate than one minute, the 105 components comprising the tourbillon are encased in an 11.5 mm cage of titanium inclined at 20 degrees. It takes 30 seconds for the entire tourbillon to complete one revolution, while the inclined carriage within makes a revolution in 15 seconds. The tourbillon's beating heart comprises a cylindrical balance spring provided by A. Lange & Söhne that boasts two terminal curves, lending it the ability to breathe in both directions.
Precision
Up to 2008 when A. Lange & Söhne introduced the Cabaret Tourbillon, no tourbillon escapement had ever had the ability to hack. Pulling the Cabaret Tourbillon's crown out stops the balance wheel and the tourbillon. This way the wearer can set the seconds to a precise time signal. Jaeger-LeCoultre has taken this concept one step further: when the Duometre a Spherotourbillon's crown is pulled out and the flyback button at 2 o'clock on the case is pushed, the second hand resets - but the balance wheel and tourbillon continue along their usual paths, meaning there is no loss of amplitude or precision.
"One watch, two brains" is the tagline that has gone along with the Duometre line since its debut in 2007. This year, we can see that there were several brains at work, not just the two inherent to this model. "An evolution?" Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Jerôme Lambert asks before answering his own question. "No, a revolution."
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