The brand has announced a new initiative that takes us back to the brand’s origins. Jaeger-LeCoultre introduces The Collectibles, a selection of 17 vintage watches that the maison has refurbished for collectors around the world.
Today we find out directly from the manufacture about this great news.
The history of Jaeger-LeCoultre in Italy
The history of Jaeger-LeCoultre, like that of all Swiss brands, is inextricably linked to Italy. The style, size, and dials have often been influenced by Italian taste, from the 1930s through the 1990s. The most iconic model ever, however, is even more linked to our country, thanks to a milanese family: the Corvo family.
Giorgio Corvo, founder of the family, during a visit to Le Sentier saw Reverso cases without a movement or dial. The Reverso at that time was considered to be a botched experiment, and the maison itself was inclined to stop producing them. Fortunately, Mr. Corvo was able to convince the brand to refurbish those watches with an ingenious solution, using the caliber 480, with a movement holder made by Corvo’s chief technician. About 200 pieces were produced and brought to Italy to be sold.
From here on, the second chapter in the history of the Reverso officially begins. If it had not been exhumed, Jaeger’s folding case would probably never have seen the light of day again, effectively erasing a wonderful history that now is an impressive 92 years old.
This concise narrative allows us to contextualize the importance of Jaeger-LeCoultre to Italian collectors and this story that has the unbelievable. Now we continue with the brand’s new project.
The Collectibles is born
The brand today does not particularly focus on vintage, but looks toward the future with the hyper complicated Quadriptyque or its own astronomical calibres. At the same time, the importance of looking to the past is crucial, because it allows the perpetuation of the values and ideas that the watchmakers of the time were able to achieve.
This is precisely why Jaeger-LeCoultre presents The Collectibles, a capsule that will allow collectors and enthusiasts to be able to purchase, directly from the Maison, a variety of 17 vintage watches restored in the ateliers of the Vallée de Joux.
Just think that the brand boasts as many as 1,300 calibres (you read that right), 430 patents and more than 180 skills for making its watches. JLC has gone down in history for creating some of the most reliable mechanisms that several outside maisons have since used, from Audemars Piguet with the Royal Oak 5402 to Vacheron Constantin.
In the brand’s archives it is possible to find real treasures, which belonged to distant eras and which one book alone would not be enough to recount. On a visit to the Le Sentier museum, all the artistic crafts that were cultivated in the valley are preserved, when winter time stood still and watchmakers unleashed their imaginations, honing new techniques still used today.
17 restored by Jaeger-LeCoultre
This is the selection of watches chosen for the first capsule of The Collectibles:
1. DUOPLAN
2. REVERSO
3. TRIPLE CALENDAR
4. POWERMATIC
5. MEMOVOX
6. FUTUREMATIC
7. QUARTERMASTER
8. GEOPHYSIC
9. MEMOVOX DEEP SEA
10. MEMOVOX AUTOMATIC
11. GEOMATIC
12. MEMOVOX POLARIS
13. MASTER MARINER DEEP SEA BARRACUDA
14. SHARK DEEP SEA
15. MEMOVOX POLARIS II
16 & 17 MEMOVOX GT e MEMOVOX SNOWDROP
We must specify that only 12 of the 17 watches will be available for purchase due to technical and research issues, which did not allow all 17 pieces to be completed. Specifically, it will not be possible to purchase the Memovox Snowdrop, the Futurematic, the Powermatic, the Memovox Deep Sea, and the Quartermaster.
Prices and availability
This collection of 12 vintage watches will be available to the public from January 25, 2023, on the Jaeger-LeCoultre website. Each watch will be paired with the official book The Collectibles, including all the pieces, an introduction by CEO Catherine Rénier, and a preface written by Franco Cologni. What do you think of this news?
To check all the prices, visit this link on Jaeger-LeCoultre official website.
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Picutres credits: @ItalianWatchSpotter
