SIHH 2019: Jaeger-LeCoultre rocks the horological world with Master Grande Tradition

In the horological world, one of the most revered masterpieces is the tourbillon, watches that feature the escapement and the balance wheel in a rotating cage, which helps to counter the effects of gravity, offering greater precision and accuracy.

Although the original movement was patented by French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801, watchmaking maisons have since tried to outdo each other with more complicated versions like the flying tourbillon or the multiple-axis tourbillon. But, perhaps, none has been as impressive as Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Gyrotourbillon.

The maison turned the industry on its head when it introduced the Master Gyrotourbillon 1 in 2004. One of the first multi-axis tourbillons of its time, it also was able to incorporate a perpetual calendar, complete with an equation of time on the side and a power reserve indicator on the side, housed in an elegant round case with a diamond bezel.

Fifteen years and four Gyrotourbillons later, Jaeger-LeCoultre upped the ante at this year’s SIHH with the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, easily one of the most outstanding novelties at the fair.

The Westminster Perpétuel comes with a size reduction in the redesigned tourbillon component, creating a more wearable timepiece. Successful miniaturisation of the movement is highly valued in the horological world as it reduces error tolerance.

That the new novelty is able to incorporate a Westminster carillon minute repeater into a wearable size is also a laudable achievement. The minute repeater uses four sets of gongs and hammers to replicate the chime of the famous Big Ben in London. Its four-phrase crisp melody comprises four notes played in different quantities and sequences at each quarter of the hour. The Westminster Perpétuel also has a silence-reduction function built into its chiming mechanism to eradicate interruptions and gaps of silence between the strikes.

There is a one-minute constant-force mechanism to provide consistent energy to power the tourbillon, ensuring the precision of the jumping minute and the minute repeater mechanism and completely eliminating the chiming error that can occur when the repeater is activated between minutes.

All these qualities, plus a perpetual calendar, are housed in an elegant 43mm case with a blue guilloche or silver-grained enamel. The novelty comes in a limited edition of 18 pieces.

“Jaeger-LeCoultre has always been at the forefront of innovation and in watchmaking. We are the inventor of Gyrotourbillon and it is fantastic. High-watchmaking is really our heart,” says CEO Catherine Renier.