Not all images were able to load for printing. Please close the print window and try again. Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra-Thin Moon Enamel
The elegant JLC Master Ultra-Thin Moon get the high-end touch with a guilloché enamelled dial for SIHH 2019.
With the SIHH 2019 only a month away, brands are pre-releasing selected models to whet our appetite. Among them is Jaeger-LeCoultre, which has unveiled a superb new version of one of its classics. Meet the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra-Thin Moon Enamel, a showcase for the artistic crafts of the Grande Maison.
This year Jaeger-LeCoultre celebrates the Art of Precision – which, in the brand’s own words, goes way beyond just chronometry and encompasses meticulous attention to detail and an unceasing quest for perfection. For its Pre-SIHH 2019 launch, Jaeger-LeCoultre kicks off with the Master Ultra-Thin Moon Enamel, the first watch of a series that will culminate with a Grande Complication, a new Hybris Mechanica that we are looking forward to presenting soon on MONOCHROME – but that won’t happen before the SIHH itself, in mid-January.
The Master Ultra-Thin Moon Enamel is a 100-piece limited edition watch that exemplifies precise craftsmanship and discreet elegance. It is classy in its own way, with a touch of originality. The highlight of the model is, without doubt, its superb dial radiating absolute stylistic purity. It features a hand guilloché sunray pattern with straight lines traced from the centre of the dial. A blue, translucent enamel layer is then applied on its surface to bestow an intense depth and lustre to the engraved motif.
The dial is manufactured in-house and is a testament to the mastery Jaeger-LeCoultre has achieved in traditional crafts (or métiers rares). It is made of several parts that are then assembled together and welded to create the final dial. Naturally, this adds complexity as the counter or mainplate of the dial are independently decorated with hand-guilloché and their motifs have to match each other perfectly. The outer part framing the dial is made separately too. The date ring framing the moon phase indication is delicately engraved. The applied hour markers (another meticulous manufacturing step) are slightly thinner and more elongated than for the regular Jaeger-LeCoultre Master models.
The white gold case is 39mm in diameter and a tad thicker than the standard Master Ultra-Thin Moon (10.04mm versus 9.9mm, mainly due to the new dial). It houses an updated movement, the Jaeger-LeCoultre calibre 925/2. Operating at 28,800 vibrations per hour, this automatic movement offers a 70-hour power reserve – a great improvement compared to the previous calibre 925/1 found in other Master Ultra-Thin Moon watches, which offered 43 hours of power reserve.
This movement indicates the hours, minutes and seconds on the central axle, as well as two other indications, the date and the moon phases, both appearing in the sub-dial at 6 o’clock. Turning the watch over, the exhibition caseback allows a view of the movement finished with Geneva stripes, perlage and blued screws.
A black alligator leather strap adds the finishing touch. The retail price has not been confirmed yet by Jaeger-LeCoultre. For more information, please visit www.jaeger-lecoultre.com.
9 responses
Looks a bit like the Rolex Cellini, but nicer. Good power reserve. I guess the price will be around Euro 20K.
30K euro excluding VAT by Fratellowatches
*spits out drink* WHAT?! Dear god, and with that movement finish…
Nnnnope.
nice watch, but at the end of day, what we do we have here something so extraordinary for 30K??….hahaha….next please…
I lost interest when I read ltd edition of 100 , then the price !!! Richemont’s pricing is getting ludicrous , and with only 100 , no negotiating on the price .
This is literally just to compete with the better aesthetics of the Cellini. People love to spend 20-30k on a Daytona, but balk at an interesting dress watch with a refreshing style that isn’t just a calatrava clone. I love JLC and this was long overdue, but I’m not happy to see limited numbers on this.
I can see where you’re coming from Tony, but I’m the type who wouldn’t touch a Daytona with a foot-long pole, and if looking for a good €30k-€35k dress watch (remember that VAT), the candidates would be of a decidedly higher echelon: like an FP Journe CS, or Patek 5146 Annual Calendar, or ALS Lange 1, or Vacheron Historiques 1948 Calendar, or maybe a Laurent Ferrier Galet Square if I could just warm to it. Not exactly Calatrava clone territory!
That this – admittedly perfectly pleasant, but relatively unremarkable – example is being positioned into the same value space alongside those wonderful pieces is incredible. Even as a limited edition.
Anyway, I bet it’s a mixup and Fratello has put a 3 instead of a 2, and my elitist monocle-pop will look silly.
Very nice, but limited edition makes it irrelevant. And the price is too high. Probably “justified” by the ltd ed status. I suspect this is a feeler piece. If it is successful, I suspect white and black-dialled pieces will become available next year. And they will still be very over-priced.
The charm of this watch is the Enamel dial. However, at this price point, it doesn’t really offer very good value. I wouldn’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. Now, if Richemont had launched this as a regular production model in the 15K range, that may have made it on the grail I can actually hope to acquire in life list.