INSIDE THE GRAND MAISON

Augustman spent a day inside LeCoultre’s home in Le Sentier and we learnt why they’re also nicknamed “the watchmaker of watchmakers”

- JONATHAN HO

ALTHOUGH ONE TENDS TO THINK of Geneva as the cradle of watchmaking, the reality is that in the 1800s the Vallée de Joux, a day’s horse ride away, was where watchmakers plied their craft. Isolated in the winter months and nary a thing to do for half a year, farmers turned idle time into watchmaking – each working independently, cutting and grinding tiny gears in their attics or by the windows with natural light; producing complete watches by the time spring had sprung. Among them was Antoine LeCoultre, a watchmaker whose farmhouse from 1833 still stands and from those foundations, the annexes of the Grand Maison – Jaeger-LeCoultre.

An inventor who balanced both intellect and imagination, LeCoultre transformed his family’s small barn into a watchmaking atelier and began to create timepieces of great accuracy. He pioneered keyless winding: a timepiece that could be wound without a key – a revolution for the era since repeatedly opening a pocket watch for winding was a surefire way of introducing dust and other contaminants into a movement, as well as a means to measure microns (the Millionometre) which led to a major breakthrough for precision in the industry.

At a time when almost all watchmakers used to work from home, each with their own specialty and crafting techniques, the company was famed for bringing all the watchmaking skills under one roof. With close to two centuries of horological expertise, Jaeger-LeCoultre stands alone in its command of complicated watchmaking.