ABSOLUTE WONDER

Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Catherine Rénier takes Augustman through this year’s magnum opus — the Duomètre Heliotourbillon Perpetual.

- JONATHAN HO

RENOWNED FOR its meticulous craftsmanship and innovation since its inception, Jaeger-LeCoultre has exhibited an unparalleled obsession with tourbillon escapements, an obsession deeply rooted in the brand’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of horology and engineering excellence — a hallmark of their nickname: the watchmaker’s watchmaker.

Over the course of almost two centuries, the Grande Maison has distinguished itself through the development of increasingly sophisticated means of achieving the perfect regularity of the ‘heartbeat’ of its calibres. Having accomplished the multi-axis Gyrotourbillon in 2004, it almost becomes a kind of fiat accompli that 20 years later, their most precise timepiece ever, the Duomètre mechanism, which enables the addition of complications without any compromise to the accuracy of the timekeeping function, is finally equipped with a heliotourbillon.

“The new calibre of the Duomètre Heliotourbillon Perpetual took us five years of development,” says Jaeger-LeCoultre CEO Catherine Rénier. Pushing the envelope of inventiveness, the new Calibre 388 features an entirely new tourbillon construction: one that spins on three axes to create a ‘spinning top’ effect and, as befitting the remit of uncompromised timekeeping complications, the latest Duomètre also incorporates a perpetual calendar with a grande date indication.