Jaeger-LeCoultre

Founded
1833
Based in
Le Sentier, Switzerland
In our catalog
10 watches from $7,700 to $420,000

Jaeger-LeCoultre is the brand watch lovers name when they're asked which company does it all. It has created more than 1,200 movements, supplied movements to Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin, and makes almost everything under one roof in the Vallée de Joux. Its best-known watch, the Reverso, flips over to protect its face.

History

Antoine LeCoultre opened his workshop in Le Sentier in 1833. He invented tools for precise measurement and in 1847 developed a system for winding and setting a watch with the crown instead of a key. The company grew into the largest manufacture in the valley, making its own components and supplying movements to others.

In 1903 Paris watchmaker Edmond Jaeger began working with LeCoultre, and the two companies merged in 1937. The Reverso was launched in 1931 for British polo players in India who wanted a watch that could survive a match: the case slides and flips to protect the crystal. Other milestones include the Atmos clock, which runs on changes in air temperature, the Calibre 101, one of the smallest mechanical movements ever made (1929), and the Memovox alarm watch (1950). JLC joined the Richemont group in 2000.

Signature models

What it's known for

JLC makes nearly everything itself, and its range covers dress watches, sports watches and grand complications. Collectors respect it more than its marketing would suggest.

Price and positioning

A Reverso Classic starts around $7,500, most models fall between $10,000 and $20,000, and complications go much higher. For the money you get more in-house watchmaking than from most brands at this level, with far less hype than Patek or AP.

Jaeger-LeCoultre watches in our library

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