The Founding of the Manufacture
Elie LeCoultre, Antoine's son understood that it was necessary to control all the different stages of manufacturing and assembly. In 1866 he transformed his workshop into a 'Manufacture'. Under one roof, his employees were to pool their know-how, enabling them to meet the most incredible challenges. In 1870 LeCoultre & Cie manufactured the components of complicated movements using mechanized processes. Within 30 years, thanks to the marriage of hand and machine, the Manufacture created more than 350 different calibers of which 128 were equipped with chronograph functions and 99 with repeater mechanisms. Today the original workshop has expanded into an all inclusive manufacturing facility, able to produce all components required for a Jaeger-LeCoultre timepiece. Recently, construction has begun to expanded the workshop even further. Jaeger-LeCoultre continues to produce luxury timepieces that pass the test of time and are considered by connoisseurs to be among the very best in the world.
Out of the two men's friendship was to emerge one of the most beautiful collections of ultra-thin pocket watches, followed by other creations that would culminate in the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand.In 1907 the JLC Caliber 145 set the record for the thinnest movement at 1.38 mm. However, there were many other achievements of Jaeger-LeCoultre:
- 1903 World's thinnest pocket watch movement.
- 1925 Invention of the Duoplan watch.
- 1930 Manufacturing of the Atmos clock (after purchasing the patent from Jean-Leon Reutter, who invented it in 1920)
- 1929 World's smallest movement Caliber 101, barely 1 gram and composed of 74 parts.
- 1931 8-day double-barrel wristwatch Caliber 124.
- 1931 Creation of the Reverso, designed in Paris by René-Alfred Chauvot and patented on March 4, 1931.
- 1932 creation of the Uniplan wristwatch.
- 1937 Official renaming of the Jaeger-LeCoultre brand.
- 1938 Compass miniature camera.
- 1941 Jaeger-LeCoultre earns the highest distinctions from the Neuchâtel Observatory for its Jaeger-LeCoultre tourbillon Caliber 170.
- 1946 First Jaeger-LeCoultre automatic watch, caliber 476.
- 1950 Creation of the Memovox, calibers 489 and 814.
- 1953 Creation of the Futurematic, automatic watch with no winding-crown.
- 1956 First automatic alarm wristwatch, the automatic Memovox produced between 1956 and 1968, it is equipped with Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 815.
- 1958 Geophysic Chronometer, caliber 478BWSbr
- 1961 Deep Sea Alarm - world's first dive watch with alarm movement! Calibre 815
- 1962 Ultra-thin Caliber 838.
- 1967 Jaeger-LeCoultre takes part in the creation of the first quartz wristwatch in watch making history, the Beta 2.
- 1981 Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 606 with date display and centre seconds is the thinnest in its category.
- 1982 Caliber 601 earns the title of the world's thinnest movement, and the same year the caliber 608 becomes even thinner.
- 1983 Caliber 889, with jumping date display is a vivid example. In 1992, this will become the movement which equips the very first watch to surmount the rigorous Master 1000 Hours test.
- 1989 Grand Réveil, automatic Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 919 comprises no less than 350 parts, a perpetual calendar with moon phases and alarm.
- 1990 Géographique, Caliber 929 with 24 time zones, day-night indication, power-reserve and a high-frequency balance.
- 1991 Reverso 60ème manually wound Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 824.
- 1992 Master 1000 Hours, based on an unparalleled set of strict standards, the battery of tests composing the Master 1000 Hours control procedure guarantee the exceptional reliability and precision of the first Master Control.
- 1993 Reverso tourbillon.
- 1994 Reverso a minute repeater; Reverso Duo, Caliber 854.
- 1996 Reverso with a retrograde chronograph.
- 1998 Reverso with a time-zone mechanism in 1998.
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2000 Reverso with a perpetual calendar.
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