Jaeger-LeCoultre Unveil Master Ultra Thin Perpetual Watch

By Valerie Jack | March 11, 2013

Luxury watchmakers Jaeger-LeCoultre have unveiled their first ultra-thin automatic perpetual calendar watch. The new Master Ultra Thin Perpetual watch measures is just 9.2 millimetres thick yet houses an exceptionally sophisticated mechanism, which takes into account the unequal length of the months and naturally displays the leap day that occurs every four years. As a result, the owner of this timepiece will not need to make any manual adjustment before March 1, 2100.

This new timepiece is the culmination of more than a century’s work, dating back to when Jacques-David LeCoultre took up a challenge made to Swiss watch manufacturers by the French industrialist Edmond Jaeger, who wanted to produce an ultra-thin watch. LeCoultre and Jaeger joined forces, giving rise in 1907 to the introduction of the Calibre 145 pocket-watch movement (pictured below). Measuring just 1.38 mm in width, LeCoultre and Jaeger’s watch earned the title of world’s thinnest watch movement.

The new Master Ultra Thin Perpetual carries on that mantle, beginning with a 39mm-diameter case available in three different variations. The first is an 18-carat pink gold version with an eggshell-white dial; the second is an 18-carat white gold version housing a grained, silver-toned dial; and, finally, a steel version featuring a sunburst, silver-toned dial which will be available exclusively at Jaeger-LeCoultre boutiques. At the heart of this timepiece is the Calibre 868, a 336-part ultra-thin automatic perpetual calendar movement. Despite it’s slim profile, the Manufacture equipped this mechanism with a complete calendar, even arranging the entire set of indications on the dial to ensure perfect readability. In addition to the hour, minute and central seconds hands, the dial boasts three perpetual calendar display counters: the days of the week are indicated at 9 o’clock, the date at 3 o’clock and the month at 6 o’clock. Finally, at the centre of the dial is a window which indicates when the gear wheels are engaged in preparing the change of indication that takes place daily at exactly midnight, so the owner knows when not to make adjustments.