The New Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon; A Symmetrical Masterpiece
The list of complications in which Jaeger-LeCoultre specializes is almost endless. In 1946, the brand made its first tourbillon, then still in a pocket watch, but from 1993 it was also introduced in a wristwatch. While Jaeger-LeCoultre loves to innovate, as they did, in 2004, by making the Gyrotourbillon 1, the world’s first spherical, dual-axis tourbillon, they never forget the traditional tourbillon either.
The new Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon makes quite an impression with its 41.5mm large case, which is crafted from ‘Le Grand Rose’ gold. Jaeger-LeCoultre introduced this proprietary pink gold alloy earlier this year. It has a stunning rich color to it, which is highly resistant to fading over time. Jaeger-LeCoultre combines this with an eggshell-white dial, which is almost perfectly symmetrical. It’s only the logo of the brand that makes you truly realize this. The Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon shows at the twelve o’clock position the Northern Hemisphere’s moon phases using a disk. The ring surrounding it shows on the left the moon phases with the moon’s age on the right, indicating the phases of Earth’s only natural satellite on the Southern Hemisphere employing a double-ended hand.
For this watch, did Jaeger-LeCoultre develop a brand new movement. Caliber 983 is based on caliber 978, to which Jaeger-LeCoultre added the moon phase and date complication. The latter has an unusual feature. Because it is a pointer date, it will, at some point, obstruct the tourbillon, so Jaeger-Lecoultre made it so that it jumps over this space. Interestingly enough did the brand not do the same for the moon phase display at twelve o’clock. Caliber 983 can be admired through the sapphire crystal caseback, which shows beautiful decorations and the pink gold oscillating weight with the Jaeger-LeCoultre logo. As the movement is quite thin, the overall height of the watch is only 12.1mm. This is given the complications that it houses quite slender. As it is part of the Master-collection, the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Moon also comes with Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 1,000 Hours Control certification, in addition to its eight-year warranty. This certification means that the watch undergoes a total of 1,000 hours of testing in the Jaeger-LeCoultre manufacture before the watch is delivered.
