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Winnie Chung

In the horological world, one of the most revered masterpieces is the tourbillon, watches that feature the escapement and the balance wheel in a rotating cage, which helps to counter the effects of gravity, offering greater precision and accuracy.
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Although the original movement was patented by French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801, watchmaking maisons have since tried to outdo each other with more complicated versions like the flying tourbillon or the multiple-axis tourbillon. But, perhaps, none has been as impressive as Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Gyrotourbillon.

The maison turned the industry on its head when it introduced the Master Gyrotourbillon 1 in 2004. One of the first multi-axis tourbillons of its time, it also was able to incorporate a perpetual calendar, complete with an equation of time on the side and a power reserve indicator on the side, housed in an elegant round case with a diamond bezel.
Fifteen years and four Gyrotourbillons later, Jaeger-LeCoultre upped the ante at this year’s SIHH with the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon Westminster Perpétuel, easily one of the most outstanding novelties at the fair.
Jaeger-LeCoultre has always been at the forefront of innovation and in watchmaking... High-watchmaking is really our heart
Catherine Renier, CEO
The Westminster Perpétuel comes with a size reduction in the redesigned tourbillon component, creating a more wearable timepiece. Successful miniaturisation of the movement is highly valued in the horological world as it reduces error tolerance.
That the new novelty is able to incorporate a Westminster carillon minute repeater into a wearable size is also a laudable achievement. The minute repeater uses four sets of gongs and hammers to replicate the chime of the famous Big Ben in London. Its four-phrase crisp melody comprises four notes played in different quantities and sequences at each quarter of the hour. The Westminster Perpétuel also has a silence-reduction function built into its chiming mechanism to eradicate interruptions and gaps of silence between the strikes.
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There is a one-minute constant-force mechanism to provide consistent energy to power the tourbillon, ensuring the precision of the jumping minute and the minute repeater mechanism and completely eliminating the chiming error that can occur when the repeater is activated between minutes.
All these qualities, plus a perpetual calendar, are housed in an elegant 43mm case with a blue guilloche or silver-grained enamel. The novelty comes in a limited edition of 18 pieces.
“Jaeger-LeCoultre has always been at the forefront of innovation and in watchmaking. We are the inventor of Gyrotourbillon and it is fantastic. High-watchmaking is really our heart,” says CEO Catherine Renier.

The Gyrotourbillon is not the only tourbillon presented at SIHH this year. The super slim 40mm Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel comes with a thickness of only 12.13mm. Limited to only 50 pieces, the blue guilloche enamel dial features a sunburst effect and an engraved date counter at 12 o’clock. The watch is powered by the 978F calibre offering a 48-hour power reserve.
The Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is one of three new offerings in the collection this year, together with the Master Ultra Thin Moon Enamel and the Master Ultra Thin Perpetual, both of which come in limited editions of 100 pieces.
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The Master Ultra Thin Perpetual introduces a new display of its perpetual calendar with the day subdial at 3 o’clock, the date at 9 o’clock, and the month and year at 12 o’clock. The moon phase, which simultaneously indicates the moon in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres, is indicated with a disc at 6 o’clock. The Master Ultra Thin Moon features only the moon phase with a surrounding date indicator at 6 o’clock.

For the women, there are two new additions to the Rendez-Vous family. The new Rendez-Vous Moon presents a completely reworked moon phase with a disc at 6 o’clock that puts on display the expertise of the maison’s Métiers Rare. The moon cycles through a lacquer sky, enhanced by clouds that carry it. Staying true to its signature round 34mm case with a diamond-studded bezel, the Rendez-Vous Moon comes in pink gold or stainless steel.

The Dazzling Rendez-Vous Night & Day comes in white gold or pink gold and features two rows of brilliant diamonds on the bezel and lugs, as well as a circle in the mother-of-pearl dial; there are a total of 168 diamonds (3.43 carats) adorning the watch. The 36mm timepiece also shows a night and day semi-circular indicator at 6 o’clock.
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Equally dazzling is the white gold Dazzling Rendez-Vous Moon, which is adorned with a similar set of diamonds but features a moon phase at 6 o’clock instead. Both novelties have an open caseback and a power reserve of 38 hours.
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The Westminster Perpétuel, the latest revolutionary incarnation of the gyrotourbillon, has arrived 15 years after its debut



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SIHH 2019: Jaeger-LeCoultre rocks the horological world with Master Grande Tradition

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} The Westminster Perpétuel, the latest revolutionary incarnation of the gyrotourbillon, has arrived 15 years after its debut

The Westminster Perpétuel, the latest revolutionary incarnation of the gyrotourbillon, has arrived 15 years after its debut