Jaeger-LeCoultre caught in a virtuous circle

Some things speak for themselves, beginning with the calm that reigned over the Jaeger-LeCoultre booth at Watches&Wonders, the fine watch fair that held its second edition in Hong Kong, end September. Despite the crowds that pressed into the space, and the barrage of questions from visitors eager to learn more about the company’s watches, the atmosphere of quiet serenity was undisturbed. The Grande Maison de la Vallée de Joux, as it likes to call itself, clearly has the wind in its sails.

One for the history books

The first Hybris Artistica are a fine example of this success. Initially, just twelve were to be made, one of each model, but as demand grew beyond expectations their number was increased to thirty. Unveiled at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva as the quintessence of the métiers d’art applied to the company’s mastery of mechanical timekeeping, these watches have since travelled the world, appearing at prestigious events hosted by the brand, such as at the Venice Film Festival. Before Taipei, the collection made its penultimate stop in Hong Kong, where visitors to the fair were among the last to have this chance to contemplate all twelve watches together in the same place.

“We are indeed bringing this adventure to a close and will deliver the watches early next year,” confirmed Jaeger-LeCoultre Chief Executive Daniel Riedo. “To date, twenty-seven of the Hybris Artistica have found takers, and I’m expecting imminent confirmation for the twenty-eighth, the one-of-a-kind Atmos Marqueterie. This leaves two Reverso Cordonnet Neva, which is very much a jewellery watch with less emphasis on horological content.” Knowing that some of the watches were snapped up on the day of their presentation – including one by a collector who flew in from London just to see the piece and place an order – and that their price ranges from CHF 200,000 to over a million for the most costly, this unique anthology of the Maison’s artistic crafts already marks an historic moment.

A Rendez-Vous with success

Nor is Jaeger-LeCoultre merely flaunting its skills. “When thirteen years ago we launched the Hybris Mechanica collection, the reflection of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s expertise and innovation in grandes complications, our objective wasn’t just to produce exceptional timepieces. We also wanted the results of this research to trickle down into the other collections,” notes Daniel Riedo. “The same is true of the Hybris Artistica watches. We intend them to open up new applications for the métiers d’art that will benefit the Maison’s other ranges. Here at Watches&Wonders, we have also trained the spotlight on the eleventh piece in our Hybris Mechanica series, the Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon, which to a certain extent has been overshadowed by the twelve Hybris Artistica. We’ve also brought with us a Rendez-Vous Ivy Minute Repeater, a perfect illustration of what I was saying just before.”

This deliciously feminine timepiece is fitted with the new Calibre 942A, which takes advantage of innovations developed for the Hybris Mechanica Grande Sonnerie, including trebuchet hammers and a silent regulator. Further emulation is apparent in the enamelled white gold dial which is decorated with a sunburst guilloché pattern and embellished with ivy leaves, picked out in snow-set diamonds. That the spirit of the Hybris Artistica should be spreading to the Rendez-Vous line ought to come as no surprise. Introduced barely three years ago and now the brand’s flagship women’s collection, it accounts for 40% of sales in quantity. In fact its success has been such that Jaeger-LeCoultre has doubled production capacity for this range, which by way of complications already boasts a tourbillon, a perpetual calendar, and a moving star chart.

A new collection fills a gap

Now the Manufacture has decided to go a step further, as Daniel Riedo explains: “Whereas 2016 will be the year of the Reverso, we are working on a new collection, our eighth, for next year that will also benefit from developments made for the Hybris series. Between the Duomètre, with its highly complex movements, and the Master range which is a compromise between classicism and technical performance, we feel there is room for a new line that will cover a high added-value segment.”

In the meantime, Jaeger-LeCoultre is further consolidating its foundations as it continues along the same upward trajectory it has been following for some considerable time already. Says Daniel Riedo: “Over the past four or five years, we have stepped up the pace of boutique openings alongside our distributor and retailer networks, and are now equally present in each of these three channels. We currently have sixty-one points of sale in our own name, with a balance point expected at between eighty-five and ninety. Momentum is extremely positive in the United States, where the market is opening up to segments other than sport watches, hence we are putting particular emphasis on this region. As for production, we are continuing to expand our site in Porrentruy, in the Swiss Jura. The number of watchmakers employed there has already gone from fifteen to fifty, and should eventually reach two hundred. So we are still hiring because we can’t entirely meet demand. We don’t deliberately set out to create product scarcity, but that’s what the situation is. And it is quite a comfortable situation to be in!”