BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
Jaeger-LeCoultre. That’s it, the name sells itself, so we could just leave it at that. Nah, actually, let’s add a bit more shall we? Jaeger-LeCoultre is famous for making, well, just about every watch you can think of, and then some, for the movements they made and sent to other brands to be used in their watches. These days they seem to make movements just for themselves, but they go in all kinds of watches from sports watches to dress watches, ladies’ watches and the most complex watches you can possibly dream of. And yet, despite all of that, with Jaeger-LeCoultre it’s usually their simpler offerings that generate the most buzz.
The new version of the Master Control Calendar was undoubtedly hotly anticipated, it’s been a staple of the brand’s lineup for ages. It brings with it a grained dial with two different shades of grey as well as a classical set of indications in the form of the date around the dial’s periphery, the day and month windows and the moonphase at 6 O’clock within the small seconds dial. Interestingly, the date hand performs a jump on this watch, from 15 to 16 and passes over the “QUANTIEME à DATE SAUTANTE” text. The applied numerals and dauphine hands are classy, and applications of SuperLumiNova mean this watch is functional both day and night.
The indications come courtesy of the selfwinding calibre 866AA. One thing that’s important to get right straight away is that this is not an annual or perpetual calendar watch, meaning the calendar displays will not automatically adjust for the varying ends of the months. In that respect, it’s often called a “complete calendar” as it shows all the functions of the other calendars (minus the leap years) but is much simpler. It beats at 4Hz for a total of 70 hours and features plenty of fine finishing, including its golden rotor, visible through the sapphire crystal caseback.
All of this is presented in a stainless steel case measuring 40mm x 10.95mm, perfect for most dress watch aficionados. There’s even 50m of water resistance for those who really demand some level of that at this price point. The use of stainless steel is also unique for most dress watches, but again, is something Jaeger-LeCoultre has been succeeding at for a number of years.
The only regret we have about this watch is that it’s a limited edition, and if they’re not building up to a similar-looking piece that’s not a limited edition, then we’d love to ask why, because this watch looks great. Thankfully, 500 watches isn’t the smallest number in the world, but it’s still a lot less than we’d like. Priced at $15,300 we’d say it’s quite reasonably priced for what you’re getting, it’s not a massive step up from a Rolex in price, and you get a lot for your money
