By Harlan Chapman-Green
Jaeger LeCoultre, a brand that I myself struggle to like. I really love their Reverso range for the classiness and the twin faces, but I don’t like their Master range much simply because I think it tries too hard to be different and that’s what annoys me. In fact, it’s the reason why I’m not much for brands like Urwerk and Richard Mille. But, I digress.
This watch doesn’t need to try too hard because I already love it a lot. That’s because of the dial which is put simply covered in the remains of a space rock that fell to Earth. If you are a big follower of William Shatner’s work then you may be aware of his involvement with the US watch manufacturer Égard to produce the Passages timepiece which is a watch that features a modified movement, a moonphase display and some meteor dust on applied to the dial. The Jaeger LeCoultre on the other hand has a whole dial of space rock. To make sure that this watch will work for any wearer you can get the meteorite dial in a lighter grey or darker slate colour. The meteorite on the dial is extremely thin and fragile and it must be really well looked after considering it’s millions of years old and has been flying around the universe for all that time. It’s also polished to perfection by hand to show off all the crystalline structures on it which because they’re a little unpredictable are really eye catching.
This watch has an annual calendar built into the movement with day and month windows above the centre of the dial and a rotary date hand pointing to the edge of the dial. There’s also a moonphase indicator built into the seconds sub dial there too. This rotary date system is also incorporated into watches made by the likes of Blancpain and Longines and it gives a watch a more retro 1950s look.
You can get the Master Calendar Meteorite in either stainless steel or solid 18k gold. The case itself is 39mm and super svelte at 10.6mm thick. There’s also a sapphire crystal caseback to show off Jaeger LeCoultre’s 866 self winding calibre that has blue screws, Geneva stripes and a lovely rotor. A steel version without the meteorite dial would set you back round €8800 and gold for near enough €20,000. What that price will jump to because of the dial I have no idea but it won’t be what we’re expecting, for more or less. For more info, please visit jaeger-lecoultre.com
Harlan Chapman-Green – Contributing Editor
First introduced to horology with the Patek Philippe Calibre 89 by his father two years ago, Harlan enjoys his passion for fine horology. He prefers to spend his time in the boutiques of upmarket brands, trying out new pieces constantly. His preferred 3 brands are A. Lange & Söhne, Breguet and Vacheron Constantin. Although not much for the smaller brands, he still finds the complications intriguing and wishes to own one watch from each of his three favourites. Read his articles here.
