{"lien_WSTV":"","tax_name":"deprecated","tax_rate":20,"id_manufacturer":"0","id_supplier":"0","id_category_default":"484","id_shop_default":"1","manufacturer_name":false,"supplier_name":false,"name":"Master Tourbillon","description":"<strong>Master Tourbillon. <br \/><br \/>Uncompromisingly precise and reliable, a Tourbillon Regulator that bears all the creative hallmarks of Jaeger-LeCoultre. <\/strong><br \/><br \/>2006 will be remembered for a new tour de force from Jaeger-LeCoultre: the first classic Master Control to be fitted with a tourbillon regulator. This magnificent timepiece, dressed in the Master Control_s classic lines and characteristically pared-down design, returns the tourbillon to its original function _ ensuring that the watch movement operates with ultimate precision. This ingenious mechanism could only have been conceived and brought into existence in the Jaeger-LeCoultre workshops, the most prestigious watchmaking Manufacture in the world which gathers an unparalleled number of different design and engineering skills and specialities under a single roof. The titanium tourbillon regulator accompanies a high-precision self-winding movement that operates at 28,800 vibrations an hour and that features a new balance design of very large dimensions and an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2. As all horological connoisseurs already know, the Manufacture_s master-watchmakers like nothing better than to take a complex challenge and make it more complex still. To this end, the new Master Tourbillon seduces the wearer_s gaze not only with the wheeling motion of the tourbillon _ the dial, which matches the mechanism_s technical genius blow for blow with its own aesthetic perfection, also displays a second timezone. The new date indicator, a patented device that can be adjusted in both directions, jumps between the 15th and the 16th of each month in order to avoid getting in the way of the dazzling spectacle created by the titanium tourbillon_s turning cage. The Master Tourbillon is available in traditional rose gold and platinum as well as in steel, an unprecedented application for the material in a top-flight tourbillon. <br \/><br \/><strong>Mission: to be an outstanding precision instrument <\/strong><br \/><br \/>The tourbillon houses the different elements of the escapement in a mobile cage. It was originally conceived with one specific goal in mind: to increase the watch_s operational accuracy by compensating for errors of rate in vertical positions. For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the only tourbillon worthy of its place in the Master Control line was one capable of satisfying the most rigorous demands of a prestigious precision instrument. As such, the Manufacture_s engineers made no compromises in creating a tourbillon that answers to the highest possible standards of precision, reliability and strength. <br \/><br \/>The tourbillon_s rotational movement uses up a considerable amount of energy, which is naturally proportionate to the size of its cage. The greater the cage_s dimensions, the larger the amount of required energy. Since the energy available in any movement is limited, the solution most commonly adopted by watchmakers is to reduce its frequency as well as the size of the cage, and thus of the balance, which in turn compromises the mechanism_s precision. Obviously, such an approach was unacceptable to Jaeger-LeCoultre_s master-watchmakers. Instead, they set the challenge of designing an entirely new balance of sufficiently generous dimensions, in order to provide the self-winding movement with the energy necessary to keep the cage in motion and maintain the 28,800 vibrations an hour typical of a high-precision movement. Like every other element in the watch, the new balance, which has an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2, has benefited from the latest research and development carried out in the Manufacture_s own laboratories. <br \/><br \/>Four screws on the balance-selloe are used for the setting. This arrangement ensures constancy, even in the case of impacts to the mechanism. Energy losses owing to friction have also been reduced by the adoption on the gear-trains of \u0152spyr_-form teeth: these have been specially designed to facilitate a steady transmission of power. The pallet, meanwhile, has been made more compact so that it can fit into the restricted space of the tourbillon_s cage. Finally, the movement rewinds in one direction only, in accordance with the results of detailed new research, which suggests that, when a watch is actually worn on the wrist, rewinding takes place twice as fast with a single- as opposed to a dual-direction mechanism. <br \/><br \/>The perfection of a genuine work of art can be read in even its most minute details. This is certainly true of the Master Tourbillon. The decoration of its movement, visible through the watch_s sapphire-crystal bottom, is an aesthetic match for the watch_s technical beauty. All delicately hand-executed, the chamfering, drawing, snailing, beading and polishing are worthy ornaments for the Geneva Bars-decorated gear-train bridge. <br \/><br \/>For the tourbillon_s cage, which weighs just 0.28 g, the Manufacture_s engineers settled on a titanium alloy: being very light, it naturally increases precision but its hardness makes it difficult to work with. Extraordinary pains _ including polished mouldings and delicate sanding _ have been taken on the cage. The convex escapement bridge ingeniously connects with the curve of the cage. Manufactured as a single block, the oscillating weight segment and its 22-carat rose-gold support are stamped with a motif in the manner of a medallion, with matt, shiny and chiselled reliefs. <br \/><br \/>An exceptional timepiece designed for everyday use, each Master Tourbillon has to demonstrate its outstanding qualities of precision, reliability and water resistance before it leaves the Manufacture in Jaeger-LeCoultre_s now legendary 1,000 hour test. The latter has been specially adapted to incorporate measurements of the new tourbillon regulator_s\u00a0 reliability and amplitude, including when the timepiece is subjected to small impacts and shocks. <br \/><br \/>An age-old mechanism married with unique new functions The quest for perfection has always been linked to ideals of functionality at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Sheer technical innovation is of little value if it isn_t closely allied with the requirements of everyday life. Such considerations have impacted the design of the Master Tourbillon. Driven by a high-frequency self-winding movement, this is a watch that has been created to provide its owner with constant companionship. It is a timepiece for everyday use. <br \/><br \/>When the fascinated gaze manages at last to detach itself from the circular aperture through which the mesmerising motion of the titanium cage is visible, it naturally settles on the other indicators, arranged in a classic, eye-pleasing configuration on the watch_s dial. At this point another aspect of the Master Tourbillon_s genius reveals itself, for this is a timepiece that brilliantly harnesses the tourbillon mechanism to the Manufacture_s famous home time\/travel time principle, a technical refinement that ingeniously makes it possible for busy globetrotters to compare reference time with local time at a single glance. <br \/><br \/>In the upper part of the dial, a 24-hour indicator keeps track of the wearer_s reference or home time. This is adorned with a rayonnant motif during the hours when the sun is making its journey across the sky. Here again, the engraving is more than a simple ornament: aesthetic refinements continually transform themselves into functions in their own right on the Master Tourbillon.<br \/><br \/>The local or travel time, the watch_s principal function, is located centrally on the dial. Resetting can be carried out in either direction, both forwards and backwards, in one-hour jumps. The date indicator, which is synchronised with local time, automatically follows, moving exceptionally in both directions as dictated by changes to the local time. <br \/><br \/>A third central hand, with a double-triangle tip, traces its course around the dial, which is inscribed with the numbers 1 to 31, to indicate the date. It is a classic, simple design of absolute clarity. And yet the watchmakers and designers could not resign themselves to having the date hand concealed, even partially, the movements of the tourbillon when it enters the bottom portion of the dial. They therefore decided to innovate between the 15th and the 16th. So what happens exactly, in the middle of each month, when the hand passes from the one to the other' In fact, it crosses the space at an accelerated rate, in just a few hours. No doubt more than a few Master Tourbillon will linger late on the 15th of the month to gaze in wonder at this astonishing mechanical prodigy. <br \/><br \/>With the Master Tourbillon, the Manufacture\u2019s master-watchmakers and designers have once more carried precision and functionality to unprecedented new levels of refinement. The second indicator, positioned at the tourbillon\u2019s circular opening, is a good example of this ever-increasing sophistication. While the tourbillon_s cage spins vigorously about its axis, the arrow-shaped prong of the blue second hand traces its unending course around the aperture, so combining the measurement of the smallest conventional unit of time with the dazzling spectacle of the most fascinating and complex of all watchmaking mechanisms. <br \/><br \/>The Master Tourbillon_s classic 41.5 mm-diameter case comes in three different versions: in platinum, in a limited edition of 300; in rose gold and, finally, in steel. For if the Manufacture\u2019s customary deployment of the noblest materials serves to accentuate the extraordinary prowess of its master-watchmakers, such use must also sometimes give way in the face of technical achievements whose unornamented brilliance alone is enough to attract the admiring attention of all. <br \/><br \/>And now silence must be allowed to fall again. For when all commentaries and explanations have been given, the spirit naturally yearns to be left to contemplate, without distractions, the hypnotic whirling of the tourbillon_s cage, which, every minute, makes a full turn about its axis. Fascination is given full rein, the passage of time itself is forgotten and, in the dazzled gaze of the beholder, technical prowess becomes indistinguishable from pure magic.","description_short":"","quantity":0,"minimal_quantity":"1","available_now":"","available_later":"","price":45416.666667,"specificPrice":false,"additional_shipping_cost":"0.00","wholesale_price":"0.000000","on_sale":"0","online_only":"0","unity":"","unit_price":0,"unit_price_ratio":"0.000000","ecotax":"0.000000","reference":"Q1658420","supplier_reference":"","location":"","width":"0.000000","height":"0.000000","depth":"0.000000","weight":"0.000000","ean13":"","upc":"","link_rewrite":"master-tourbillon","meta_description":"Master Tourbillon. 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{"Compl\u00e9ment":"Steel","Statut de vente":"N est plus commercialis\u00e9","Date":"2007","Pi\u00e8ce unique":"No","S\u00e9rie limit\u00e9e":"No","Sexe":"Homme","Gaucher":"No","Diam\u00e8tre":"41.50","Types":"Self-winding","Styles":"Classical, High Horology","Calibre_autre":"Jaeger-LeCoultre 978","Calibre distinction":"Hand decorated","Affichage":"Luminescent hands","Affichage_autre":"Date hand","Complication":"Small Seconds, Second Time Zone (GMT), Tourbillon","Mati\u00e8re du bo\u00eetier":"Steel","Particularit\u00e9 du boitier":"Sapphire caseback","Etanch\u00e9it\u00e9":"50 meters","Forme":"Round","Couleur du cadran":"Silver","Index":"Luminescent, Dots, Arrows, Arabic numerals","Verre":"Domed, Sapphire","Verre_autre":"hardness 9","Mati\u00e8re du bracelet":"Alligator leather","Fermeture du bracelet":"Folding buckle ","Couleur du bracelet":"Brown","Plus de caract\u00e9ristiques":"Movement<br \/>Self-winding mechanical movement. the Calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 978. crafted and decorated by hand 28.800 vibrations per hour <br \/>48-hour power reserve <br \/>302 parts <br \/>33 jewels <br \/>7.05 mm high <br \/>Monobloc oscillating weight segment cast in 22-carat gold. perforated and decorated with relief engravings <br \/><br \/>Functions<br \/>Local time with independent rapid setting in both directions (travel time) <br \/>Hand-indicated date synchronised with local time. alterable in both directions <br \/>24-hour reference\/home time indicator <br \/>Minutes <br \/>Tourbillon regulator with second indicator <br \/><br \/>Dial<br \/>Ssilvered. figures and hour-markers in rhodium-plated gold. transferred. 11 luminescent dots <br \/><br \/>Steel buckle"}
Master Tourbillon
Q1658420
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| Brand : | Jaeger-LeCoultre |
| Collection : | Master Control |
| Model : | Master Tourbillon |
| Reference : | Q1658420 |
| Complement : | Steel |
| Year : | 2007 |
| Is not commercialised any more | |
PDF INDEX CARD
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Brand : Jaeger-LeCoultre Collection : Master Control Model : Master Tourbillon Reference : Q1658420 Complement : Steel Year : 2007 Is not commercialised any more List Price : 54 500 € Diameter : 41.50 mm Styles : Classical High Horology Types : Self-winding Calibre : Jaeger-LeCoultre 978 Calibre distinction : Hand decorated Complication : Small Seconds Second Time Zone (GMT) Tourbillon Case material : Steel Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback Shape : Round Water-resistance : 50 meters Dial color : Silver Display : Luminescent hands Date hand Indexes : Luminescent Dots Arrows Arabic numerals Glass : Domed Sapphire hardness 9 Strap material : Alligator leather Strap color : Brown Strap clasp : Folding buckle + More characteristics : Movement
Self-winding mechanical movement. the Calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 978. crafted and decorated by hand 28.800 vibrations per hour
48-hour power reserve
302 parts
33 jewels
7.05 mm high
Monobloc oscillating weight segment cast in 22-carat gold. perforated and decorated with relief engravings
Functions
Local time with independent rapid setting in both directions (travel time)
Hand-indicated date synchronised with local time. alterable in both directions
24-hour reference/home time indicator
Minutes
Tourbillon regulator with second indicator
Dial
Ssilvered. figures and hour-markers in rhodium-plated gold. transferred. 11 luminescent dots
Steel buckle
DESCRIPTION
- Master Tourbillon.
Uncompromisingly precise and reliable, a Tourbillon Regulator that bears all the creative hallmarks of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
2006 will be remembered for a new tour de force from Jaeger-LeCoultre: the first classic Master Control to be fitted with a tourbillon regulator. This magnificent timepiece, dressed in the Master Control_s classic lines and characteristically pared-down design, returns the tourbillon to its original function _ ensuring that the watch movement operates with ultimate precision. This ingenious mechanism could only have been conceived and brought into existence in the Jaeger-LeCoultre workshops, the most prestigious watchmaking Manufacture in the world which gathers an unparalleled number of different design and engineering skills and specialities under a single roof. The titanium tourbillon regulator accompanies a high-precision self-winding movement that operates at 28,800 vibrations an hour and that features a new balance design of very large dimensions and an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2. As all horological connoisseurs already know, the Manufacture_s master-watchmakers like nothing better than to take a complex challenge and make it more complex still. To this end, the new Master Tourbillon seduces the wearer_s gaze not only with the wheeling motion of the tourbillon _ the dial, which matches the mechanism_s technical genius blow for blow with its own aesthetic perfection, also displays a second timezone. The new date indicator, a patented device that can be adjusted in both directions, jumps between the 15th and the 16th of each month in order to avoid getting in the way of the dazzling spectacle created by the titanium tourbillon_s turning cage. The Master Tourbillon is available in traditional rose gold and platinum as well as in steel, an unprecedented application for the material in a top-flight tourbillon.
Mission: to be an outstanding precision instrument
The tourbillon houses the different elements of the escapement in a mobile cage. It was originally conceived with one specific goal in mind: to increase the watch_s operational accuracy by compensating for errors of rate in vertical positions. For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the only tourbillon worthy of its place in the Master Control line was one capable of satisfying the most rigorous demands of a prestigious precision instrument. As such, the Manufacture_s engineers made no compromises in creating a tourbillon that answers to the highest possible standards of precision, reliability and strength.
The tourbillon_s rotational movement uses up a considerable amount of energy, which is naturally proportionate to the size of its cage. The greater the cage_s dimensions, the larger the amount of required energy. Since the energy available in any movement is limited, the solution most commonly adopted by watchmakers is to reduce its frequency as well as the size of the cage, and thus of the balance, which in turn compromises the mechanism_s precision. Obviously, such an approach was unacceptable to Jaeger-LeCoultre_s master-watchmakers. Instead, they set the challenge of designing an entirely new balance of sufficiently generous dimensions, in order to provide the self-winding movement with the energy necessary to keep the cage in motion and maintain the 28,800 vibrations an hour typical of a high-precision movement. Like every other element in the watch, the new balance, which has an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2, has benefited from the latest research and development carried out in the Manufacture_s own laboratories.
Four screws on the balance-selloe are used for the setting. This arrangement ensures constancy, even in the case of impacts to the mechanism. Energy losses owing to friction have also been reduced by the adoption on the gear-trains of Œspyr_-form teeth: these have been specially designed to facilitate a steady transmission of power. The pallet, meanwhile, has been made more compact so that it can fit into the restricted space of the tourbillon_s cage. Finally, the movement rewinds in one direction only, in accordance with the results of detailed new research, which suggests that, when a watch is actually worn on the wrist, rewinding takes place twice as fast with a single- as opposed to a dual-direction mechanism.
The perfection of a genuine work of art can be read in even its most minute details. This is certainly true of the Master Tourbillon. The decoration of its movement, visible through the watch_s sapphire-crystal bottom, is an aesthetic match for the watch_s technical beauty. All delicately hand-executed, the chamfering, drawing, snailing, beading and polishing are worthy ornaments for the Geneva Bars-decorated gear-train bridge.
For the tourbillon_s cage, which weighs just 0.28 g, the Manufacture_s engineers settled on a titanium alloy: being very light, it naturally increases precision but its hardness makes it difficult to work with. Extraordinary pains _ including polished mouldings and delicate sanding _ have been taken on the cage. The convex escapement bridge ingeniously connects with the curve of the cage. Manufactured as a single block, the oscillating weight segment and its 22-carat rose-gold support are stamped with a motif in the manner of a medallion, with matt, shiny and chiselled reliefs.
An exceptional timepiece designed for everyday use, each Master Tourbillon has to demonstrate its outstanding qualities of precision, reliability and water resistance before it leaves the Manufacture in Jaeger-LeCoultre_s now legendary 1,000 hour test. The latter has been specially adapted to incorporate measurements of the new tourbillon regulator_s reliability and amplitude, including when the timepiece is subjected to small impacts and shocks.
An age-old mechanism married with unique new functions The quest for perfection has always been linked to ideals of functionality at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Sheer technical innovation is of little value if it isn_t closely allied with the requirements of everyday life. Such considerations have impacted the design of the Master Tourbillon. Driven by a high-frequency self-winding movement, this is a watch that has been created to provide its owner with constant companionship. It is a timepiece for everyday use.
When the fascinated gaze manages at last to detach itself from the circular aperture through which the mesmerising motion of the titanium cage is visible, it naturally settles on the other indicators, arranged in a classic, eye-pleasing configuration on the watch_s dial. At this point another aspect of the Master Tourbillon_s genius reveals itself, for this is a timepiece that brilliantly harnesses the tourbillon mechanism to the Manufacture_s famous home time/travel time principle, a technical refinement that ingeniously makes it possible for busy globetrotters to compare reference time with local time at a single glance.
In the upper part of the dial, a 24-hour indicator keeps track of the wearer_s reference or home time. This is adorned with a rayonnant motif during the hours when the sun is making its journey across the sky. Here again, the engraving is more than a simple ornament: aesthetic refinements continually transform themselves into functions in their own right on the Master Tourbillon.
The local or travel time, the watch_s principal function, is located centrally on the dial. Resetting can be carried out in either direction, both forwards and backwards, in one-hour jumps. The date indicator, which is synchronised with local time, automatically follows, moving exceptionally in both directions as dictated by changes to the local time.
A third central hand, with a double-triangle tip, traces its course around the dial, which is inscribed with the numbers 1 to 31, to indicate the date. It is a classic, simple design of absolute clarity. And yet the watchmakers and designers could not resign themselves to having the date hand concealed, even partially, the movements of the tourbillon when it enters the bottom portion of the dial. They therefore decided to innovate between the 15th and the 16th. So what happens exactly, in the middle of each month, when the hand passes from the one to the other' In fact, it crosses the space at an accelerated rate, in just a few hours. No doubt more than a few Master Tourbillon will linger late on the 15th of the month to gaze in wonder at this astonishing mechanical prodigy.
With the Master Tourbillon, the Manufacture’s master-watchmakers and designers have once more carried precision and functionality to unprecedented new levels of refinement. The second indicator, positioned at the tourbillon’s circular opening, is a good example of this ever-increasing sophistication. While the tourbillon_s cage spins vigorously about its axis, the arrow-shaped prong of the blue second hand traces its unending course around the aperture, so combining the measurement of the smallest conventional unit of time with the dazzling spectacle of the most fascinating and complex of all watchmaking mechanisms.
The Master Tourbillon_s classic 41.5 mm-diameter case comes in three different versions: in platinum, in a limited edition of 300; in rose gold and, finally, in steel. For if the Manufacture’s customary deployment of the noblest materials serves to accentuate the extraordinary prowess of its master-watchmakers, such use must also sometimes give way in the face of technical achievements whose unornamented brilliance alone is enough to attract the admiring attention of all.
And now silence must be allowed to fall again. For when all commentaries and explanations have been given, the spirit naturally yearns to be left to contemplate, without distractions, the hypnotic whirling of the tourbillon_s cage, which, every minute, makes a full turn about its axis. Fascination is given full rein, the passage of time itself is forgotten and, in the dazzled gaze of the beholder, technical prowess becomes indistinguishable from pure magic.
- Master Tourbillon.
Uncompromisingly precise and reliable, a Tourbillon Regulator that bears all the creative hallmarks of Jaeger-LeCoultre.
2006 will be remembered for a new tour de force from Jaeger-LeCoultre: the first classic Master Control to be fitted with a tourbillon regulator. This magnificent timepiece, dressed in the Master Control_s classic lines and characteristically pared-down design, returns the tourbillon to its original function _ ensuring that the watch movement operates with ultimate precision. This ingenious mechanism could only have been conceived and brought into existence in the Jaeger-LeCoultre workshops, the most prestigious watchmaking Manufacture in the world which gathers an unparalleled number of different design and engineering skills and specialities under a single roof. The titanium tourbillon regulator accompanies a high-precision self-winding movement that operates at 28,800 vibrations an hour and that features a new balance design of very large dimensions and an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2. As all horological connoisseurs already know, the Manufacture_s master-watchmakers like nothing better than to take a complex challenge and make it more complex still. To this end, the new Master Tourbillon seduces the wearer_s gaze not only with the wheeling motion of the tourbillon _ the dial, which matches the mechanism_s technical genius blow for blow with its own aesthetic perfection, also displays a second timezone. The new date indicator, a patented device that can be adjusted in both directions, jumps between the 15th and the 16th of each month in order to avoid getting in the way of the dazzling spectacle created by the titanium tourbillon_s turning cage. The Master Tourbillon is available in traditional rose gold and platinum as well as in steel, an unprecedented application for the material in a top-flight tourbillon.
Mission: to be an outstanding precision instrument
The tourbillon houses the different elements of the escapement in a mobile cage. It was originally conceived with one specific goal in mind: to increase the watch_s operational accuracy by compensating for errors of rate in vertical positions. For Jaeger-LeCoultre, the only tourbillon worthy of its place in the Master Control line was one capable of satisfying the most rigorous demands of a prestigious precision instrument. As such, the Manufacture_s engineers made no compromises in creating a tourbillon that answers to the highest possible standards of precision, reliability and strength.
The tourbillon_s rotational movement uses up a considerable amount of energy, which is naturally proportionate to the size of its cage. The greater the cage_s dimensions, the larger the amount of required energy. Since the energy available in any movement is limited, the solution most commonly adopted by watchmakers is to reduce its frequency as well as the size of the cage, and thus of the balance, which in turn compromises the mechanism_s precision. Obviously, such an approach was unacceptable to Jaeger-LeCoultre_s master-watchmakers. Instead, they set the challenge of designing an entirely new balance of sufficiently generous dimensions, in order to provide the self-winding movement with the energy necessary to keep the cage in motion and maintain the 28,800 vibrations an hour typical of a high-precision movement. Like every other element in the watch, the new balance, which has an inertia of 11.5 mg x cm2, has benefited from the latest research and development carried out in the Manufacture_s own laboratories.
Four screws on the balance-selloe are used for the setting. This arrangement ensures constancy, even in the case of impacts to the mechanism. Energy losses owing to friction have also been reduced by the adoption on the gear-trains of Œspyr_-form teeth: these have been specially designed to facilitate a steady transmission of power. The pallet, meanwhile, has been made more compact so that it can fit into the restricted space of the tourbillon_s cage. Finally, the movement rewinds in one direction only, in accordance with the results of detailed new research, which suggests that, when a watch is actually worn on the wrist, rewinding takes place twice as fast with a single- as opposed to a dual-direction mechanism.
The perfection of a genuine work of art can be read in even its most minute details. This is certainly true of the Master Tourbillon. The decoration of its movement, visible through the watch_s sapphire-crystal bottom, is an aesthetic match for the watch_s technical beauty. All delicately hand-executed, the chamfering, drawing, snailing, beading and polishing are worthy ornaments for the Geneva Bars-decorated gear-train bridge.
For the tourbillon_s cage, which weighs just 0.28 g, the Manufacture_s engineers settled on a titanium alloy: being very light, it naturally increases precision but its hardness makes it difficult to work with. Extraordinary pains _ including polished mouldings and delicate sanding _ have been taken on the cage. The convex escapement bridge ingeniously connects with the curve of the cage. Manufactured as a single block, the oscillating weight segment and its 22-carat rose-gold support are stamped with a motif in the manner of a medallion, with matt, shiny and chiselled reliefs.
An exceptional timepiece designed for everyday use, each Master Tourbillon has to demonstrate its outstanding qualities of precision, reliability and water resistance before it leaves the Manufacture in Jaeger-LeCoultre_s now legendary 1,000 hour test. The latter has been specially adapted to incorporate measurements of the new tourbillon regulator_s reliability and amplitude, including when the timepiece is subjected to small impacts and shocks.
An age-old mechanism married with unique new functions The quest for perfection has always been linked to ideals of functionality at Jaeger-LeCoultre. Sheer technical innovation is of little value if it isn_t closely allied with the requirements of everyday life. Such considerations have impacted the design of the Master Tourbillon. Driven by a high-frequency self-winding movement, this is a watch that has been created to provide its owner with constant companionship. It is a timepiece for everyday use.
When the fascinated gaze manages at last to detach itself from the circular aperture through which the mesmerising motion of the titanium cage is visible, it naturally settles on the other indicators, arranged in a classic, eye-pleasing configuration on the watch_s dial. At this point another aspect of the Master Tourbillon_s genius reveals itself, for this is a timepiece that brilliantly harnesses the tourbillon mechanism to the Manufacture_s famous home time/travel time principle, a technical refinement that ingeniously makes it possible for busy globetrotters to compare reference time with local time at a single glance.
In the upper part of the dial, a 24-hour indicator keeps track of the wearer_s reference or home time. This is adorned with a rayonnant motif during the hours when the sun is making its journey across the sky. Here again, the engraving is more than a simple ornament: aesthetic refinements continually transform themselves into functions in their own right on the Master Tourbillon.
The local or travel time, the watch_s principal function, is located centrally on the dial. Resetting can be carried out in either direction, both forwards and backwards, in one-hour jumps. The date indicator, which is synchronised with local time, automatically follows, moving exceptionally in both directions as dictated by changes to the local time.
A third central hand, with a double-triangle tip, traces its course around the dial, which is inscribed with the numbers 1 to 31, to indicate the date. It is a classic, simple design of absolute clarity. And yet the watchmakers and designers could not resign themselves to having the date hand concealed, even partially, the movements of the tourbillon when it enters the bottom portion of the dial. They therefore decided to innovate between the 15th and the 16th. So what happens exactly, in the middle of each month, when the hand passes from the one to the other' In fact, it crosses the space at an accelerated rate, in just a few hours. No doubt more than a few Master Tourbillon will linger late on the 15th of the month to gaze in wonder at this astonishing mechanical prodigy.
With the Master Tourbillon, the Manufacture’s master-watchmakers and designers have once more carried precision and functionality to unprecedented new levels of refinement. The second indicator, positioned at the tourbillon’s circular opening, is a good example of this ever-increasing sophistication. While the tourbillon_s cage spins vigorously about its axis, the arrow-shaped prong of the blue second hand traces its unending course around the aperture, so combining the measurement of the smallest conventional unit of time with the dazzling spectacle of the most fascinating and complex of all watchmaking mechanisms.
The Master Tourbillon_s classic 41.5 mm-diameter case comes in three different versions: in platinum, in a limited edition of 300; in rose gold and, finally, in steel. For if the Manufacture’s customary deployment of the noblest materials serves to accentuate the extraordinary prowess of its master-watchmakers, such use must also sometimes give way in the face of technical achievements whose unornamented brilliance alone is enough to attract the admiring attention of all.
And now silence must be allowed to fall again. For when all commentaries and explanations have been given, the spirit naturally yearns to be left to contemplate, without distractions, the hypnotic whirling of the tourbillon_s cage, which, every minute, makes a full turn about its axis. Fascination is given full rein, the passage of time itself is forgotten and, in the dazzled gaze of the beholder, technical prowess becomes indistinguishable from pure magic.
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Brand : Jaeger-LeCoultre Collection : Master Control Model : Master Tourbillon Reference : Q1658420 Complement : Steel Year : 2007 Is not commercialised any more List Price : 54 500 € Diameter : 41.50 mm Styles : Classical High Horology Types : Self-winding Calibre : Jaeger-LeCoultre 978 Calibre distinction : Hand decorated Complication : Small Seconds Second Time Zone (GMT) Tourbillon Case material : Steel Case peculiarity : Sapphire caseback Shape : Round Water-resistance : 50 meters Dial color : Silver Display : Luminescent hands Date hand Indexes : Luminescent Dots Arrows Arabic numerals Glass : Domed Sapphire hardness 9 Strap material : Alligator leather Strap color : Brown Strap clasp : Folding buckle More characteristics : Movement
Self-winding mechanical movement. the Calibre Jaeger-LeCoultre 978. crafted and decorated by hand 28.800 vibrations per hour
48-hour power reserve
302 parts
33 jewels
7.05 mm high
Monobloc oscillating weight segment cast in 22-carat gold. perforated and decorated with relief engravings
Functions
Local time with independent rapid setting in both directions (travel time)
Hand-indicated date synchronised with local time. alterable in both directions
24-hour reference/home time indicator
Minutes
Tourbillon regulator with second indicator
Dial
Ssilvered. figures and hour-markers in rhodium-plated gold. transferred. 11 luminescent dots
Steel buckle