Jaeger-LeCoultre, nestled in the Vallée de Joux and revered as the Watchmaker of Watchmakers™, continues its legacy of technical mastery and aesthetic refinement in 2025 by unveiling captivating new iterations of the Master Grande Tradition Calibre 985 and Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel. These timepieces not only celebrate the maison’s unparalleled prowess in mechanical innovation and artisanal decoration, but also reaffirm its devotion to horological excellence.
Dialogue With Light and Depth: The Dials
The dial is where Jaeger-LeCoultre’s patient artistry finds its voice. For the Master Grande Tradition Calibre 985, the dial is offered in radiant blue for platinum cases and warm brown for pink gold. The signature architectural drama begins with a hand-bevelled bridge traversing the dial, with the tourbillon showcased in a recessed setting for vivid depth. Micro-blasted minute tracks and peripheral zones of the sub-dials contrast exquisitely with opaline centers, whose chameleon qualities bring subtle transformations as ambient light shifts. Laser-engraved calendar numerals and letters, raised and three-dimensional, stand in proud relief, a modern echo of traditional craft.
The seconds are uniquely counted along a 20-second arc below the tourbillon, with three blue hands mounted directly on the cage, a choreography of motion rarely encountered, as the tourbillon’s rotation completes every 60 seconds. On the platinum diamond-set version, the dial’s blue is electrified by the glint of 72 baguette-cut diamonds, settings that required 15 painstaking hours in the Manufacture’s Métiers Rares™ atelier, the ultimate marriage of gem and geometry.
For the Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s virtuosity in Grand Feu enamel and guilloché sets a dramatic stage. The anthracite grey dial is hand-guilloché with 180 sunrays, each requiring six passes on a rose engine lathe: a total of 1,080 immaculate lines, each aligned to the center with unwavering precision. The date sub-dial features its own circular guilloché, azurage, playing counterpoint to the dial’s dancing light. Over this textural tapestry, five layers of enamel are painstakingly applied and fired to 800ºC, yielding depth and intensity only possible through tireless mastery. The interplay of guilloché and Grand Feu enamel elevates the dial to high art, defining the piece as much as its technical heart.
Architecture of Excellence
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s cases are kinetic sculptures engineered to showcase and protect high complications. The Master Grande Tradition Calibre 985’s case is a masterpiece of mechanical aesthetics: over 80 individually finished components, screwed-in lugs, and a mosaic of polished, brushed, and micro-blasted surfaces. The platinum versions glow with icy distinction; the pink gold variant radiates warmth. The diamond-set platinum model commands gravity with 72 baguette diamonds totaling approximately 3.4 carats. Measured at an assertive 42mm diameter and 13.27mm thickness, the case offers both visual gravitas and ergonomic refinement, reserved for only the maison’s most complex calibres.
The Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel wears a more sartorial silhouette, true to its dress watch roots. Its 18k pink gold case measures 40mm across and a svelte 12.13mm thick. The perfection of flowing lines and transitions offers subtle sophistication, with the interchangeable double-folding clasp integrating seamlessly for modern comfort. The case is the framing for the dial’s art and the movement’s precision, a tactile reminder that elegance need never compromise technical audacity.
Inside the Mind of the Manufacture
Within these cases beat the hearts of innovation. The Master Grande Tradition Calibre 985 boasts a breathtaking 431-part movement, featuring a cylindrical flying tourbillon engineered from 83 components and weighing just 0.386 grams. The cylindrical hairspring, an invention first documented in 1776 and all but forgotten until Jaeger-LeCoultre’s recent resurrection, offers supreme isochronic performance, oscillating concentrically regardless of position, amplitude, or dwindling power reserve. This tourbillon is not mere spectacle; it represents the apex of precision research, with the balance wheel, escapement, and hairspring harmoniously orchestrated for near-perfect accuracy.
The movement supports perpetual calendar functions (day, date, month, year), a moon phase accurate for 122 years, and Night & Day indication. The Haute Horlogerie finishing is visible through the sapphire caseback, where blued screws, sunray Côtes de Genève, snailing, and hand-bevelling evoke the maison’s celebrated attention to detail. The winding rotor is crafted in solid 22k rose gold, engraved with the replica of Antoine LeCoultre’s 1851 Great Exhibition gold medal: subtle, historical tribute for true connoisseurs.
The Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel is powered by Calibre 978, the result of 80 years of tourbillon experimentation at Jaeger-LeCoultre. This automatic movement, updated in 2019, continues a lineage that began with the maison’s first tourbillon in 1946 and includes an international chronometry prize in 2009. The tourbillon cage is crafted from titanium and weighs less than half a gram. The flat, two-level hairspring is shaped with specific terminal curves, ensuring regular oscillations and remarkable timekeeping accuracy. Deeply finished with hand-applied bevelling, straight graining, and drawn flanks, the movement is visible through a sapphire caseback, where its beauty matches its technical precision.
Conclusion
Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 2025 novelties, the Master Grande Tradition Calibre 985 (Q5246580 – 189.000 €, Q5246508 – 224.000 €, Q5242461 – 177.000 €) and Master Ultra Thin Tourbillon Enamel (135.000 €), are declarations of purpose. Each dial is a narrative of light, layered by human hands and mechanical ingenuity. Each case exemplifies the art of technical construction and expressive design. The movements unite centuries-old savoir-faire and modern science in an unbroken pursuit of perfection.
In these new watches, Jaeger-LeCoultre articulates its guiding philosophy: that the spirit of innovation is inseparable from the spirit of beauty; that precision is not a destination but a horizon ever advancing. The Master Grande Tradition and Master Ultra Thin editions prove that time, in the hands of true masters, can be measured not only with accuracy, but with emotion.
