January 1, 2015 | Watches & Jewelry The Latest
See Jaeger-LeCoultre's newly designed Master Calendar watch before its launch at SIHH.
The meteorite used in the dial of the Master Calendar was found and registered in Sweden.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the use of meteorites as dials in watches—something certain brands were doing decades ago. Today, there are just a handful of luxury watch brands that procure meteorites and transform them into ultra-thin slabs to use as a watch dial; and Jaeger-LeCoultre is one of them. In its newest set of Master Calendar watches being released at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie this month, the brand turns to these celestial fragments from space to continue its astronomical, starry celestial watches.
First we want to make a distinction here: The Master Calendar watch is not new for 2015; only the use of meteorites for the dial is new. To make the dial, Jaeger-LeCoultre took a single block of meteorite that was discovered and registered in Sweden, believed to come from the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter. The block has been shaped by stone-cutting specialists into thin slices and completed with polishing and other finishes.
The Master Calendar watch is available in a stainless steel option.
The concept of utilizing meteorite for the Master Calendar—offered in stainless steel and in 18-karat rose gold finishes—makes sense, as the calendar, complete with a moonphase indicator, is one of its more useful options. The 39mm watch with sapphire crystal and caseback is powered by the Jaeger-LeCoultre Caliber 866 mechanical automatic winding movement composed of 305 parts. In addition to hours, minutes, and seconds, the watch displays the day, date, month, and moonphases and it's equipped with 43 hours of power reserve. It is expected that the steel version will sell for roughly $13,000 while the rose gold option will be priced at around $25,500.
Founder and editor-in-chief of ATimelyPerspective.com, Roberta Naas is a veteran award-winning journalist in the watch industry with more than 25 years of experience. She was the first woman watch editor in the US market—breaking in to an “all boys network” with a pioneering spirit that would be her signature to this day. Naas brings responsible, factual—yet always timely and insightful—reporting of the watch industry to the forefront.
